Taxation now major source of revenue around the world- Ahmed Raji

•Bags MSC from Oxford University

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

A prominent lawyer and leading Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Ahmed Raji, has said taxation is now a major source of income for all countries of the world.

According to him, most countries of the are now focussing on taxation in the face of the dwindling relevance of crude oil.

Raji, last weekend, was among the graduands at Oxford University, United Kingdom. 

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria graduated with Masters of Science (Msc) in Taxation at the University.

According to him, he took out time to go and specialise in a technical and complex field of study- Taxation. 

Mr Raji had earlier acquired LLM from Kings College, London in 2005 with emphasis on Telecommunications Law, Commercial banking, International finance and comparative and international Arbitration.  

University of Oxford, UK, is one the three leading Universities in the world. 

The Senior lawyer said Taxation is the major source of revenue for all the countries of the world, most especially, in the face of the dwindling relevance of crude oil.

“I took  out time to go and specialise in a technical and complex field of study- Taxation. University of Oxford is one the three leading Universities in the world. 

“Taxation is the major source of revenue for all the countries of the world, most especially, in the face of the dwindling relevance of crude oil”, he said.

He called for the introduction of wealth tax to alleviate poverty and sufferings of Nigerians.

During his 60th birthday in Abuja, last year, Raji had said the introduction of Wealth Tax Policy will make super rich Nigerianss to pay deserved tax that would be used to cater for the downtrodden citizens in the country.

At public lecture to mark the day, entitled, “Taxing Powers in a Federal System”, said time has come for government to do real balancing between the rich and the poor in Nigeria.

He argued that in the face of harsh economic situation starring poor Nigerians in the face, the poor needs to be subsidized and not to be taxed under any guise so as to balance their anger against the rich.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria noted that evidence are sufficient that some super rich class own personal jets worth $50M each at a time when some families could not afford to eat twice a day adding that the country cannot witness genuine peace under such situation.

“It is a fact that the downturn in Nigeria’s economy is having harsh and devastating effects on the poor majority Nigerians. The wide disparity between the rich and the poor should be of grave concern to patriotic Nigerians and the way out must be found.

“The gap between the rich and the poor is so much and so offensive that It can lead to break down of law and order in any moment.

“It is in the interest of justice that the super rich should shed part of their stupendous wealth to cater for the downtrodden masses before it is too late.

“Majority of Nigerians are in absolute poverty. Over 90 percentage of the Nigerian population is in abject poverty and time has come for us, including myself to address the ugly situattion.

“Any attempt to pretend that all is well may spell doom for the nation. We will be sitting on a keg of gun-powder, if we refuse to address the challenges of the poor masses now,” he warned.