Empower federating units, zones to generate own revenue, Professor urges

Olumide Ekanade, a Professor of Economic and Social History, Redeemer’s University, Ede has said that Nigeria’s fiscal federalism requires urgent reform to empower federating units and geopolitical zones to generate their own resources and drive economic growth.
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‎Ekanade, who is also the dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the institution, made the call during his 21st inaugural lecture, titled From Fiscal Federalism to Feeding Bottle Federalism: The Historical Dialectics of Nigeria’s Federal Finance and Its Accoutrements’.
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‎He said there is a critical need to focus on productivity and wealth generation rather than mere revenue sharing.
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‎According to him, “Relative autonomy and adequate tax powers need to be given to the geopolitical zones to create their own opportunities and resources, engendering competition, innovation, diversification, and adaptation that lead to economic efficiency and prosperity.”
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‎“This is also important because the most efficient government is that whose power to tax is equal to its duty to spend. In this, zones would generate more funds and pay royalties to the federal government. This will enshrine fiscal responsibility in the sub-units and propel them to think without the box.”
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‎Ekanade noted that the constitution gives the federal government excessive control while limiting federating units’ capacity for revenue generation and service delivery.
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‎He recommended pruning the exclusive list of federal powers so that federating units and local governments can take on more responsibility for social services, infrastructure, and taxation as well as proposed restructuring Nigeria along the six geopolitical zones, citing their shared historical, cultural, and natural resource characteristics.
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‎“If this arrangement is adopted, the geopolitical formations will form a formidable opposition to central government excesses. The six geopolitical zones shall fund the federal government and not the other way round as presently done. The federal government should just be concerned with foreign policy, defence, security, currency, import and export duties. This will make governance lighter and more efficient at the federal level,” he said.
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‎On regional equity, Ekanade called for increasing Niger Delta derivation from 13 percent to 50 percent and eliminating offshore/onshore distinctions to ensure fairness, equity, and self-reliance.
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‎He warned against creating more states, advocating instead for development that improves citizens’ material well-being through infrastructure and equal access to social and economic opportunities.