By Halima Imam
As an economist who has spent his life dissecting the intricate, often brutal, mechanics of global capitalism, I must raise my voice against the current trajectory of fiscal policy in our beloved Nigeria. The collaboration, often branded as a “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU) for “digital tax administration” and “capacity building” with France’s tax authority, is not a partnership of equals but a subtle, calculated economic surrender.
This arrangement, which risks granting a former colonial power alarming visibility into our sovereign revenue system, is a tragic illustration of capitalism’s dark side: the perpetual exploitation of the periphery by the core, disguised in the sterile language of technical assistance.
The official narrative claims this MoU, signed with France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP), is merely a framework for digital transformation, AI-powered audits, and tackling Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). On the surface, who can argue against efficiency and fighting tax evasion?
Asymmetry of Power and Information: France is one of the world’s leading capital-exporting nations and a key player in the OECD, an organization whose Model Tax Convention has historically favored the residence principle (taxing income in the country of the company’s headquarters, i.e., France) over the source principle (taxing income where the economic activity occurs, i.e., Nigeria). We are entering an information-sharing arrangement with a nation whose core economic structure benefits from minimizing tax paid in developing countries. This is not a conversation; it is an interrogation where one side holds all the institutional, technological, and informational cards.
The Compromise of Aggregated Data: While officials promise “no raw taxpayer files” will leave Nigeria, the planned sharing of aggregated, anonymized economic information, insights on multinational companies, transfer pricing, and profit-shifting practices, is the true concern. This macro-level data can provide France with a real-time dashboard into the key financial patterns of the Nigerian economy. This visibility grants an external power a strategic advantage, allowing French and other multinational enterprises to anticipate, lobby against, or structure around future Nigerian fiscal policies. Control over information is control over policy.
The Extraction of Rent: When a French entity or an individual resident in France, but with economic interests in Nigeria, pays tax that is subsequently shared or used for “capacity building,” it is not simply a tax payment; it is a transfer of fiscal rent. Nigeria, the source country, is primarily interested in generating revenue for its own development, for roads, schools, and hospitals. Any arrangement that complicates or compromises this primary goal in exchange for a temporary technical fix is a profound strategic loss.
Capacity Building as Dependency: Why, after six decades of independence, must the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) seek to “learn” its core function from a foreign power? We have some of the most brilliant tax experts and economists in the world. Outsourcing the institutional strengthening to a foreign government signals a failure of national will and risks embedding a foreign technological and methodological dependency. This is a classic dependency theory outcome: the “help” provided by the core simply ensures the periphery remains institutionally tethered and unable to develop its own robust, context-specific solutions.
Patriotism, in economics, means fiercely guarding the sovereign power to determine and collect taxes without external interference. Tax is the most fundamental expression of a state’s sovereignty and its social contract with its citizens.
We must condemn this collaboration not because we oppose efficiency, but because we oppose complicity. We cannot allow the dark side of global capitalism, which thrives on unequal treaties and the continuous financial drain from developing nations, to be facilitated by our own government.
Renegotiate on Source-Principle Terms: Any international cooperation must be founded on an uncompromised defense of Nigeria’s right to tax income at its source, as an unconditional sovereign right.
Invest in Indigenous Expertise: The billions spent on foreign “consultants” and “capacity MoUs” must be redirected to funding Nigerian research institutions, training our own experts, and building our own secure, bespoke digital tax infrastructure. Demand Transparency and Accountability: The details and true economic risks of this MoU must be laid bare before the National Assembly and the Nigerian people.
We are a nation of immense potential, not a vassal state in need of a colonial-era administrator. This partnership is a cautionary tale, demonstrating how the lure of quick, digitized revenue can lead to the slow, agonizing surrender of our financial independence.
Nigeria must stand tall, manage its own treasury, and secure its own future. Our destiny cannot be governed from Paris, or anywhere else.
