Three Persons In Nigeria Wealthier Than 83 Million Nigerians – Oxfam
Category: Nigeria News
Oxfam in Nigeria has said three of the richest Nigerian citizens are wealthier
than 83 million others put together.
This is contained in a report
titled ‘Davos 2023 Inequality Report’ unveiled at a media briefing on Monday
in Abuja.
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Ahead of the global conference of world leaders scheduled for next week
in Davos Switzerland, Country Director, Oxfam in Nigeria, Dr. Vincent Ahonsi,
presented the report.
Represented by the Deputy Programmes
Director and Budget Business Development Manager of the organization, Regina
Afiemo, Ahonsi presented the report alongside Executive Director, Connected
Development (CODE), Mallam Hamza Lawal; Coordinator, Climate Justice Project,
Oxfam in Nigeria, Kenneth Akpan, and Project Coordinator, Fiscal
Accountability for Inequality Reduction, Henry Ushie.
They posited
that there must be higher taxation of world’s super-rich persons to breach the
inequality gap in many sectors, and that for the past decades they
extraordinarily grabbed half of all new wealth, at the expenses of other
citizens.
According to the report, while billionaire fortunes are increasing by $2.7bn
daily, at least 1.7bn workers now live in countries where inflation is
outpacing wages.
The report also said that a tax of up to five
percent on the world’s multi-millionaires and billionaires could raise $1.7trn
a year, enough to lift two billion people out of poverty.
According to the report, in Nigeria, the richest 0.003 percent
Nigerians (6,355 individuals worth $5m and above) have 1.4 times more wealth
than 107 million other Nigerians.
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“A wealth tax of two percent on the millionaires, three percent on those
with wealth above $50m and five percent on the Nigerian billionaires would
raise $3.2bn annually. This would be enough to double health spending.
“Oxfam is calling for more tax on billionaires and not workers and
is a message sent to world leaders ahead of the World Economic Forum, WEF,
organized Davos 2023 where ‘Survival of the Richest’ is published on the
opening day of the conference, while world elites are gathering in the Swiss
ski resort as extreme wealth and extreme poverty have increased simultaneously
for the first time in 25 years,” the report said.
Ahonsi on his
part said, “The wealth of Nigeria billionaires has grown by a third since the
start of COVID-19 pandemic. The richest men in Nigeria have more wealth than
83 million Nigerians. The three richest one per cent grabbed nearly two-thirds
of all new wealth worth $42trn created since 2020, almost twice as much money
as the bottom 99 percent of the world’s population.”
that's the calamity brought upon us by capitalism.
ReplyDeleteThe wicked greedy few argued that socialism never work anywhere in the world but does capitalism also work? Which one of the 2 favours the generalities of the masses at best. RIP chief Obafemi Awolowo, the champion of socialism in Nigeria, WE WILL BE FREE ONE DAY.