₦airaland Forum

lawani:
Is there any Igbo city like Abidjan or Accra? Before HDI can be high, government spending must be high and there is no way around that. That is why Lagos and Ogun HDI are the highest.
It is of course true that sections of the country have different HDIs and it is to do with the capacity of the governments.

Igbo land is designed so that there are many moving engines, like Germany, so you will not have one city that everyone is dependant on. But what other region in Africa have 6 cities that can easily contend as national capitals and support themselves in full. Even villages. So there is no Abidjan in Igboland, but there is no Ohafia in CIV. It is more important to have thousands of Ohafia which Igboland does than one Abidjan, hence the good results Igboland is producing towards eliminating poverty.

Lagos and Ogun do not have the highest HDI.

Ofodirinwa:
Igbo land is designed so that there are many moving engines, like Germany, so you will not have one city that everyone is dependant on. But what other region in Africa have 6 cities that can easily contend as national capitals and support themselves in full. Even villages. So there is no Abidjan in Igboland, but there is no Ohafia in CIV. It is more important to have thousands of Ohafia which Igboland does than one Abidjan, hence the good results Igboland is producing towards eliminating poverty.

Lagos and Ogun do not have the highest HDI.

There is no city in Nigeria that is up to Abidjan in development. What Lagos has is population. I don't think any is up to Accra or even Dakar and it was not like that in the past. Those cities have amenities like constant power, condos, good roads, and etc. Their skyline is even more appealing. Lagos is trying though. They have a metroline but no constant power yet and no substantial investment by government in housing.

What is special about Ohafia? Big cities have advantage because they draw in many things because of the sheer size or population. Five million will be something in today's world.

Then Lagos and Ogun actually have the highest HDI. It is easy to predict Enugu will join them soon because of the IGR. The reports I have seen with good reference say that. Not random AI or wikipedia articles

https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/NGA/

lawani:
There is no city in Nigeria that is up to Abidjan in development. What Lagos has is population. I don't think any is up to Accra or even Dakar and it was not like that in the past. Those cities have amenities like constant power, condos, good roads, and etc. Their skyline is even more appealing. Lagos is trying though. They have a metroline but no constant power yet and no substantial investment by government in housing.

What is special about Ohafia? Big cities have advantage because they draw in many things because of the sheer size or population. Five million will be something in today's wor
Then Lagos and Ogun actually have the highest HDI. It is easy to predict Enugu will join them soon because of the IGR. The reports I have seen with good reference say that. Not random AI or wikipedia articles

https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/NGA/

Ohafia is extremely special. I don't know if you're unfamiliar or you're familiar and acting rhetorically, but Ohafia shows an exceptionally high level of rural development that is more comparable to developed countries than African ones. Poverty is a rural phenomena, so rural development is most important for HDI than urban. Thats what makes Ohafia special though it is the norm in Igboland (if anything Ohafia is even behind)

Also, IGR has nothing to do with HDI. Enugu, with it's high IGR, is behind Anambra with it's low IGR. IGR is just how much government chooses to tax. in saner climates, it's used to slow down economic growth

Ofodirinwa:
Ohafia is extremely special. I don't know if you're unfamiliar or you're familiar and acting rhetorically, but Ohafia shows an exceptionally high level of rural development that is more comparable to developed countries than African ones. Poverty is a rural phenomena, so rural development is most important for HDI than urban. Thats what makes Ohafia special though it is the norm in Igboland (if anything Ohafia is even behind)

Also, IGR has nothing to do with HDI. Enugu, with it's high IGR, is behind Anambra with it's low IGR. IGR is just how much government chooses to tax. in saner climates, it's used to slow down economic growth

If IGR has nothing to do with HDI, what will you say is the cause of Lagos HDI being the highest in Nigeria or UK HDI being higher than Nigeria's? You seem not to realize that high HDI costs money.
Ohafia from the internet has one bank and one hotel.

lawani:
If IGR has nothing to do with HDI, what will you say is the cause of Lagos HDI being the highest in Nigeria or UK HDI being higher than Nigeria's? You seem not to realize that high HDI costs money.
Ohafia from the internet has one bank and one hotel.

APC introduced using IGR to measure success and it strongly believe it will be the death of any state or region that adopts the mentality. HDI cost money but very little of HDI is determined by government. IGR is just how much revenue you raise from taxing. the UAE has an IGR of 0.6 of GDP Ethiopia is at 3.4. Gambia is 18.4. Lesotho has the highest in the world at 37.3.

UAE taxes next to nothing because they want people to shop and sell as much as possible. When the US wants to slow
If a government has free education, and another government charged money for the exact same schools. Who produces the higher IGR? Who provides education to more people? Some states for example can also improve IGR by simplifying tax collection. In the process, nobody's life improves but IGR does.


IGR has 0 coorelation with HDI and development

Ofodirinwa:
APC introduced using IGR to measure success and it strongly believe it will be the death of any state or region that adopts the mentality. HDI cost money but very little of HDI is determined by government. IGR is just how much revenue you raise from taxing. the UAE has an IGR of 0.6 of GDP Ethiopia is at 3.4. Gambia is 18.4. Lesotho has the highest in the world at 37.3.

UAE taxes next to nothing because they want people to shop and sell as much as possible. When the US wants to slow
If a government has free education, and another government charged money for the exact same schools. Who produces the higher IGR? Who provides education to more people? Some states for example can also improve IGR by simplifying tax collection. In the process, nobody's life improves but IGR does.


IGR has 0 coorelation with HDI and development

Tell us of the countries with high HDI who don't have a big budget compared to their population. UAE has a low IGR but they depend on oil money and have a low population so they can have a high HDI. Tell us one country with no free revenue and with say one percent or even five percent tax to GDP ratio and are having a high HDI

lawani:
Tell us of the countries with high HDI who don't have a big budget compared to their population. UAE has a low IGR but they depend on oil money and have a low population so they can have a high HDI. Tell us one country with no free revenue and with say one percent or even five percent tax to GDP ratio and are having a high HDI

you're shifting the goal post. Nigerian states also produce oil so what makes that a disqualifier?

China is 7.0, Mozambique is 21.9, Australia is 23.6, This shows no correlation between IGR with development, economic growth, economic health etc. It just shows how much money the government charges for it's services (assuming services are even delivered after expenses are paid).

Ofodirinwa:
you're shifting the goal post. Nigerian states also produce oil so what makes that a disqualifier?

China is 7.0, Mozambique is 21.9, Australia is 23.6, This shows no correlation between IGR with development, economic growth, economic health etc. It just shows how much money the government charges for it's services (assuming services are even delivered after expenses are paid).

Nigeria produces oil but the huge population offsets it. If we were just ten million then the HDI will be higher even if there is corruption. That is why Libyan HDI must be higher than Nigeria's

What does your figures represent? If tax to GDP then you are wrong for China which I know is around 25 percent and China still makes huge money from state owned companies. They make over 300 billion dollars per annum from state owned companies and that's more than ten times the budget of Nigeria. Their population is not up to ten times of Nigeria. They spend all that money on their people

lawani:
Nigeria produces oil but the huge population offsets it. If we were just ten million then the HDI will be higher even if there is corruption. That is why Libyan HDI must be higher than Nigeria's

What does your figures represent? If tax to GDP then you are wrong for China which I know is around 25 percent and China still makes huge money from state owned companies. They make over 300 billion dollars per annum from state owned companies and that's more than ten times the budget of Nigeria. Their population is not up to ten times of Nigeria. They spend all that money on their people

Staying on topic, I showed you how government revenue size (IGR) does not correlate with level of development. I compared Australia, Mozambique and China. Any three nations can be produced and you will see no connection between the two. There is no correlation. My source is the World Bank: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS?locations=QA&most_recent_value_desc=false

If China decided to cut taxes by 50% to allow those businesses to grow, the businesses revenue and the country's GDP will increase. Government revenue from tax (IGR) will drop 50% to 150 billion. Does that mean China's economy has shrunken? Does it mean China is less developed after the decision? Does it mean the economy has slowed down? In this scenario, IGR has dropped 50%, but based on all known economic models, less tax usually leads to more spending and faster business growth.

In 15 years the states who want to introduce this IGR is a replacement for development idea will see the results of their endevours (slow to no growth due to over and double taxation and government dependence).

Ofodirinwa:
Staying on topic, I showed you how government revenue size (IGR) does not correlate with level of development. I compared Australia, Mozambique and China. Any three nations can be produced and you will see no connection between the two. There is no correlation. My source is the World Bank: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS?locations=QA&most_recent_value_desc=false

If China decided to cut taxes by 50% to allow those businesses to grow, the businesses revenue and the country's GDP will increase. Government revenue from tax (IGR) will drop 50% to 150 billion. Does that mean China's economy has shrunken? Does it mean China is less developed after the decision? Does it mean the economy has slowed down? In this scenario, IGR has dropped 50%, but based on all known economic models, less tax usually leads to more spending and faster business growth.

In 15 years the states who want to introduce this IGR is a replacement for development idea will see the results of their endevours (slow to no growth due to over and double taxation and government dependence).

Government revenue size in comparison with GDP correlates with HDI. High tax to GDP correlates with high HDI. The highest tax to GDP are in western Europe like Sweden and etc and they have high HDI. No country where government revenue is less than ten percent of GDP can have high HDI. Give example of such a country and let's check. If tax to GDP is very low then HDI will be very low unless the government has a very large non tax revenue. Just show one country, mention the country with low tax to GDP say even ten percent that has a high HDI without having a high non tax revenue.

In short there is no developed country where the government does not have a large revenue relative to the GDP. Some are 45 percent of GDP. If there is any mention one

lawani:
Government revenue size in comparison with GDP correlates with HDI. High tax to GDP correlates with high HDI. The highest tax to GDP are in western Europe like Sweden and etc and they have high HDI. No country where government revenue is less than ten percent of GDP can have high HDI. Give example of such a country and let's check. If tax to GDP is very low then HDI will be very low unless the government has a very large non tax revenue. Just show one country, mention the country with low tax to GDP say even ten percent that has a high HDI without having a high non tax revenue.

In short there is no developed country where the government does not have a large revenue relative to the GDP. Some are 45 percent of GDP. If there is any mention one

China 7.0 is not developed?
The United States 11.0 is not developed?

Namibia 33.0 (Third highest)
Denmark 33.4 (Second highest
Lesotho 37.3 (Highest in world)
This means there is no correlation with development and tax rate.

When a person presents data so show that you're wrong, you can present counter data or you can just learn and move on.
Western European countries are largely socialist. They have expensive health care systems and low to no rate for citizens.

Top 5 biggest economies in world GDP percentage gov revenue (IGR)

United States - 11.0
China - 7.0
Germany - 10.9 (Largest, most productive, and best economy in western europe)
India - 6.7
Japan - 11.4

Ofodirinwa:
Top 5 biggest economies in world GDP percentage gov revenue (IGR)

United States - 11.0
China - 7.0
Germany - 10.9 (Largest, most productive, and best economy in western europe)
India - 6.7
Japan - 11.4

Tax to GDP in the US is 25 percent and they still force you to buy health insurance. Don't use federal revenue alone. That is not how it is calculated. China is 20 or 25 percent without considering the non oil revenue from government companies. None is less than 30 to 35 percent in reality if you add everything.

US GDP is like 30 trillion dollars and total government revenue is like 8 trillion dollars. Do the maths

These are the highest in the world shown in the screen shot.

Ofodirinwa:
China 7.0 is not developed?
The United States 11.0 is not developed?

Namibia 33.0 (Third highest)
Denmark 33.4 (Second highest
Lesotho 37.3 (Highest in world)
This means there is no correlation with development and tax rate.

When a person presents data so show that you're wrong, you can present counter data or you can just learn and move on.
Western European countries are largely socialist. They have expensive health care systems and low to no rate for citizens.

All those countries in Africa with high tax to GDP ratio definitely have a higher HDI than any west African country and I don't need to check. It is somehow pedestrian to think a nation spending half it's GDP on its infrastructure, economy and human capital will not be better off than another spending ten percent or less. No free lunch in Free town!

There is no developed country where tax to GDP is less than thirty percent. Don't calculate only federal revenue. The only developed country like that is the USA that has no universal healthcare.

And this is China for 2024 and China isn't really considered as developed

Ofodirinwa:
Top 5 biggest economies in world GDP percentage gov revenue (IGR)

United States - 11.0
China - 7.0
Germany - 10.9 (Largest, most productive, and best economy in western europe)
India - 6.7
Japan - 11.4

To know your data is wrong. See Germany

Don't be deceived. There is no other way for any nation to get ahead other than via cooperation through taxation

lawani:
To know your data is wrong. See Germany

My source is the World Bank, so you would have to check how the Google AI is compiling it's answer, because the World Bank.

Trading Economics - 10.72% (2023)
https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/tax-revenue-percent-of-gdp-wb-data.html

World Population Review - 11.01 (2026)
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/tax-to-gdp-ratio-by-country

lawani:
Don't be deceived. There is no other way for any nation to get ahead other than via cooperation through taxation

Then why does Lesotho tax more intensely than China?
Taxes are important but the tax rate is not connected to development. Rather, it is the governments strategy and choice for it's own specific needs. China is productive, less taxes keep it that way, Finland and Lesthod are not productive (comparatively), so it uses government services to fill the gaps. Both countries are developed, both tax according to what makes sense for them.

Ofodirinwa:
Then why does Lesotho tax more intensely than China?
Taxes are important but the tax rate is not connected to development. Rather, it is the governments strategy and choice for it's own specific needs. China is productive, less taxes keep it that way, Finland and Lesthod are not productive (comparatively), so it uses government services to fill the gaps. Both countries are developed, both tax according to what makes sense for them.

You ask why Lesotho is taking tax? Isn't it obvious it is to develop their country? Then most African countries are just starting and the effect will not be felt instantly. However it is a free world and nobody can force policy on any country and if you succeed at something as a country then others will learn from you. You can contest elections, win and try to be the first developed country with high HDI and negligible taxation.

Just remember that the average tax to GDP ratio for the OECD is over 33 percent

I have already shown that Ogun and Lagos that have high IGR also have the highest HDI. Then the next question is why is a state like say Imo having a higher HDI than say Oyo? In my opinion it boils down to FAAC allocations which is also revenue. NIN shows Oyo is more than double Imo in population but is the allocation double? Answer is No and that will tell on the HDI since both states don't do enough IGR.