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As we approach October 1, Nigeria’s Independence Day, I have decided that this column will, for a moment, take a pause from our previous discussions and turn our attention to the meaning of the independence we have celebrated for so many years.
This article by our London contributor and co-writer, Akin Olukiran, is therefore not a departure from the conversation we have been having, but an opportunity to look at Nigeria from another angle as we approach another anniversary of our independence. It is an eye-opener and, hopefully, a moment for reflection on the country we inherited, the country we have built and the country we are still trying to build.
The question of wealth, responsibility and what we leave behind for the next generation is particularly relevant at a time when we pause to reflect on where Nigeria stands today and what independence should mean to all of us. After this Independence Day reflection, we will return to our previous series and continue from where we stopped.
In inviting co-writers and contributors to this column, I have always insisted on creating a conversation that brings together people of different races, tribes and religions to reason together for the good of all, without infringing on the views of others or imposing my own opinion on the issues being discussed.
For the past decade that I have written this column, I have had the privilege of working with contributors and co-writers, both young and old, from different parts of Nigeria. Some have also joined the conversation from Europe, the United States of America and even Australia. What has remained important to me is that everyone should have the freedom to express their thoughts, challenge ideas and contribute to a wider understanding of the issues that affect our society.
For now, however, I invite you to read our London-based contributor and co-writer, Akin Olukiran, whose contribution raises important questions about wealth, responsibility, patriotism and the Nigeria we hope to leave behind for those coming after us. He has chosen to look at these questions from a particularly important angle as we approach another Independence Day. What follows is Akin’s contribution, in his own words:
Nigerian billionaires and the responsibility of transfering wealth to the next generation
By Akin Olukiran
A few weeks ago, I read in the UK newspaper, The Independent, with no small
measure of admiration that Gary Lineker, the former English footballer, had joined more than 100 British millionaires and billionaires in making an extraordinary appeal to the British Government. Their request was not for tax relief or additional fiscal concessions. Quite the contrary. They were voluntarily asking to be taxed more because, in their considered judgment, they had both the means and the responsibility to contribute a greater proportion of their wealth to the common good.
I was incredulous.
Yes, they were asking to pay higher taxes. At first sight, such a proposition may appear almost quixotic at a time when sophisticated tax avoidance schemes have become commonplace among the wealthy. Yet the significance of their intervention lies not only in what they were asking for, but also in the circumstances in which their fortunes were created. These are individuals whose wealth was, by and large, accumulated through enterprise, talent, intellectual capital, investment and years of hard work.
Gary Lineker and Richard Curtis, two of the signatories to the initiative, are estimated to have fortunes of approximately £30 million and £24 million respectively. There are, of course, ordinary Nigerian public servants whose accumulated wealth is reputed to exceed those figures by considerable margins. Yet the willingness of these British millionaires to accept greater taxation raises an important question about the relationship between wealth and responsibility.
In a letter endorsed by more than 100 wealthy Britons, they declared: “We want you to tax us. We can afford it.” They made it clear that their appeal was directed at the wealthiest members of society, whose income and financial security are derived substantially from the assets they hold. They went further, calling for a fairer system of taxation and describing it as part of their contribution to building a better Britain.
Behind that position lies a simple but important understanding of the social contract.
Wealth does not exist entirely in isolation. It grows within an environment supported by institutions, infrastructure, the rule of law, education, security and economic stability. Those who benefit most from that environment also have a responsibility to help sustain it.
This is where the comparison with Nigeria becomes difficult to ignore.
How does one reconcile such an attitude to wealth with the realities of a country where some public office holders have emerged from relatively short periods in government with fortunes reportedly running into hundreds of billions of naira? How can legitimate salaries and allowances account for such extraordinary accumulation of wealth?
The question is not about wealth itself. It is about how the wealth was acquired.
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There is something particularly troubling when enormous fortunes are accumulated through public office and then displayed with little apparent regard for the circumstances of the society from which those resources came. Convoys become longer, houses become more extravagant, private aircraft become symbols of status, while millions of Nigerians continue to struggle with poverty, unemployment, inadequate infrastructure and limited opportunities. But the problem goes beyond ostentatious displays of wealth. Perhaps more damaging is what happens to the money afterwards.
Instead of being invested in productive activities that could support industrialization, agriculture, technology, manufacturing and employment, enormous amounts of capital are moved abroad, placed in foreign jurisdictions or invested in luxury properties and other assets outside the country. When this happens on a large scale, the consequences are felt throughout the economy.
Capital that could have supported domestic investment leaves the country.
Government revenue is weakened when taxes are avoided or evaded. Corruption distorts the allocation of public resources, while rent-seeking discourages those who are trying to build businesses through genuine enterprise. The result is an economy in which wealth becomes increasingly concentrated while opportunity becomes increasingly difficult to access. This, however, should not be mistaken for an argument against wealth or against wealthy Nigerians.
Nigeria has produced remarkable entrepreneurs, industrialists and business leaders who have created companies, generated employment, paid taxes and supported education, healthcare and other social causes. Their success demonstrates what private enterprise can contribute to national development.
The real concern is a system that rewards value extraction more than value creation.
There is an important difference between a billionaire whose fortune has been built through factories, technology, manufacturing, agriculture, exports and other productive enterprises, and one whose wealth has come through inflated contracts, political connections, regulatory manipulation or the misuse of public resources.
The first creates new economic value and expands opportunities for others. The second takes from the commonwealth without creating comparable value in return.
This distinction becomes even more important when we consider the question of what happens to wealth after the first generation has accumulated it.
The responsibility of a wealthy Nigerian should not end with providing houses, cars and financial security for his or her children. The greater responsibility is to ensure that the wealth is transferred in a manner that creates lasting opportunities for the next generation and, beyond the family, contributes to the development of the wider society.
A fortune can disappear within one generation when it is simply consumed. It can also become an instrument of national development when it is properly structured and invested in businesses, education, technology, agriculture, industry and other productive ventures. This is where succession planning becomes important. Wealth that has taken decades to build can be destroyed remarkably quickly when the next generation inherits assets without inheriting the discipline, knowledge and values required to preserve them.
The real legacy of a billionaire, therefore, should not be measured only by the size of the estate left behind. It should also be measured by what that wealth continues to produce after the founder is gone: the businesses that remain productive, the jobs that continue to exist, the institutions that survive, the young people who receive opportunities and the communities that benefit from the investment.
Patriotism cannot be reduced to speeches on Independence Day, displays of national colours or declarations of love for Nigeria. It is reflected in the practical decisions people make with the opportunities and resources available to them. For those who have accumulated extraordinary wealth, that responsibility is even greater.
Paying the appropriate taxes, creating sustainable employment, investing in productive enterprises, supporting education and healthcare, and building institutions that can outlive their founders are all ways in which wealth can serve a larger purpose.
The example of wealthy Britons asking their government to tax them more therefore raises a question that Nigeria cannot easily avoid: what does it mean to be wealthy in a country where so many people still struggle to meet their basic needs?
Nigeria does not need fewer successful people. It needs more wealth that is genuinely created, more businesses that survive beyond their founders, more capital invested in productive activities and more wealthy Nigerians who understand that their success carries responsibilities beyond themselves and their immediate families.
The highest expression of wealth is not necessarily the ability to acquire more luxury. It is the ability to use what one has accumulated to create opportunities that remain long after the money itself has changed hands.
A nation is strengthened when wealth creates more wealth, when success opens doors for others and when one generation prepares the next not merely to inherit property, but to inherit the knowledge and responsibility required to preserve and multiply it.
May the Almighty Creator bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria and inspire those who have accumulated extraordinary wealth to recognise that prosperity carries responsibilities not only to the next generation, but also to the society within which that prosperity became possible.
