THE IMPORTANCE OF EQUITABLE ALLOCATION OF REVENUE RESOURCES IN NIGERIA

Proposal on the importance of Equitable Allocation of Revenue Resources in Nigeria.

Equitable Allocation of Revenue are allocation given to air economy to reduce inequalities among them, as regard to the financial resources available in the country.

The factors that should be considered to ensure rational allocation of revenue are population, size, wealth and level of development. The allocation of revenue based on these factors above will help the economy to attain economic growth and development, which is the most important thing in any successful economy. The need for allocation of revenue arises because of such inequalities.

When revenue resources are equitably distributed to various sectors of economy, there are benefits that could be achieved:

Enhancement of standard of living:

If the revenue resources are equitably allocated in a given economy, the standard of living in such area will increase.

Development: Since economic growth and development depend on the available resources, the more resources are fairly allocated in the economy, the more the level of development.  The resources could be used in the provision of good roads, health care delivery services, electricity etc.

Employment opportunities: Employment are created to the masses when allocation of resources are used in the provision of infrastructural facilities.

Poverty alleviation: This is a mean by which poverty are eliminated in a given country.  It is done by any sector of economy. This could be made possible if proper allocation is made to the sector.

The sources of Revenue in Nigeria are:

Taxation: This is a compulsory levy paid by individual to government from their earnings.

Agriculture:  This is the major sources of revenue to the government before the invention of petroleum production on the economy.

Rent:  Here, the state and federal government generate a huge sum of money from the use of its poverty by masses.

Specific charges: These are fees charged by the government in attempt to forgive an offence committed.  There are also other fee charged by the government such as vehicle license fees, market fees etc.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Revenue allocation in a federal community like Nigeria, may be describe as an attempt by the central government to reduce the inequalities among its different units, as regard to the financial resources available in the country.

Within the economy, there are several possible inequalities such as population, size, wealth, level of development etc. All these factors should be put into consideration to ensure rational allocation of revenue resources not only to various unit of the  economy but also to the various sectors of the economy which will definitely lead the economy to the attainment of economic growth and development which are the most indispensable elements that should be attained in any successful economy. The need for revenue   allocation arises mainly because of such inequalities  on the financial  resources available to the relatively rein units of government as well as the relatively poor units.  In Nigeria, some states are far better than some other states in terms of  development therefore, in allocating revenue resources, the authority should put in place certain persuasions  which will lead to equitable allocation of fund and avoidance of the ideas of maginalization in the country at large.  Development is one of the  factors that compels people in some communities to lay false statement of being marginalized  by the government. Nigeria is a democratic state that is made up multi- ethnic groups which requires a tolerable measure in revenue resources allocation to every state of community in Nigeria.

1.1     OBJECTIVE/ PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

In Nigeria, revenue allocation has been a controversial issue for many years. As a result of this prevailing issue, the writer comes up with this study in order to recommend some favourable solutions which   be adopted in allocating revenue resources to the various  sectors of the economy.

However, it further recommends certain machineries for proper implementation of the suggested solutions. These machineries could be corporate bodies of individuals who are capable of carrying the task to the grass root so as to enable the aim of the study  to be accomplished.