An Industrialist, Mr Godwin Ezeemo has called on residents of Anambra to see tax payment as a way of taking the state to enviable levels
Ezeemo made the call on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka.
He said 25 years after creation, the state was expected to have developed beyond its present stage in infrastructure bearing in mind the number of revenue windows available to it.
Ezeemo said that Anambra was one out of 36 states of the federation endowed with both human and mineral resources, enough to develop the state if all revenues were well-sourced and harnessed.
“Prompt tax payment is one crucial tool Europe is using to create meaningful standard of living for its citizens.
“They do not have half the natural resources we have, but little tax payments made by its citizens are paying off well for them,’’ he said.
He said that the government should ensure it draws revenue from tax collection by engaging honest tax collectors so as to uplift the living standard of the citizenry.
Ezeemo said if the taxes were well harnessed, the youth would be meaningfully engaged.
“Sports ministry could be well-developed for talented youths as not everybody must be a graduate in medicine or pharmacy.’’
An Awka resident, Mrs Ifeoma Okafor, who also spoke to NAN, said that although the state had grown more, development was needed.
“As a seamstress, I relocated from Lagos in 2000 and 16 years down the line, lots of issues still do not go right. I pay my state levies but most times the reasons why we are billed is not addressed.
“This shows that the government has not fine-tuned its system of tax collection like it is being done in Lagos,’’ she said.