Revenue beyond Oil Reliance: Can Nigeria Leverage Non-oil Tax Revenue for Inclusive and Pro-poor Growth?

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to empirically examine the possibility for Nigeria to leverage non-oil tax revenue for inclusive and pro-poor growth. This is done through an analysis of quarterly data on oil tax revenue and non-oil tax revenue factors spanning 2011-2016. The study adopts Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) estimation strategy in order to make inferences. The results of our analysis show that non-oil tax revenue has a positive contribution to inclusive growth in Nigeria than oil revenue. Based on this empirical evidence, non-oil tax revenue has the potential of aiding sustainable inclusive growth in Nigeria; hence the economy of Nigeria should be diversified intensively to increasingly harness the potential opportunities of the real sectors where non-oil tax revenue is generated in order to attain sustainable inclusive and pro-poor growth.