Nigeria, Feb. 2 -- If you can, however briefly, ignore the debate over whether, in its policymaking, the federal government should see Nigerians as citizens rather than as taxpayers, then, the Tinubu government's tax reform has simply moved the local conversation around how to make the domestic economy work to concern over the sustainability of government's revenue streams. At about 6.7 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), as against an average of 18.8 per cent for the rest of the continent, Nigeria's tax take compared with other countries would suggest that a paucity of funds is one of our government's biggest problems.

Yet, pay careful attention to the financial canvas painted by the fortunes of the national oil corporation (t...