The Emmanuel Orjih’s essay being circulated is rhetorically powerful, but its “simplicity” is achieved by subtracting the very provisions that determine the outcome. That is not clarity; it is selective accounting.
Let’s dismantle the argument on its own terms —calmly, sequentially, and with arithmetic that actually follows the law.
1) The core confusion: pension and health insurance are not taxes —they are deductible contributions
A tax is a compulsory payment to government for general public purposes with no direct ownership claim by the payer.
A pension contribution is a deferred wage placed in a worker’s Retirement Savings Account —owned by the worker, regulated by law, and paid out to the worker later. Under Nigeria’s contributory pension framework, the employee contribution is commonly 8% (with an employer minimum contribution alongside it).
Likewise, national health insurance contributions/premiums are risk-pooling payments for defined health coverage, not a general revenue levy; and (crucially) they are among the items treated as deductions in personal income tax computations.
So when someone frames pension/health insurance as “proof the poor are being taxed,” they are committing a category error:
• A deduction is not a tax.
• A contribution you own (pension) is not a levy you lose.
• A premium that buys coverage is not a payment for “government enjoyment.”
If anything, the presence of these deductions is evidence of an attempt —however imperfect— to avoid taxing the portion of income being set aside for welfare/insurance.
2) The decisive arithmetic the essay avoids: the ₦800,000 tax-free threshold
Under the new regime described in multiple reputable summaries, the first ₦800,000 of annual income is taxed at 0%.
That is not a footnote. That is the hinge.
Now apply it to “Joseph”:
Monthly income: ₦75,000
• Annual income: ₦75,000 × 12 = ₦900,000
Under a system where the first ₦800,000 is taxed at 0%, Joseph is not “squarely inside” some punitive bracket. He is ₦100,000 above the zero band.
Even before deductions, the portion potentially exposed to tax is ₦100,000 per year.
If the next band is taxed at 15% (as these summaries indicate), then Joseph’s gross annual PIT exposure is:
• ₦100,000 × 15% = ₦15,000 per year
• ₦1,250 per month
Now add pension:
If Joseph contributes pension at 8% (even using the essay’s own assumption), that is:
• 8% × ₦900,000 = ₦72,000 in pension contributions annually (simplified)
That reduces the portion above ₦800,000 from ₦100,000 to ₦28,000. Tax becomes:
• ₦28,000 × 15% = ₦4,200 per year
• ₦350 per month
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