The piece written by Chioma Amaryllis Ahaghotu and, as the response by Chief Osita Chidoka, Ike Obosi on whether the South-East “creates most of the wealth” in other regions is timely and necessary. It touches on identity, fairness, and the structure of Nigeria’s economy. Ahaghotu challenges the popular narrative using value-added tax data, arguing that emotional economics often hides uncomfortable truths. Chidoka agrees with her on the surface but adds that the real problem is national underproduction, not just regional imbalance.
Both perspectives are valid, but the current data show that the South-East occupies a more complex place in Nigeria’s economic picture than either side fully admits.
The Numbers and What They Mean
Available fiscal data show that in 2024, the entire South-East contributed around ₦101 billion to Nigeria’s value-added tax pool while receiving more than ₦341 billion in value-added tax allocations. That means the region received about three times what it contributed. In the same period, the South-West, driven by Lagos, contributed well over ₦3 trillion, while the South-South contributed over ₦1 trillion.
A widely cited breakdown of value-added tax collection for the first quarter of 2025 shows that Lagos alone contributed over ₦819 billion, more than all 35 other states combined, underscoring how heavily Nigeria’s tax system leans on a few locations for formal revenue. This difference reflects structural advantages, not necessarily effort or economic value. Lagos’s dominance exists partly because corporate headquarters, seaports, and key federal agencies are based there, so value-added tax is recorded in Lagos even when the underlying activity is national.
One statistic on internally generated revenue is particularly striking: Enugu State generated about ₦180.50 billion in internally generated revenue in 2024, more than the combined internally generated revenue of all six North-East states. That single data point shows that a South-East state can, with the right policies and incentives, outperform an entire geopolitical zone on internal revenue capacity.
The Informal Economy: Wealth Without Visibility
A recent informal economy report shows that 33 percent of Nigeria’s informal businesses are located in the South-West, 19 percent in the South-South, 16 percent in the North-Central, 13 percent in the North-West, 12 percent in the South-East, and 6 percent in the North-East. At first glance, the South-East’s 12 percent share may seem modest, but it reflects a dense network of high-mobility traders and entrepreneurs who often operate across state lines.
These South-Eastern traders, artisans, and small manufacturers are visible in markets across Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and beyond. Yet the taxes from their activities are usually booked in those host states, not in their home communities. In other words, the South-East exports human capital and entrepreneurial energy, but the existing tax structure credits much of that value to other regions. The result is a mismatch between where effort originates and where revenue is recorded.
Household-level data deepen this picture. Using recent demographic and health survey data, analysts have shown that about 30 percent of residents in the South-East fall within Nigeria’s richest 20 percent, placing the zone third after the South-West at about 54.9 percent and the South-South at about 40.5 percent. This suggests that the region’s strength lies in private wealth, mobility, and skills rather than in a concentration of large, tax-heavy corporations.
Education, Opportunity, and Rising Capacity
Education is one of the clearest indicators of future economic strength. According to World Bank-supported figures, school attendance among children aged 4 to 6 stands at about 95.9 percent in the South-East, second only to the South-West’s 97.4 percent and ahead of every northern zone by a wide margin. This is not a sentimental claim; it is a measurable investment in human capital.
On student loans, recent breakdowns of applications to the national student loan scheme show that the South-East recorded the lowest number of applicants by zone as of 2025, with just over 43,000 applications compared to more than 227,000 from the North-West and nearly 199,000 from the North-East. This may reflect several dynamics at once: stronger reliance on family and community funding, lower awareness of the scheme, or a different pattern of educational migration. Whatever the mix, it again underscores that the South-East’s story cannot be reduced to one value-added tax figure or one redistribution statistic.
Turning Enterprise into Industrial Power
None of this means the South-East is where it should be. Both Ahaghotu and Chidoka are right to insist that real economic contribution is measured by production, scale, and formal value creation. Large corporate headquarters remain scarce in the South-East, manufacturing remains thin relative to its potential, and infrastructure deficits in power and logistics continue to suppress taxable activity.
To move from hustle to scale, three priorities are urgent:
* Build integrated industrial and technology parks around hubs like Aba, Nnewi, Onitsha, and Enugu, linked to rail and highways.
* Convert diaspora remittances and private wealth into pooled investment vehicles that fund factories, processing plants, and export-oriented services instead of only real estate.
* Forge a coordinated South-East economic compact where all five states harmonize taxes, improve ease of doing business, and deliberately court both local and foreign investors.
The Bigger Picture
The data that Ahaghotu and Chidoka have put on the table, reinforced by independent trackers and public fiscal reports, are useful because they strip away comforting myths. They show that the South-East currently receives more value-added tax than it contributes, that Lagos is the country’s value-added tax workhorse, and that only a handful of states give more to the national value-added tax pool than they take out.
Yet the same data also show something else. Enugu’s exceptional internally generated revenue performance, the South-East’s high child school attendance, and the relatively high share of its residents in the richest 20 percent all point to a region that is not weak, but undercounted and under-leveraged. The issue is not whether the South-East “creates most of the wealth” in other regions, but how to ensure that the wealth its people generate, wherever they are, is translated into visible, scalable, and taxable value at home.
When policy finally meets the energy of its people, the South-East will not need to argue with anyone about who creates what. The numbers, from official fiscal reports to independent data dashboards, will speak for themselves.
Maazi Tochukwu Ezeoke, writes from Awka, Anambra State.
