Taxation Shouldn’t Punish The Poor, Katsina Bishop Tells Federal Govt

Bishop of the Katsina Catholic Diocese, Most Reverend Gerald Mamman Musa, has urged the federal government to provide targeted support for farmers and rural workers, and to strengthen micro, small, and medium enterprises through grants and soft loans in the spirit of this year’s Christmas season.

He also cautioned the government to avoid taxes that lack a human and compassionate face, asking them to recover revenue lost to illegal mining, oil theft, reckless borrowing, and waste, and cut government excesses before tightening belts for the poor.

Bishop Musa, in his Christmas Message titled “Let Peace Be Born Again In Nigeria,” which he delivered at a press conference on Wednesday at the Katsina Catholic Church, said that taxation must not become a punishment for being poor.

“Public funds are being quietly redirected into political machinery while communities continue to cry out for food, security, and jobs. Such leaders must remember that God came among the poor, not the powerful, and that a government that ignores the weak contradicts the very spirit of Christmas.

“In the light of this, Christmas urges us to remember the poor—the farmers, market women, artisans, self-employed citizens, and the small business owners who form the backbone of the Nigerian economy.

“These groups continue to suffer from insecurity, inflation, and the ripple effects of the removal of fuel subsidy.

“The government must therefore provide targeted support for farmers and rural workers, strengthen micro, small, and medium enterprises through grants and soft loans, avoid taxes that lack a human and compassionate face, recover revenue lost to illegal mining, oil theft, reckless borrowing, and waste, and cut government excesses before tightening belts for the poor. Taxation must not become a punishment for being poor.”

Moving from the religious sphere to the political, Most Reverend Musa revealed that Christmas offers a sober reminder to those in leadership that divide-and-rule is the strategy of tyrants, not shepherds.

“Leadership is not a chessboard to be manipulated but a sacred trust to be honoured. Furthermore, it is troubling that in our beloved nation, some individuals have turned themselves into instruments of darkness,” he noted.

“Equally concerning is the behaviour of many political actors who, amid deepening hardship, have already abandoned governance for early campaigns ahead of the 2027 elections,” the Bishop said.

The cleric lamented that public funds are being quietly redirected into political machinery while communities continue to cry out for food, security, and jobs.

“Most Reverend Musa said that kidnapping, banditry, assassination, and organised violence have become profitable ventures for a few at the expense of the many.

“Let it be known clearly: no one profits from blood without inviting judgment upon themselves. To those who enrich themselves through the tears of farmers, traders, travellers, and vulnerable citizens, Scripture declares emphatically: “There is no peace for the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22),” the preacher said.

“Compounding this tragedy is the growing presence of foreign miners who have come not as partners but as predators—looting our mineral wealth while igniting conflicts that dispossess our people.

“Another African proverb captures this reality well: ‘When the visitor begins to harvest more than the host, something is wrong.’

“Nigeria must protect its children before protecting its minerals, and must ensure that its land, its resources, and its future are not auctioned to those who exploit rather than uplift.”