Potential contribution that you'll make to international development if you're awarded a scholarship

COMMONWEALTH DEVELOPMENT IMPACT

[i]Commonwealth Scholarships in the UK are funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). An important selection criterion is the potential contribution that you will make to international development if you are awarded a scholarship.

I am in the process of submitting my application and will appreciate it if my development impact essay is reviewed. Thank you!!!

The Nigerian economy experienced a near collapse due to the rapid decrease in the price and demand for petroleum over the last few years. The Nigerian government, since crude oil was discovered in 1956, has heavily relied on crude oil sales proceed as a primary income source thus neglecting other sources of income stipulated in the constitution.

Also, the rising cost of governance has in no way alleviated this challenge, thus making it of necessity for the government to consider new alternatives in raising funds or to become aggressive and creative in the collection of revenue from existing sources. One of these sources being tax.

Tax is the most certain and consistent source of income because every government possesses the inherent power to impose and collect tax. It is because of this that Benjamin Franklin's aphorism that, "In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes" can be considered to be valid. Any government particular about economic growth and development will ensure that the tax system put in place is effective and efficient.

Promoting economic development in low and middle income countries is key to advocating global prosperity. I share a similar view with the Department for International Development that, a major way to foster economic development in developing countries like Nigeria is to encourage raising revenue internally. Tax being the most important though traditional source of finance.

The government has since adopted several strategies to harness the benefits of tax. However, the use of tax professionals have not been emphasized. For this reason, I embarked on researching the role of tax consultants in tax revenue generation in my final year, and decided to study for a master's degree in accounting and finance with the aim of specializing in tax.

When I return home, I will make the findings of my dissertation available to the government, so that they can be incorporated into the existing revenue generating strategies. I anticipate that the 10-year period following their implementation will cause tax revenue to increase exponentially.

The Nigerian government is the first beneficiary of my proposed research. When the government is able to raise more funds internally, infrastructures will be developed to encourage foreign investments in Nigeria which in turn will translate to good roads, constant power supply, reduction in the unemployment rate which among other issues are the major challenges of the average Nigerian.

By publishing research articles and authoring taxation texts, I hope to enrich the educational curriculum on taxation. These will make resources available to future researchers and also aid the understanding of taxation in educational institutions.

I will collaborate with the Department for International Development (DFID) as a means of ensuring that the impact of my work is measured by the Commission. In conjunction with the DFID, I will conduct tax training and seminars on contemporary tax issues for the staff of the tax authorities. I also expect that I will be able to provide my expertise towards tax policy development.

Akinsulire, your essay has the ability to respond to all the talking points of the prompt except one. You are not addressing the prompt instruction with regards to: How your proposed study relates to your chosen CSC Theme - Promoting Global Prosperity Without a direct response to this question, your presentation comes across as incomplete. I believe that you should free up the word count in your essay to give you room to fully discuss that topic by editing your first 2 paragraphs. Consolidate the discussion topics from the two paragraphs so that you will have room to represent the aforementioned prompt requirement in the middle of the essay. I would simplify that presentation by saying:

Nigeria became fully reliant on the oil trade for its economic survival in 1956. It has never veered from that path, which is why now that the need for oil worldwide is slowing down, our economy has followed suit. Due to the lack of attention to the development of internal economic sources, Nigeria finds itself at a crossroad that could easily be overcome through proper taxation and collection of locally based industries and foreign company investments in the country. I hope to help resolve this issue by becoming a taxation expert. Hence my desire to seek a masters degree in the field of (name of course).

By consolidating the meaning of the 2 paragraphs, you can now explain how your study can relate to "Promoting Global Prosperity"

You should also try to devote time to explaining what your dissertation will be about as a part of the study plan presentation. You should at least be clear about what the topic will be, the type of research you will complete, and how it can have an international application in the future. These specific information should remove the generalized and non-directed information in the essay to help it become more focused and content relevant with suitable possible applications on a national and international scale evident in your final copy.

Thank you Holt for your honest review. I will put into consideration your suggestions in my final copy and revert back.

I don't think I understand what you mean by "Due to the lack of attention to the development of internal economic sources, Nigeria finds itself at a crossroad that could easily be overcome through proper taxation and collection of locally based industries and foreign company investments in the country."

If possible, please shed some light on that phrase.

Thank you.

What I meant to say was that with the collection of proper taxes from local businesses, Nigeria can increase their income. Tax collection is the major way that almost all countries collect revenue from businesses. Therefore, by collecting local taxes, and placing a higher tax on foreign businesses coming into the country, Nigeria will be able to increase its government income. The increase in government income through tax collection will be the main form of government income that will be able to plug the hole created by the decrease in oil production and oil sales.

You said Nigeria did not look to other avenues for income creation so the tax market was not fully developed. I was merely pointing out the areas of tax collection that could be further developed in that statement. You don't have to use that statement which I gave as an example. That would be plagiarism if your paper is scanned and my version comes up in the search. You have to come up with your own explanation of that sentence based on the expanded explanation I have just given you.