Kaduna Gets First Women-Led Market Tax Clinics
By Uangbaoje Alex, Kaduna
Kaduna State has recorded a major milestone in informal sector tax education following the conclusion of a two-day Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop on record-keeping and compliance with Nigeria’s new tax reforms, which also drove increased National Identification Number (NIN) registration among women traders.
The workshop, organised under the Tax Justice and Governance Platform (TJ&GP) with support from Christian Aid and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), is being described as the first initiative of its kind at the subnational level in Nigeria. It focused on strengthening the capacity of women in the informal market sector to understand simple business record-keeping and engage confidently with tax and identification processes.
Using practical, market-based examples, facilitators trained participants on how to track daily sales, expenses, stock purchases, and profits. Sessions also clarified the differences between taxes, levies, and fees, and guided traders on separating business funds from personal spending and keeping basic proof of payments to protect themselves from multiple taxation and harassment.
A major outcome of the workshop was the establishment of nine women-led tax clinics across key markets in Kaduna State. According to the TJ&GP State Coordinator, Simeon Olatunde, the clinics were set up as trusted peer-support points where market women can access accurate information on record-keeping, legitimate tax processes, and compliance-related concerns.
Olatunde also noted that the training led to a strong uptake in NIN registration, with many women successfully completing their registration during or immediately after the workshop, reflecting growing confidence in navigating formal systems that were previously seen as complex or intimidating.
“This training was designed around what happens in the market every day. Once women understood the process, many of them took immediate steps to register their NIN and organise their business records properly,” Olatunde said, adding that the clinics will help sustain these gains at the market level.
One of the participants, Augustina Adukun, Deputy Director of Chukwu Local Government Market in Sabo Market, said the training had a direct and practical impact on her business and leadership role in the market.
She explained that she was able to register for her NIN by herself using her mobile phone, an achievement she attributed to the clarity of the training. Adukun said the knowledge gained has empowered her to assist other women in her market who lack the confidence or information to complete the process.
Beyond identification, she added that learning proper record-keeping has helped traders clearly understand profit and loss and separate business income from personal expenses, a shift she described as critical for business growth.
Organisers said the women-led tax clinics will sustain the impact of the training through step-down sessions and peer-learning activities within the markets. They added that the initiative is expected to improve voluntary compliance, reduce exploitation, and strengthen trust between informal traders and tax authorities, while contributing to broader goals of transparency and accountability.
