Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, has proposed a groundbreaking N500 trillion national budget target for Nigeria by 2027, calling on the federal government to adopt a bold and unconventional approach to development.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS following the release of his policy report Governance and Economic Analysis and Forecast 2025, Agbakoba acknowledged that while the target may appear ambitious, it is attainable if Nigeria breaks away from its traditional mode of governance.
“For the past 60 to 70 years, we’ve had development plans that haven’t delivered real results,” he said. “What I’m proposing is a completely disruptive development strategy.”
Agbakoba argued that Nigeria’s challenge isn’t a lack of resources, but rather poor management of its abundant potential. He urged sweeping structural reforms in both political and economic governance, beginning with a drastic reduction in the size of the federal government.
“There’s no way Nigeria can thrive unless it overhauls its current political structure,” he stated. “The federal government is bloated. If the U.S. operates with 16 departments, Nigeria shouldn’t have more than 10.”
He also stressed the need for decentralization, advocating for power and economic responsibility to be devolved to state and local governments to turn them into productive, revenue-generating bodies.
On the oil sector, Agbakoba criticized the outsourcing of Nigeria’s oil production to foreign companies, insisting that Nigeria must reclaim ownership and control to ensure that the bulk of oil revenue remains within the country.
“Nigeria is one of the few countries that hands over its oil operations to foreign firms. We must own our oil infrastructure so that 80 to 90 percent of oil wealth stays in Nigeria. Currently, it’s less than 10 percent,” he said.
He praised recent improvements under the leadership of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Chairman Zacch Adedeji, citing Nigeria’s revenue growth from N9 trillion to N50 trillion, with projections heading toward N100 trillion.
Agbakoba concluded with optimism, saying Nigeria can transform its economy through courageous, forward-thinking reforms.
“It’s entirely possible — it just requires doing things differently,” he said.
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