Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN)
Senior Partner and Head of the Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practice group at Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has stated that Nigeria ought to hit a N500 trillion budget yearly by 2030 if the twin efforts of tax and governance revenue are escalated.
He also stated that the possibility of hitting a N100 trillion budget by 2026 is a viable possibility.
This comes as the national budget for 2025 reached N47.9 trillion, which the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) says is the lowest the country has had since 2018 in dollar terms.
According to the SAN, to achieve N500 trillion by 2030, bureaucratic procedures must give way to practical outcomes, and there should be strong leadership.
He noted in a statement that there should be an easing of hardship in the land through quantitative easing and big-ticket palliatives, so that all fees are waived at primary and secondary schools, and healthcare is made free like the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK.
Agbakoba added that more imaginative palliatives are urgently needed to cushion the impact of the tough correction in progress.
“I have always recommended a department of efficiency, innovation, and transformation to cut waste. Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk to perform this task in the US. Part of the success of Margaret Thatcher was her Efficiency Office.
“There is far too much waste of government resources in Nigeria that an effective efficiency strategy can cut significantly. We need to see substantial borrowing to get manufacturing off the ground. There will be no production if we don’t cut waste and consumption. I look forward, therefore, to a lean government shedding excess weight by the federal government unloading power to states and local governments,” he said.
He urged the government to let go of its unnecessary hold on education.
He added: “The decades of underfunding of ASUU may be resolved by making education autonomous of tight government control. I believe an effective and efficient government can deliver