Olisa Agbakoba, (SAN) legal luminary and former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, has called for a radical shift in Nigeria’s development strategy.
In a detailed letter dated April 22, 2025, the senior lawyer said that he recognises legal policy as the engine room of economic growth and a necessary condition for achieving a ₦500 trillion national budget by 2026/2027.
The bold policy proposal letter, addressed through Hadiza Bala Usman, Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, is titled “Governance and Economic Analysis and Forecast 2025: To Succeed, Nigeria Needs Innovation and Efficiency to Create a ₦500 Trillion Budget for 2026/2027.”
It outlines a compelling vision of legal reform as the cornerstone of Nigeria’s economic transformation.
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“There exists a commonly held view that legal policy plays no role in economic development. We respectfully submit that this perspective is fundamentally flawed, “Agbakoba said.
He argued that despite Nigeria’s abundant natural resources and financial capacity, the absence of a solid legal infrastructure continued to stifle progress.
According to him, “No volume of investment or capital could compensate for weak legal systems that fail to protect property rights, enforce contracts, and deter corruption.
“Without robust legal and institutional frameworks, meaningful development remains elusive.
“The quality of institutions is not merely a peripheral factor but a central pillar in fostering sustainable growth,” he added.
Citing development experts such as Professor Mancur Olson, Hernando de Soto, and the duo of Acemoglu and Robinson, Agbakoba anchors his policy submission in decades of respected academic work.
Quoting Olson, he reminded the President that development will not occur unless legal analysis is taken into account.
“Olson’s work proves that traditional economic theories focusing on capital, land, and labour alone cannot explain why some nations thrive while others fail. It is the strength of institutions that matters most,” Agbakoba wrote.
He further referenced de Soto’s The Mystery of Capital to underscore why Nigeria still struggles with a dysfunctional mortgage system:
“De Soto explains that while a house has physical value, its conceptual value lies in property law. Without legal frameworks, Nigeria cannot access the estimated $6 trillion in dormant housing assets that could be converted into economic capital.”
Turning to the powerful thesis of Why Nations Fail, Agbakoba stressed: “Acemoglu and Robinson convincingly show that inclusive institutions—those that promote competition, innovation, and secure private property—are what separate successful economies from failing ones.”
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In his view, Nigeria’s economic transformation is impossible without confronting the legal void that undermines confidence in governance and markets.
“Legal policy is not a technical side issue—it is central to economic performance. Legal reforms make economic reforms credible, enforceable, and attractive to investors,” he added.
He urged President Tinubu to act decisively by embracing a new development model that places legal and institutional reform at the heart of economic planning.
“We respectfully request Your Excellency’s attention to our policy document, which provides a detailed roadmap for integrating legal policy reforms with economic transformation strategies. “We believe this approach will revolutionize Nigeria’s development trajectory, “the letter concluded.
