Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has stated that Nigeria’s potential to achieve a ₦500 trillion economy by 2026/2027 can only be realised through the establishment of robust legal and institutional frameworks. He noted that, without such an approach, meaningful development would remain elusive.
Agbakoba made this submission in an open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accompanied by a document titled: “Governance and Economic Analysis and Forecast 2025: To succeed Nigeria needs innovation and efficiency to create a ₦500 trillion Budget for 2026/2027,” which he urged the President to consider.
The former NBA President said the policy document outlines a bold yet achievable vision for the country’s economic transformation, with particular emphasis on the critical role of legal policy frameworks in driving sustainable economic development — an aspect he noted is often overlooked in economic planning.
According to Agbakoba, there is a commonly held view that legal policy plays no role in economic development, but he quickly refuted such a perspective, stating that research and analysis by his organisation had demonstrated “that legal policy is, in fact, a key determinant—indeed, a primary driver—of economic development.”
The former NBA President argued that, although a country may possess abundant natural resources, human capital, and financial investments, the absence of strong legal and institutional frameworks would render meaningful development unattainable.
He further asserted that the quality of institutions is not merely a peripheral factor but a central pillar in fostering sustainable growth. He noted that when “legal frameworks are weak, investment is deterred, property rights remain insecure, contracts become unenforceable, and corruption flourishes — all of which undermine development regardless of a nation’s resource endowment.”
He also lamented that most of Nigeria’s economic development plans reviewed so far notably exclude legal policy considerations, describing such an omission as a grave error.
“Eminent development scholars have long highlighted this grave error, including Professor Mancur Olson, whose research emphasises that ‘development will not occur unless legal analysis is taken into account.’
“Professor Olson’s scholarly work demonstrates that while traditional economic theories focused on aggregate factors like capital, land, and labour, these factors alone cannot explain development disparities. His simple but profound conclusion is that ‘the quality of a country’s institutions is a principal determinant of its economic performance.’
