Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has predicted that Nigeria can achieve a N500 trillion annual budget by 2030 if the twin efforts of tax and governance revenue are escalated, emphasising that innovation is required to make this possible.
Agbakoba made this remark against the backdrop of the nearly N50 trillion budget proposal for the 2025 fiscal year, submitted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the National Assembly for passage into law.
He stated that, with this development, the possibility of the country “hitting a N100 trillion budget by 2026 is a viable possibility.”
The former NBA president shared this in a release titled “The Big Budget Decision of 2025 and Expectations of Nigerians,” a copy of which was made available to newsmen on Sunday.
He pointed out that he was not surprised that the country’s proposed annual budget for the 2025 fiscal year had reached N50 trillion.
Agbakoba, who recalled predicting such a possibility five years ago, said that attaining this feat through innovation requires that bureaucratic procedures give way to practical outcomes, strong leadership, and, importantly, easing the hardship in the country by ensuring that “all fees are waived at primary and secondary schools and healthcare is made free, like the NHS in the UK.”
“The big-budget decision—I was not surprised that our national budget has reached N50 trillion for 2025. I predicted this possibility five years ago,” he added.
“We are simply not collecting potential revenue. Thanks to two men, the possibility of hitting a N100 trillion budget by 2026 is a viable possibility! I think we are concentrating on the tax side of revenue and ignoring the governance side.
“If the twin efforts of tax and governance revenue are escalated, we should hit a N500 trillion budget annually by 2030. To achieve this requires innovation.
“First, bureaucratic procedures must give way to practical outcomes. Second, there must be strong leadership. Third, we need to ease the 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 NHS in the UK,” he stated.
Additionally, Agbakoba said there was an urgent need for more imaginative palliatives to cushion the impact of the tough corrections in progress. He recalled that he had always recommended the creation of a Department of Efficiency, Innovation, and Transformation to cut waste in the country.
He also pointed out that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had appointed Elon Musk to perform this task in the U.S. and noted that part of the success story of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was her Efficiency Office.
According to him, there is far too much waste of government resources in Nigeria that an effective efficiency office could cut significantly. He added, “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.”
“Government must let go of its unnecessary hold on education. 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 a good quality of life to Nigerians. Inflation will go down if productivity improves. These steps are easy but require major leadership decisions. The pain all Nigerians feel at present is completely resolvable with new tools applied,” Agbakoba argued.
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