In a keynote address delivered at the Law Week of the Buhari Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai stirred controversy by blaming Nigeria’s current economic troubles on what he described as a wasted historic opportunity in 2007.
El-Rufai told the audience that in his opinion, the country was positioned for unprecedented progress that year, free of foreign debt, with over $40 billion in net foreign reserves and nearly $30 billion in the excess crude account. He said Nigeria was prepared to “take off” and claim its place as the leading African nation and pride of the Black race.
“But tragically,” he said, “President Obasanjo’s handpicked successors were unable to manage what was equipped to land. And it has mostly been downhill since then.” He insisted that the political transition of 2007 marked a turning point in Nigeria’s fortunes, a critical juncture, in his words, comparing it to what economists Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson call defining historical moments that determine a nation’s long-term path. He said the country had been ready to capitalize on its economic position, but the failure of leadership squandered the opportunity.
According to him, Nigeria is now deeply indebted, foreign reserves are depleted, and the excess crude account holds barely a few hundred dollars. “We are not in a good place,” he said plainly.
El-Rufai confronts Buhari, says old naira notes remain legal tender in Kaduna
Speaking to a hall of lawyers, judges, and legal professionals, El-Rufai called on members of the bar and bench to be at the forefront of driving legal reforms that can support national progress.
He argued that the law must evolve with society and be reinterpreted and amended to enable both social and economic development. El-Rufai challenged the legal profession to reflect on the role it must play in a nation he described as “beset by economic turbulence, social upheaval, and institutionalized distrust between the government and the governed.”
He urged lawyers not to see themselves only as professionals within a legal system but as citizens in a nation at another critical inflection point. The responsibility, he argued, is to help realign the nation toward stability, reason, and reform-minded leadership, especially in an era marked by tough economic adjustments such as subsidy removals and currency unification.
