The paper examines the extent to which labour and trade can help Nigeria achieve the goal of attaining the position of
one of the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020 using descriptive analysis of data between 2009 and 2013. The aim is to
analyze the extent to which labour and trade respond to the smart initiative by the Nigerian Government in its drive towards
achieving Nigeria’s vision 20:2020. The paper adopted both comparative and exploratory approaches. Exports, imports, trade
as a percentage of GDP and the unemployment rate figures in Nigeria were compared with those of Belgium, Poland, Saudi
Arabia and Sweden that have been in contention for the 20 th largest economy since 2009. Though, the finding of this study
revealed Nigeria is still lagging behind the other four contenders of the 20 th position, but has a lot of potentials to clinch the 20 th
position before or by the year 2020 since she is presently regarded as one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Therefore, the study recommends that concerted efforts should be made by the Nigerian government to mobilize and harness
the potentials of the labour force to engender accelerated economic development through the establishment of an enabling
environment for the expansion of economic activities, skill development and appropriate training
