by Ayo Akinfe
I believe every Nigerian will be in agreement with me that these 10 issues are 100% more important than changing the national anthem.
[1] Ending the current insecurity epidemic. There are 6m illegal weapons in Nigeria at the moment and criminals are having a field day. This needs urgent addressing
[2] Putting out all the ethnic fires currently raging across the country. Ethnic mistrust is now such an issue, it is virtually impossible to have any serious national debate on any subject without attracting suspicion
[3] Solving our power crisis. Nigeria needs about 50,000MW of electricity but only generates about 7,000, of which she can only transmit 4,000MW
[4] Devolving power to the states. Our current unitarist structure centred around the federal allocation formula is unsustainable. Each of our 36 states has got to become self-reliant and generate a surplus after meeting its running costs
[5] Diversifying the economy. Currently, over 90% of federal government revenue comes from crude oil receipts. That figure needs to be no higher than 10%
[6] Regulating religion. We all saw how an extremist on the FBI watch list emerged as the communications minister in the last administration. To combat this, we need to curb the spread and influence of religion. Nigeria is a secular country
[7] Getting all the dead capital we are sitting on invested in the economy. How do we get investors to pour capital into manufacturing? I would start with our millionaire clergymen. According to the African Development Bank, we have an annual infrastructural investment deficit of $100bn
[8] To become a manufacturing nation, you need power, crude oil, steel and skilled manpower. Of all of these, the one area where we are most lacking is steel production. By my calculations, Nigeria needs to produce about 20m tonnes of steel annually
[9] There are so many car accidents in Nigeria today because too many journeys needlessly take place by road. We need a national railway plan to move freight off roads and to boost train travel by about 500%
[10] Nigeria will never become an industrial hub unless her ports are accessible. We have 853km of Atlantic coastline but only one properly functioning port. Calabar, Port Harcourt, Ikot-Abasi and Warri all need to be brought up to the same level as Apapa immediately
