by Ayo Akinfe
https://www.digital.zenithbank.com/ZEQ/ZEQ-jan-2026/index.html#p=110 things Nigeria should do if the Russia/Ukraine spat rallies crude oil prices above £100 a barrel
[1] All receipts that accrue from prices between $40 and $60 a barrel should go into a special infrastructure fund
[2] All receipts that accrue from prices between $60 and $80 should go into a special economic diversification fund
[3] All receipts that accrue from prices between $80 and $100 should go into a dedicated clean energy fund
[4] All receipts that accrue from prices in excess of $100 a barrel should go into a special technological fund
[5] Basically, we should see this as our last chance to diversify the Nigerian economy and invest the bonanza judiciously
[6] For me, the bulk of the cash has got to go towards supporting manufacturing. Whether we like it or not, manufacturing has got to take over from religion, Nollywood and owambes as our favourite national past time.
[7] We must also spend at least $20bn on key infrastructure like railway networks, ports, power plants, roads, power plants, airports and shopping malls
[8] Whatever we do, the goal has got to be to wean our states off federal allocation, with the ambitious target of making a few self-reliant by 2025
[9] I will not invest in education, healthcare and housing at the federal level as I believe that is the responsibility of state governments
[10] We should also offer to manufacture munitions for Russia and Ukraine. Everyone else profits from our wars, so why shouldn’t we cash in on theirs?
Ayo is a London-based journalist who has worked as a magazine and newspaper editor for the last 31 years. He was the founding editor of Nigerian Watch, the UK-based paper for the Nigerian community in the UK.
He is the current president of Ondo Union UK, the chair of Uncelebrated Nigerian Awards UK and was the chairman of the Nigerian Centenary Awards UK organising committee. He was recently appointed as the Chairman of the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK
He is also the author of two books on Nigeria. Fuelling the Delta Fires is an expose which reveals the depth of the challenges in the Niger Delta, while Black Ladder is a narrative about the life of a Nigerian immigrant in the UK. In addition, Ayo is a columnist for several publishing houses in both Nigeria and the UK.
Ayo has a history degree from the University of Ibadan and I did my post-graduate studies in journalism at the University of Westminster.
