10 ministers who really need to up their game big time come 2025 if Nigeria is to get out of her current rot and realise the dream of becoming an industrialised nation by 2030

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Minister of Education

With 13m out-of-school kids, Nigeria is the truancy capital of the world. We have become a nation of dropouts. Our minister has to set himself a target of at least halving this by 2027. Can he please build at least two primary schools and one secondary school in each of our 774 local government areas

[2] Minister of science and Technology

No nation can develop without technology as it is what makes you competitive in this hostile global economy. We simply need to start manufacturing or we will remain an eternal and perpetual importer. Our minister needs to set targets for car manufacturing, ship building, aircraft assembly and the nation becoming self-reliant when it comes to manufacturing consumer goods like TVs, fridges, laptops, mobile phones, washing machines, microwaves, etc

[3] Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment

This is arguably the toughest job of all as Nigeria’s fundamental problem is that we are a mono economy. Unless we diversify, we will never grow our GDP and national budget. Our minister needs to set a minimum target of double digit economic growth every year between now and 2030. If we have 20% GDP growth every year between now and 2030, we be on the verge of a $1trn economy

[4] Minister of Foreign Investment

Nigeria has no need for foreign policy at the moment. What we need is a foreign investment policy. Our minister should set himself the target of attracting about $50bn in foreign direct investment each year between now and 2030. Our diaspora remits $25bn annually, so asking for FDI of twice this amount is perfectly reasonable

[5] Minister of Finance

In my book, this is the number three citizen in the cabinet after the president and vice president. I believe President Tinubu should ask all his ministers to make Mr Wale Edun their first point of call. If their plans make no economic sense, they have no business in Aso Rock. Mr Edun should deliver a $1trn economy to us by 2030 or he should regard himself as a failure

[5] Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

As we debate diversification, agriculture is the one sector ready to go as we already have the raw materials there. Our minister actually has an easy job. All he has to do is get processing going with a view of making sure that proceeds from the sale of agricultural products match the $25bn we are generating from crude oil annually by 2030. Cocoa, cassava, yam, kolanuts, coco yam, shea nuts, millet, sorghum, cashews, coconuts, etc are all in abundance across Nigeria

[6] Minister of Works and Housing

No country will ever go anywhere without infrastructure. Roads, rail, airports, shopping malls, housing estates, industrial estates, town centres, etc are what fuel economic growth, attract investors and facilitate the movement of goods and services. Can the minister please start off by telling us how many housing units he intends building annually and how many kilometres of road he will tar each year

[7] Minister of Mines and Steel Development

Whenever I read about Ajaokuta, Aladja, Jos, Oshogbo and Katsina steel mills, it is easy to see where Nigeria’s problems lie. We will forever remain an agrarian economy dependent on crude oil until we start mass producing steel. How do you manufacture machine tools, get factories working and churn out finished goods without steel? Our minister must make us a mass steel producer

[8] Minister of Interior

Of late, insecurity has taken over Nigeria in an unbelievable manner. Our problems are not external as it is Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, kidnappers and armed militia formed by politicians that are causing all the mayhem. Our minister needs to clamp down on these miscreants. He also has to secure our borders by forming a Border Guard to stop weapons entering Nigeria

[9] Minsiter of Transport

Personally, I would like the minister to focus 90% of his energy in one area - rail! If we have a comprehensive national railway network linking all 774 local government areas with a standard gauge line running at about 150km per hour topped up by high speed lines connecting Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Onitsha, Enugu, etc, we are home and dry. Our minister should also get us to start manufacturing rail carriages, engines and tracks in Nigeria

[10] Minister of Power

We all know the score. Nigeria needs about 250,000MW of power if she is serious about becoming a global industrial giant. Our minister needs to come up with a programme that includes hydro, thermal, solar, wind and gas powered electricity. He then needs to attract investors into the distribution and transmission network. He has until 2030 to deliver on this

Ayoakinfe@gmail.com