When I look at how the citizens of Europe rebuilt their communities after World War Two, it is easy to see why the Nigerian over-reliance on the government is a recipe for disaster

Ayo Akinfe

[1] This picture is of a street in London during the Blitz. All this debris was cleared up by volunteers and neighbourhood committees who were determined not to have their spirits broken by German bombardment

[2] In Germany itself, the situation was 10 times worse in 1945 as cities like Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden lay in total ruins. However, the German people were adamant that they would not become a nation of pathetic people and within weeks, they cleared the rubble and began rebuilding their country

[3] If we want an industrialised Nigeria living at ease with herself, we need a similar civic outlook. All this reliance on the government to solve our socio-economic woes is just a pathetic cop-out. A nation is built by its citizenry

[4] For starters, every one of our 774 local government areas must set up a cooperative fund and encourage people to pay into it. Across Europe, this is how mutual societies, cooperatives and guilds were created. They all went on to create jobs, open factories, launch retail outlets, etc

[5] We need to imbibe a Buy Nigeria First consumer goods policy. How is Innoson Motors ever going to grow if we do not buy their cars?

[6] All public officials must resign their positions if they chose to go abroad for medical treatment. Service should include agreeing to die in office while in Nigeria

[6] Any public official who sends their child to a foreign university must resign their appointment immediately

[7] As part of a drive to re-introduce modesty into our public life, the federal government will subside the production of the ankara cloth

[8] We should get the federal government to part-fund any public works programme initiated by a state or local government, offering up to a quarter of the funding. However, this is conditional on such programmes being open to all Nigerians resident in such dominions

[9] We need a BA Civics and National Responsibility course to be approved by the National Universities Commission. Nigerians need to understand the concept of civics

[10] The family of any security or emergency worker who dies while on national duty should automatically get N1m from the federal government. We need to start rewarding those who make sacrifices for the nation to encourage others

ayoakinfe@gmail.com