Within a week of being elected, I want to see the winner of Nigeria’s next presidential election name 10 individuals into these ministerial offices

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 new minister has to set him or herself a target of at least halving this by 2030. To help, maybe building at least two primary schools and one secondary school in each of our 774 local government areas

[2] Minister of innovation, 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 him or herself a minimum target of double digit economic growth every year between now and 2035. 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 Affairs

Nigeria has no need for foreign policy unless it is linked to investment and new markets. What we really need is a foreign investment policy. Our foreign minister should set him or herself the target of attracting about $50bn in foreign direct investment each year between now and 2030. Our diaspora remits about $25bn annually, so asking for foreign direct investment (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. Rather than direct his ministers elsewhere, Nigeria’s president should ask them to make the finance minister their first point of call. If their plans make no economic sense, they have no business in Aso Rock. Our finance minister should deliver a $1trn economy at the very minimum to us by 2030

[6] Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

As we debate economic 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 or she has to do is get processing going with a view to 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

[7] Minister of Housing and Urban Development

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. Maybe our minister can start off by telling us how many housing units he or she intends building annually and how many kilometres of road he will tar each year

[8] Minister of 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 a subsistence agrarian economy dependent on crude oil exports as its major revenue source until we start mass producing steel. How do you manufacture machine tools, get factories working and churn out finished goods without steel?

[9] Minister of the Interior

Over the last two decades, 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 federal government has been reluctant to move against some of these vested interests. Our minister needs be able to defy the crime barons and clamp down on these miscreants. He or she also has to secure our borders by forming a Border Guard to stop weapons entering 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 monister needs to come up with a programme that includes hydro, thermal, solar, wind and gas powered electricity. We then need to attract investors into the distribution and transmission network. We shamelessly only currently generate 7,000MW, of which we can distribute just 4,000MW

ayoakinfe@gmail.com

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