Earlier this week, Germany handed over 80 top-of-the range Leopard tanks to Ukraine. It is time President Tinubu started demanding similar support for Nigeria’s fight against terrorism

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Nigeria does not need loans or grants but proper foreign direct investment (FDI) to build up her industrial capacity. Central to being a proud sovereign nation is the ability to manufacture the armaments required by our security forces

[2] Nigeria needs at least $100bn of FDI annually. International development agencies must agree to press industrialised countries to offer tax rebates to their private companies that invest in Nigeria. We need the know-how of armament manufacturers

[3] Everyone says insecurity is one of Nigeria’s biggest problems. Well if the rest of the world is serious about helping us overcome the likes of Boko Haram, they need to offer us the kind of support Ukraine is currently getting

[4] Just imagine how much more progress Nigeria would have made in the war against terrorism if the Nigerian Army had 80 Leopard, Challenger, Abrams or Merkevah tanks

[5] Our goal should be to reverse engineer these tanks so we can start mass-producing them within five years

[6] As things stand, the rest of the world is only paying lip service to the principle of supporting Nigeria’s war against terrorism

[7] If Nigeria had one tenth of the assistance given to Ukraine or Israel, I doubt if Boko Haram would still be in existence

[8] Nigeria must be given the intelligence to wipe out Iswap and Boko Haram once and for all. Satellite imagery exists to locate all their hideouts in Borno State. Has anyone provided us with this?

[9] It is time for President Tinubu to read the riot act to the rest of the world. They should be told in no uncertain terms that they ignore Nigeria at their peril. Terrorists taking over Nigeria as happened in Afghanistan would have dire consequences for the human race

[10] If nothing else, all this insecurity has limited Nigeria’s economic growth. Our gross domestic product would probably be at least 2% higher if we had tranquility across large swathes of northern Nigeria