As we head for our grand 60th birthday next year we need to brace ourselves for the greatest leapfrog ever in the history of mankind

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) I am sure many of you spent yesterday reflecting on which way Nigeria. You want power, healthcare, education, good roads, a railway network, security, etc but are wondering how you get it

(2) Looking across the globe, the solution is right under under our noses, as many a nation has been down this path upon which we tread today. Very little happens in life without precedence and Nigeria will not be the first or last nation on earth to go through turbulent times. Think of yourself being on a ship at sea. Every other vessel that travelled that route braced the storm too, so please stop taking it personal Nigerians

(3) Corruption in governance, power cults, dilapidated roads, living with the threat of armed militia groups, religious intolerance, ethnic mistrust, poor public services, etc are all hallmarks of human development. They are compulsory birthpains which every nation must go through and which ultimately a country will emerge from. All this talk of throwing in the towel is just childish. It is like a kid throwing their toys out of the pram when they do not get their way immediately

(4) In 1931, Joseph Stalin said: “We are 50 or 100 years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or they will crush us.” That scenario applies 100% to Nigeria today. By 2050, we will become the third most population on earth, so within the next 15 we have to become one of the top 10 economies in the world or face the prospect of perpetual poverty and eternal under-development

(5) Let us use the telephone as our example. We basically leapfrogged the landline stage as a nation, going from only the elite having phones to the mass mobile handset market we enjoy today. That is the pattern Nigerian socio-economic development will have to take when it comes to things like education and healthcare and the manufacture of goods like automobiles, trains, aircraft, battle tanks, ships, submarines, aircraft carriers, rockets, etc. We must go from zero to top dog within a few years, stunning the world with the unprecedented pace of our development

(6) During World War Two, the manner in which the Soviets moved all their factories to the east and began manufacturing battle tanks and aircraft is just mind blowing. Within like four years, they manufactured something like 57,000 T-34 battle tanks. In 1942, when the production of fighter aircraft was not meeting demand, Joseph Stalin told the manufacturers: “You have let down our country and our Red Army. You have the nerve not to manufacture IL-2s until now. Our Red Army now needs IL-2 aircraft like the air it breathes, like the bread it eats. Shenkman produces one IL-2 a day and Tretyakov builds one or two MiG-3s daily. It is a mockery of our country and the Red Army. I ask you not to try the government's patience, and demand that you manufacture more ILs. This is my final warning.” That is the model we need to adopt in Nigeria. Basically, produce or there will be severe consequences

(7) As we hit 60 in 2020, we need to set ourselves annual production targets for steel, automobiles, ships, aircraft, aircraft carriers, etc. Managers, ministers and heads of parastatals who fail to meet production targets should be treated as saboteurs and made to face the full wrath of the law. Their actions are tantamount to treason as far as I am concerned. Nigeria cannot afford the luxury of gradual production

(8) Those for whom every human rights privilege must he waved are state governors. They should be given strict gross domestic product (GDP) and internally generated revenue (IGR) targets. Failure to meet them should be punishable by death from firing squad. I put it to you that by the time we execute six state governors, every politician in Nigeria will sit up

(9) We are never going to grow our economy organically, so it is naive to think that there are easy solutions or that investors will arrive once the so-called enabling environment is there. Even when the investors do come, they will never produce the quantities you want in the time you want them

(10) Between 1928 and 1940, the Soviet Union enjoyed something like annual GDP growth of 28%. However, a severe price was paid for it as at least 7m peasants died due to the grain collectivisation programme. Are we prepared to pay that price for socio-economic development? We have a year to think about it!