Nigeria needs to draw up its own agenda for Putin’s African summit as this may be an unexpected lifeline to fast-track development

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) President Vladimir Putin has seen the recent moves by Japan and China to corner African resources and gain footholds in their growing markets, so true to type, he has decided to act. Top marks to the former KGB man for fighting his corner

(2) At a special summit between October 23 and 24, President Putin will be welcoming dozens of African leaders to the southern city of Sochi. No expense is being spared for the Russia-Africa summit, to be held at the city’s Olympic Park venue, part of the billion-pound makeover for the 2014 Winter Games. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said that the leaders of more than 40 African states would attend. President Sisi of Egypt, who heads the African Union, will be co-chairman with President Putin

(3) What President Buhari should do now is call all Africa’s leaders together in Abuja and get then to agree to a roadmap. Basically, they should go to Russia to speak with one voice

(4) One reason why Britain has pressed the self-destruct button with Brexit is because the EU has refused to allow London to negotiate with individual nations. The European Commission does all the negotiating, not allowing Britain to play one nation off against the other

(5) In the 19th century, Africa was easily carved up by European powers because her empire states were too weak and did not work together. It is not ironic that in Ethiopia where the two main empires cooperated with each other, they managed to stave off colonisation

(6) Had say the Sokoto Caliphate, Oyo Empire, Benin Kingdom and Dahomey joined forces in the 19th century, who knows, they may have been able to stave off colonial conquest. Maybe the French would have sold them arms to fight the British

(7) This time around, our demands should be clear to the Russians. Every year, 10% of your GDP must be invested in Africa. Most of our wars are fuelled by your AK47 Kalashnikov rifles, so you owe us a duty of addressing these problems

(8) Lada must open three manufacturing facilities across Africa. Consider this the beginning of a drive to make it a major player that can compete with the big boys like Toyota, Mercedes, Renault, Peugeot, Nissan, Ford, etc. It should also be part of Lada’s programme to become the biggest manufacturer of electronic cars

(9) Under a technology transfer plan, Russia must train at least 50,000 African engineers, doctors, academics and soldiers a year. The goal is to enable them build dams, railway networks, manufacture aircraft, battle tanks, automobiles, ships, submarines, etc by 2030

(10) Russia will split Africa into three zones, managed by Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa respectively. Each zone must get at least $500m in investment annually. In return, Russia will be given preferential treatment when it comes to market access, purchasing military hardware, purchasing our raw materials