In my 42-state Nigeria where resource control is the order of the day, these 10 would be my cash cows with each generating at least $150bn a year

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Lagos State: Our commercial capital currently accounts for about one quarter of Nigeria's gross domestic product (GDP) and one third of non-oil GDP. However, we need to built on it and turn it into an international financial centre that matches London which generates $650bn a year or New York which generates $1.4trn a year.

[2] Mambilla State: What I have in mind is a state made of about 30,000 square kilometres, of which about 20,000 square kilometres of the area is a nature reserve. Mambilla State must become the world's largest wildfire sanctuary with the largest number of lions, impala, buffalo, lions, hyenas, giraffe, buffalo, zebras, crocodiles, leopards, cheetahs, etc anywhere on earth. South Africa's Kruge National part is 19,485 square kilometres so we much match that in Mambilla State, making it the world's leading tourist attraction. It will be a state for animals rather than humans.

[3] Anambra State: This has got to be the epicentre of Nigerian manufacturing, with Nnewi operating as our Detroit. I want to see every automobile manufacturer in the world open a manufacturing plant in Nnewi

[4] Orashi State: Nigeria has 853km of Atlantic coastline yet does not have a marine economy. Totally unacceptable state of affairs and symbolises our lack of seriousness as a nation. Given that our coastline is also in the middle of the earth, we should be a shipping nation with one of the world's largest merchant shipping industries. Orashi State will be populated by the Igbo-speaking people of Rivers State. As we all know, Ndigbo are the most industrious people in Nigeria and I intend milking that to the maximum. At the moment, Igboid people like the Ikwerre, Etche, Ubani, etc make up the majority of the people of Rivers State. I want them to turn the state into one massive ship yard where we build cargo ships, petroleum tankers, containers, speedboats, etc. Orders must come in from over the world

[5] Niger State: By far Nigeria's largest state by landmass, this will be the epicentre of our plans to make animal husbandry a major money spinner. Made up of 76,363 square kilometres, I want Niger State to dedicate at least 20,000 square kilometres to what will be the world's largest cattle ranch. Attached to it will be a massive dairy plant, an animal feed compounding facility and the world's largest leather goods manufacturing plant. Cities like Minna, Bida, Zungeru, Mokwa, Kontagora, etc will all be major manufacturing hubs for cattle by-products

[6] Borno State: Leon Trotsky once said: "Even in ruins there is architecture." One good thing that has come out of the Boko Haram crisis is that half of the Borno State population is now on the capital Maiduguri. This means that massive swathes of the 70,898 square kilometres that make up Borno State are unoccupied farmland. This state is this ripe for commercial farming on a massive scale. I want to see huge plantations that go on for miles, devoid of human habitation where we grow crops like groundnuts, cassava, maize, rice millet sorghum, yam, mangoes, etc on a massive scale. I then want to see the urban centres like Maiduguri, Dikwa and Biu become home to massive food processing plants

[7] Ondo State: This state is unique in two ways as it has the largest tropical rain forest area in Nigeria, so it is no surprise that it is the largest producer of tropical crops like cocoa and kolanuts. I want to see Ondo State turned into the confectionery capital of the world, attracting the likes of Nestle, Mars, Cadbury, etc. Ondo State is also the gateway between east and west Nigeria, so I would like to see it built into a commercial bridge. The city of Ore along the Sagami-Benin Expressway should be a major hub with warehouses, silos, trailer parks, etc, halving the journey between the southwest and southeast

[8] Cross River State: Another unique state because it is the gateway to east and central Africa. For me, Calabar should become Africa's aviation hub linking West Africa with the rest of the continent. I want to see West Africa's first aviation maintenance, repair, overhaul (MRO) facility opened at Calabar Airport wooing every single airline in the world. This is soon to be followed by the opening of aircraft manufacturing facilities in the city. The Cross River State governor has an obligation to bring the likes of Boeing and Embraer to Calabar

[9] Kogi State: I am perplexed as to how a state can be the confluence of the rivers Niger and Benue and not be a major tourist attraction. Apart from being home to a facility of the stature of Niagara Falls, Kogi State should also be able to generate enough hydro-electric power to electrify the whole of Nigeria. I want to see Kogi State build a dam similar in size to China's Three Gorges Dam at Lokoja and match its capacity of generating 22,500MW of electricity

[10] Imo State: Virtually every chemist in Nigeria is manned by a man from Orlu. This their love for the pharmaceutical trade must be tapped into. We need to not only attract every drug company in the world to come and open manufacturing plants in Orlu but we need to open the largest tropical medicine research centre and hospital on Owerri. We have already missed a trick with Covid-19. We should have insisted that the likes of Pfizer and AstraZeneca all open vaccine plants in Orlu