As the London summit is about nations agreeing uniform standards, I would settle for President Buhari bringing Nigeria level with Pakistan by the end of his tenure in 2023

Ayo Akinfe

[1] How many Nigerians know that Pakistan is actually the most similar nation to Nigeria on earth? In terms of population, GDP, generated electricity, literacy rates, number of hospital beds, kilometres of tarred roads, level of corruption, religious fanaticism, etc, the figures obtainable in both countries are almost identical, except in a few areas. If you were looking for a nation to twin Nigeria with, it would be Pakistan

[2] According to Wikipedia, Pakistan has a population of 212m and Nigeria one of 200m. Pakistan has a GDP of $307bn and Nigeria one of $447bn

[3] Pakistan has an area of 882,000 square kilometres and Nigeria one of 923,768 square kilometres

[4] Nigeria has a national literacy rate of about 65%, while that of Pakistan is 58%

[5] Nigeria has 28,980km of tarred roads, while in Pakistan, the figure is a whopping 152,000 km

[6] Pakistan’s installed power capacity is 25,000MW, while in Nigeria it is a mere 8,457MW. Pakistan managed to boost its output by selling off inefficient state-owned plants. Privately owned independent power producers generated 53% of the country’s power in 2016 as a result

[7] I would argue that Nigeria and Pakistan are the world’s two biggest under-performing economies. They both have huge potential but alas, have simply failed to keep pace with the likes of India, Brazil, Mexico, Vietnam and Malaysia

[8] Most economists actually rate Nigeria higher than Pakistan and see us as more likely to become a global economic power by 2050. I suspect that is just because of our oil. It is logical to assume that Nigeria will invest the proceeds in economic diversification

[9] Every economist would be horrified to find out that Pakistan has a current annual budget of $56bn, while in Nigeria the figure is a pitiable $33bn. It simply defies logic and it is pathetic that Nigerians are not asking their elite questions

[10] I take the view that the budget to population ratio of every nation should be $1bn to 1m people. This should be adopted as an international standard and any country not meeting the standards should be classified as “under-budgeted.” This basically means that Nigeria’s minimum budget should be $200bn. Since independence, never has our budget exceeded $30bn, which is not only shameful and embarrassing but is at the core of our socio-economic woes. If we cannot generate enough wealth to fund an annual budget of $200bn, do we have the right to call ourselves a sovereign nation?