Nigeria desperately needs to do a Wernher von Braun in solid minerals

[1] This gentleman in the picture bears the name Wernher von Braun and although he was an aeronautical engineer, his story is of utmost relevance to Nigeria and her solid minerals sector as we desperately seek to diversify our economy and end this dependence on crude oil

[2] Mr von Braun was a German aerospace engineer and space architect credited with inventing the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany. At the end of World War Two, there was a crazy rush for his services, with the Soviets, British and Americans all racing to Mittelwerk, where he and his team of about 500 scientists were working

[3] In the end Mr von Braun and his team decided to surrender to the Americans on May 3 1945. They were immediately whisked off to Boston along with their documents and rockets and then granted US citizenship despite being members of the Nazi Party and having war crimes charges hanging over them

[4] Mr von Braun later developed the rockets that launched the United States' first space satellite Explorer 1 and the Apollo programme manned lunar landings. He developed the Saturn V for the United States and because the director of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration

[5] The US B-52 Stealth Bomber was designed by Mr von Braun. Originally, he designed it for Hitler but then later took it to the US. For him, building radar-resistant aircraft and rockets that could travel to outer space were his dreams. The US saw this and exploited his talent.

[6] Many other nations like the Soviet Union, Britain, Argentina, Australia and France, all made the best use of German scientists and expertise after the war. Israel even recruited ex-Luftwaffe pilots into its air force

[7] Now, over recent months, there has been a growing incidence of xenophobic attacks against Africans in South Africa. It is clear to anyone that the reason behind that is the shrinking South African economy which is creating unemployment and leaving a lot of ordinary South Africans with no hope

[8] Anyone who has studied the South African economy will see why this is the case. In the 1970s, South Africa produced 1,478 tonnes of gold accounting for 67.7% of global output. Today, it only accounts for about 4.5% of global production. About one third of the gold industry’s 180,000 employees were fired between 2004 and 2015

[9] Our solid minerals minister Kayode Fayemi has made it clear that his sector is a key area of expansion with regards to diversification, so I would suggest he does a von Braun by raiding the South African gold industry and snapping up its best brains. Grant them citizenship and give them a blank cheque to at least match the $40bn or so we generate from crude oil exports a year

[10] Basically, Nigeria needs to become more cosmopolitan to expand and grow. We have seen this with the US, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Canada etc. That is the way to go. Samora Machel once said: "For the nation to grow, the tribe must die." Are we prepared for a cosmopolitan and diversified Nigeria? That is the way things are going and we must be prepared to embrace the change.