Shea nuts just prove that all this gas flaring has fried our brains and we can no longer think straight 

By Ayo Akinfe 

(1) As the price of crude oil keeps performing an Atilogwu dance, jumping up and down based on Donald Trump’s mood swings, I believe it is crystal clear to everyone that basing your fortunes on one product is a recipe for disaster. Nigeria will forever remain under-developed as long as petroleum product exports continue to account for 90% of government revenue 

(2) Do we realise that if the Washington and Beijing reach a comprehensive trade deal and after 2020 we have a level-headed US president who finds a diplomatic solution to the spats with Venezuela and Iran, global crude oil prices could fall back to the Shagari era price of $10 a barrel? Where would that leave Nigeria?

(3) It is time to start aggressively pursuing alternative income streams my people. Here is one that is right under our noses. Nigeria accounts for 54% of global shea nut production and alas, if we tapped into this, it could be another money spinner 

(4) It is from shea nuts that you get shea butter, a product widely used in the global cosmetics industry. Shea butter is used for skin and hair-related products including lip gloss, skin moisturizer creams and emulsions, as well as hair conditioners. It is also used by soap makers and massage oil manufacturers such as Unava

(5) Some artisan soap makers use shea butter in amounts of up to 25%, with the European Union regulating the maximum use must not exceed 28%. However, that much is rarely used in commercially-produced soap due to the high cost of shea butter compared with alternative oils like palm oil or olive oil

(6) In the UK and other countries, shea butter is incorporated into assorted tissue products, such as toilet paper

(7) In the pharmaceutical industry, shea butter is also used as a base for medicinal ointments. Some of shea butter’s isolated chemical constituents are reported to have anti-inflammatory, emollient and humectant properties. For instance, shea butter is used to manufacture sunblocking lotion

(8) In Nigeria, we produce about 370,000 tonnes of shea nuts annually but alas, the bulk of it is exported as raw nuts. Niger State accounts for about 57% of Nigerian output, so I ask where are the processing plants, cosmetic factories, tissue manufacturing facilities, pharmaceutical factories and food processing plants?

(9) Can someone please explain to me why towns in Niger State like Bida, Zungeru, Kotangora, Kutiwengi, Baro, Mokea, Suleija and the capital Minna are not all littered with shea nut processing plants, warehouses, factories and related businesses like lenders, insurance companies, haulage firms, etc

(10) Niger State gets a pitiable N4.3bn ($12m) in monthly federal allocation, adding up to $144m a year, generates a despicable N5.5bn (15.2m) a year in internally generated revenue and has a comical annual budget of N160bn ($444.7m) for about 4m people. A thriving shea nut industry could easily dwarf all these figures. However, it appears that all this gas flaring has fried our brains and we can no longer think straight. We are throwing away a future as this addiction to petro dollars stifles our thinking