Is the creation of the Federal Republic of Songhai the only solution to ending this crazy import dependency?

By Ayo Akinfe

[1] In 1884, the European powers met in Berlin and decided how they wanted to carve up Africa between themselves. Each took whatever piece of this vast real estate caught their fancy and alas, we have been saddled with this burden ever since

[2] After World War Two, the French and British had no option other than to let go of their colonies as for starters they had spent six years preaching about how evil Hitler's colonisation was and opposing Japanese colonialism in Asia. They could not do this and still hold on to colonies in Africa, especially when they used African troops to fight the Germans and Japanese

[3] In 1947, India (Then made up of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) became independent and once that happened, Britain really list interest in the rest of its empire. India was considered the jewel in the crown of the empire and when it left, there was nothing much left to fight for

[4] As early as 1951, Nigeria sought independence from Britain but alas, the structure was simply not there to sustain a nation state. At the time, literacy levels were probably less than 1%, so building a nation on the back of that was simply utopian. Besides, the various component parts of Nigeria had to agree on a formula for how this new nation would work

[5] In Nigeria, the rest of the world actually saw a potential economic super-power but if you look at the other 54 nations that make up the African continent, about two thirds of them are simply not viable. It is time we re-open the debate that started during the liberation struggle era and hold our own West Africa Abuja Conference to address the mistakes of the past

[6] When a country like Benin Republic is more or less wholly dependent on its port of Cotonou serving as a conduit for imports to Nigeria to survive, you have to ask yourself if it is viable as an independent nation state. If we keep our border closed for five years, Benin Republic will simply collapse like a pack of cards. Most of our West African neighbours only have armies because the Nigerian Defence Academy trains their officers and only have police forces because out Police Colleges are there to offer training

[7] When the combined budgets of Togo, Eritrea and Burundi ads up to about $2.2bn, you have to ask yourself if we are not right jokers recognising these countries as independent nation states. Governor Babajide Sanwoolu presented a 2020 budget of $3bn to the Lagos State House of Assembly. Now, Eritrea's budget is $806m, that of Burundi is $788m and that of Togo is $764m

[8] No matter how well run some of these other African nations are, they will never ever be viable. At a time when India, China and the European Union are using their numbers to the maximum, we Africans simply need to wake up to the economic realities of out time. A Federal Republic of Songhai will dominate global production of primary goods like gold, cocoa, yam, cassava, gum arabic, plantains, bananas, etc. It would have the clout to insist on technology transfer and maybe at least 10% of all global manufacturing plants be located within its borders

[9] West Africa has 350m people yet only has a GDP of $675bn. In contrast, Indonesia has a population of about 270m people yet, has a GDP of about $1trn. All those who claim that corruption is our main problem can see that their stance holds no water. Corruption is not that rife across the rest of West Africa but yet poverty reigns supreme. We are simply not productive enough as a people

[10] As we head towards 2030, I take the view that we should aim to build this united Federal Republic of Songhai and give it several targets that must be met by 2050 unfailingly. These should include having a GDP of $10trn, winning the Fifa World Cup, accounting for 50% of global food production, turning the Sahara Desert into lush farmland, putting a man on the moon, becoming the shipmaking capital of the world and becoming the first nation with 100% literacy levels.