With Nigeria hitting 60 this year and set the become the third most populous nation on earth by 2050 it is time for us to start thinking the unthinkable

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Unlike most Nigerians, I do not believe in doing just the basic. I believe we should be looking to leapfrog the industrialised nations. I am prepared to think the unthinkable and push the boundaries of human know-how to breaking point

(2) In 1931, Joseph Stalin gave this speech at the First Conference of Workers of the Soviet Union. He said:, “We are 50 or 100 years behind the advanced countries. We must make up this gap in 10 years. Either we do it or they will crush us." He might as well have been talking to Nigerian workers in 2020 as this applies to us today

(3) In 1926, Frederick Lugard wrote this about us: “In character and temperament, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless, excitable person. Lacking in self control, discipline, and foresight. Naturally courageous and naturally courteous and polite, full of personal vanity, with little sense of veracity, fond of music and loving weapons as an oriental loves jewelry. His thoughts are concentrated on the events and feelings of the moment and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future or grief for the past. He lacks the power of organisation and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business. He loves the display of power, but fails to realise its responsibility.” Lugard was 100% spot on!

(4) By 2050, it is estimated that Nigeria will have 400m people. To sustain this population, we need an economy of at least $2trn. Currently, our GDP is a mere $375bn but alarm bells are not ringing. Typical Nigerians are not thinking of a way to defuse this ticking time bomb. Once party, music, Nollywood, Aso ebi, church and mosque dey, wetin concern us?

(5) Where tradition is lacking, a striking example is essential. Now, I would do the dramatic. I would gather every dinosaur expert on earth and task them with reviving their DNA. We would then build a dedicated Jurassic island off the coast of Nigeria and recreate the dinosaur era. I expect about 20% of the world’s population to visit this ultimate tourist attraction

(6) Ultimately, we will merge Nigeria with Benin Republic, Cameroon and Niger Republic to form this massive country called Songhai. Its main challenge will be converting the Sahara Desert into lush farmland. About 80% of Niger Republic is desert. I intend to banish the Sahara from Songhai by converting every inch of desert into sahel savannah

(7) We will also build the world’s first cross-ocean trans-continental railway line linking West Africa with South America. I would give my engineers impossible targets. I want a train that travels at 1,000km per hour. This will push engineering to its limits

(8) I for one passionately believe there are life forms on other planets on other solar systems. However, to meet them, we need to manufacture aircraft that travel at the speed of light. Nigeria must deliver this to humanity. One of my boyhood dreams was always to meet an extra-terrestrial being

(9) Between now and 2030, there is no excuse for us not to plant Nigeria’s flag on the moon, grow food in factories like the Chinese, built an artificial moon in every state capital to serve as our street lights, build the world’s largest shipyard in the Niger Delta or open the planet’s largest cattle colony in Sambisa Forest

(10) My people can do all this and more if they want to. It is only when we are not interested in doing things that we shout bad government, poor leadership, corruption, etc. When we want to throw parties, build mega churches, record Nollywood movies or flock to Mecca in our millions, none of this gets in the way. We defy the odds to enjoy our passions, so can defy the odds to advance the cause of humanity too