10 groups of Nigerian service providers who need to form cooperatives and open factories to start manufacturing their products

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Okada riders
[2] Fabric retailers
[3] Cocoa farmers
[4] Automobile spare parts traders
[5] Luxurious bus companies
[6] Fishermen who use trawlers
[7] Generator distributors
[8] Livestock herdsmen who use animal feed
[9] Major microphone users like churches and mosques
[10] Food crop farmers who use fertilisers

Why is this compulsory?

[1] Europe was developed by cooperative societies and guilds
[2] In every industrialised nation, trade guilds got together to form cooperative societies that delved into manufacturing
[3] Nobody else can have a passion for a product like those who trade in and use it
[4] In all these areas, it is the market operators that actually have the liquid cash to invest
[5] If all these bodies levied tithes on their members, asking them to pay 10% of their earnings into a fund, within five years, they would have the capital for major investments
[6] If cooperative societies were formed, they could easily approach banks for low-interest rate loans for investment
[7] Cooperative societies can also easily attract foreign partners. Would the likes of Cadbury, Nestle and Mars not be keen to enter into an alliance with a Nigerian cocoa farmers cooperative?
[8] Cooperative societies would also be able to provide training for their members. I would like to see them all offer some form of vocational certification like say City & Guilds, which is what happened in the UK
[9] Nigerians are currently waiting on the government to provide jobs in all these areas but I can tell them that we will wait until kingdom come for that. Our government does not have either the expertise or liquid capital to invest in any of these sectors. In contrast, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria could easily found a mega ranch tomorrow and open an animal feed company company there. All they have to do is invest all that money they are currently splashing out on AK47s on beneficial ventures
[10] I am perplexed as how Nigeria can be the world's major user of products like fabric lace, small and medium generators, motorcycle taxis, etc and not manufacture one of them. This takes intellectual laziness to unprecedented heights. All 200m Nigerians should be ashamed of themselves. This import dependency has simply gone to far and radical action is needed to address the matter. Personally, I would turn off the oil taps and ban all imports to force the pace of development.