In response to the recent upsurge in ethnic violence the Nigerian Governors Forum should meet immediately and adopt this 10-point plan

Ayo Akinfe

(1) Governors of the six largest states in the country - Niger, Borno, Taraba, Kaduna, Yobe and Bauchi are all mandated to immediately set aside 5,000 sq kilometres to be used to construct mega ranches to accommodate Fulani herdsmen

(2) Each geo-political zone is to establish a regional security network along the lines of Amotekun to work in tandem with the police and military to combat the surge in violent crime

(3) Every state governor is mandated to open a disarmament centre where herdsmen, bandits, hoodlums, kidnappers and armed robbers can hand in their weapons under an amnesty programme

(4) A Nigerian Governors Forum amnesty programme will be launched immediately. It will involve the establishment of at least one technical training college in each of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas. Hoodlums, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers and herdsmen who participate in the programme will be trained up to City & Guilds level. Everyone who participates will have at least one vocational skill

(5) The Nigerian Governors Forum will approach the World Economic Forum, the international organisation for public-private cooperation requesting a minimum annual foreign direct investment of $50bn. Sectors targeted will include agriculture, food processing, steel making, manufacturing, animal husbandry, housing, railway construction, power generation and port construction

(6) As from henceforth, the Nigerian Governors Forum mandates every state to generate a minimum of $1bn in excess revenue after it covers its running costs. Any governor who fails to meet this criteria will be suspended from the forum until he brings his state finances up to scratch

(7) A radical Nigerian Governors Forum public works programme will be launched aimed at ensuring each state puts at least 1m youths to work. This programme will be centred around rural road construction. Every village, hamlet and rural community must be linked to its local government headquarters by a serviceable road that is functional even in the rainy season

(8) Every state governor is mandated to generate enough power to meet local consumption internally. This will involve governors opening solar farms, wind farms, hydro electric power plants, gas-fired power plants and transmission and distribution stations

(9) As from 2021 onwards, no governor is allowed to place import orders with any company unless the deal includes them coming to open a manufacturing facility in Nigeria. Governors are mandated to use purchase orders to attract investment into their states

(10) Exporting primary products will from henceforth be illegal. Under Nigerian Governors Forum rules, there must be at least 50% value addition to every product exported from Nigeria

However we look at this matter, the only solution is socio-economic. Even if you arrest and prosecute every herdsman today, by next year, there will have emerged fresh youths to replace them because nature abhors a vacuum.

With no economic prospects in sight and AK47s freely available, violent crime will thrive. You know, if we warn the rest of the world that they are facing the prospect of another Afghanistan or Yemen here, they will have no choice but to flood investment into Nigeria.