Nigeria's ongoing constitutional review must ensure that there are statutory foreign policy obligations put in place

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Nigeria's economic and human development indicators will be compared annually with those of other Mint nations like Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey and Brics nations like Brazil, India, Russia, China and South Africa, to ensure we never fall behind

[2] At the moment, Nigeria's human development index is on a par with Pakistan in terms of literacy rates, healthcare centres, employment, GDP, etc. We should aim to doubt this over the next 10 years

[3] It is impossible to develop a thriving economy in the midst of a continent ravaged by abject poverty. Consequently, Nigeria will take it upon herself to oppose regimes that are inimical to Africa's peace, prosperity and socio-economic development

[4] Nigeria is committed to the eradication of landlocked states across the African continent. As a rule, being landlocked creates political and economic handicaps that access to the high seas averts. As of now, 15 of the world's 44 landlocked countries are African, denying them access to the benefits of maritime trade and other sources of revenue like fishing

[5] Nigeria will undertake to and also encourage other African nations to mark their borders with trees painted in their national colours. This is to eliminate the menace of constant border clashes as happened between Ethiopia and Eritrea and Sudan and South Sudan

[6] Every year, Nigeria will host a socio-economic summit of leading developing nations, where the progress being made in terms of economic diversification, healthcare, education, manufacturing will be evaluated

[7] Nigeria will encourage her African neighbours to enter negotiations with one another in a bid to reduce the high number of countries on the continent. Many African nation states are not viable and were created by our former colonial masters for their own economic benefits. It is time to redress these anomalies that have festered nothing but poverty on the continent

[8] Plans should be made to see if we can merge Africa's regional economic bodies into one continent-wide free trade area providing access to 1bn consumers

[9] Nigeria will pressurise the World Trade Organisation, World Economic Forum and United nations to compel industrialised nations to set annual African investment quotas. This is the only way we will get technology transferred and the necessary capital to build our infrastructure

[10] Nigeria will ask for observers status at the Asean Economic Community, South Asian Free Trade Area, Union of South American Nations and the Caribbean Community.