President Buhari should follow up his visit to Imo State with a comprehensive pan-Igbo industrial expansion programme

Ayo Akinfe

[1] First of all the military clampdown must end today. There are no Boko Haram or Iswap terrorists in the southeast, so all political prisoners should be released, all charges against Nnamdi Kanu should be dropped and Ipob should be recognised as a civil society agitation group. Southeast Nigeria is not Sambisa Forest or Zamfara, so the solutions to her problems are not military

[2] Secondly, it crystal clear that the southeast is lagging behind the rest of Nigeria when it comes to tailoring. As a result, all tailors in the southeast must be offered access to interest-free loans from the Nigerian Bank of Industry

[3] Later this year, the five states of the southeast geo-political zone should join forces to float a finance house called Ogbunigwe Bank. It will hand out loans to small businesses with a maximum interest rate of 5%. Call it the Spare Parts Bank if you like

[4] Every year, at least 200 Abriba and Ohafia cobblers will be sent to China to be trained on modern shoe production. The aim is to build the world’s largest shoe and leather accessories factory in Aba that eventually supplies the global mass market as well as all the major brands including the likes of Gucci and Luis Vuitton

[5] Nigeria will pursue the likes of Pfizer and AstraZeneca to build the world’s largest pharmaceutical plant in Orlu. Every year, at least 500 local people will be trained as pharmacists. They will then register their chemists as a chain of stores called Orlu Pharmaceuticals that is vertically integrated to this factory. That way, we can trace the origins of every single drug in Nigeria

[6] Nnewi will be home to the world’s largest car engine factory. Aggressively pushed by the Anambra State government who will hold a 15% stake in the venture, a holding company will be created between Innoson and international automobile companies like Nissan, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Renault, Toyota etc. It will aim to manufacture at least 1m engines and gear boxes a year

[7] A pan-Igbo holding company called Isiagu Enterprises will be created to drive investment. The five state governments of the southeast will hold a 25% stake in it, with international partners and the private sector owning the rest. Among other things, Isiagu Enterprises will commit to building five crossings across the River Niger. At least three of them will be rail links

[8] Isiagu Enterprises will also commit to dredging the River Niger up to Onitsha with the aim of building the world’s largest inland port. It will be Africa’s largest cargo port. Isiagu Enterprises will also undertake to dredge Ikot-Abasi and Calabar ports so they can take big ships like Apapa. Rail links will then be constructed linking them with the rest of the country

[9] Isiagu Enterprises will lease land in states like Taraba, Niger, Borno and Kaduna with the aim of growing cash crops to fuel its industries. Ambitious targets will be set for agricultural output with the aim of quadrupling the production of cash crops like palm oil, yam, cassava, maize, kolanuts, cashews, etc. Nigeria must grow every raw material it uses in its food processing business

[10] Isiagu Enterprises will introduce the world’s most humane corporate social responsibility contract that will fund education and infrastructure development in the host communities where it operates. For instance, if it is sourcing leather from Dapchi in Yobe State for its shoe processing factory, Isiagu Enterprises will fund the construction of a primary school there