Who else would have loved to see President Buhari use the Turkish leader’s visit as an opportunity to announce an unprecedented ship building programme to manufacture giant vessels like this

Ayo Akinfe

[1] President Recep Erdogan of Turkey just completed a two-day visit to Nigeria during which both countries signed eight bilateral deals in areas that covered energy, defence, mining and hydrocarbons among others

[2] Nigeria and Turkey are both members of the Mint Group of Nations that was supposed to be the next big thing in humanity. Mexico Indonesia Nigeria and Turkey (Mint) are supposed to be the nations that offer steady and consistent double digit economic growth over the rest of the 21st century

[3] Personally, I would like to have seen this Turkish-Nigeria Summit focus on economic growth and on how Mint would seek to match the G-7s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2050

[4] These four Mint nations are considered part of the “Next Eleven.” All four of them are expected to be among the top 10 global economies by 2050

[5] These four countries also account for almost 700m people so should not be joked with at all. In total, the European Union only has a population of 445m

[6] I am gobsmacked that Presidents Buhari and Erdogan did not agree a radical industrial plan. At the very least I would have expected them to agree a shipbuilding programme to rejuvenate global commerce

[7] Turkey should be looking to establish herself as the shipyard of the Mediterranean while Nigeria should have plans to become the boatyard of the South Atlantic. At least an MoU to this effect should have been signed in Abuja

[8] I am equally surprised they did not mention anything about Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing. What stops them entering a joint deal with Pfizer or AstraZeneca to open two sites to supply the Mediterranean and Africa respectively?

[9] What makes shipping key though is that post-Covid, vessels are going to have to get larger. Nigeria needs to be at the forefront of the global “leapfrog movement” that will blow our heads away with new innovations. Why do we not aspire to build the largest ships on earth?

[10] Were I in President Buhari’s shoes, I would appoint someone as my post-Coronavirus Mint expert, with a mandate to draw up plans that would enable these four countries to cooperate in the rebuilding of the global economy. At a very minimum, they should aspire to account for 10% of global GDP by 2050