This so-called red listing just proves a wicked a colonial master the UK was. Here are 10 things the British should have made sure Nigeria had in place before Oct 1 1960

Ayo Akinfe

[1] The capacity to produce at least 5m tonnes of steel annually
[2] A machine tool manufacturing capability
[3] A double gauge railway network that linked up all her 40 provinces and could run at a speed of 120km per hour
[4] A 25% literacy rate
[5] A hydro-electric power capability to generate at least 5,000MW per year
[6] At least one technical vocation college in every one of our 40 province
[7] Political parties that could attract at least 25% of the vote in two thirds of our 40 provinces
[8] At least three food processing plants given the agrarian nature of our economy
[9] At least six secondary schools in each of our 40 provinces
[10] At least two primary schools in each of our local government areas

These are some of the basic requirements of nationhood. Maybe if we had all this in place before independence, the First Republic would have succeeded.

Given that we had none of this in place, ethnic mistrust, corruption, religious bigotry and nepotism grew to fill the vacuum. Nature as we all know abhors a vacuum.

Nigeria is going to be 62 next year and unfortunately we still do not have some of the basic requirements of nationhood. For me a country that cannot produce enough steel to meet its local manufacturing requirements, or that cannot manufacture all the pharmaceuticals in requires or cannot equip its security forces and military with locally-manufactured equipment, is not a nation but a colony.

As we enter 2022, we need to draw up a list of 10 “must-do’” list. As a people we must then pledge to achieve these, no matter how irresponsible the government is!