Let this Russian/Ukrainian spat serve as an eye opener to all Nigerians that at some stage they too are going to have to address the matter of regional security

Ayo Akinfe

[1] As things stand, the US has military bases all over West Africa. For now that is not a problem because we are a safe dumping ground for American goods. However if Nigeria's economy grows to the point whereby we are considered a trading threat, the policy will suddenly change

[2] One other thing Nigerians are refusing to pay attention to is that by 2050, she whill be the third most populous nation on earth after China and India and by 2100, she will be number two, behind India according to estimates. Our current land mass is wholly inadequate for this, so out foreign policy needs to change

[3] Of wee are serious about regional security, we desperately need to merge with out neighbours Cameroon, Benin Republic and Niger Republic to form a formidable powerhouse called Songhai. Nigeria desperately needs Niger Republic’s 1.2sqm km to achieve her potential or we should be prepared to remain a neo-colony forever

[4] During the colonisation of Africa, our ancestors were too busy squabbling among themselves to unite resist European conquest. It is no surprise that Ethiopia was the only African country not colonised. This is because the chiefs there formed a united front and fought the Italians as one

[5] India has already fired the first shots by setting aside thousands of acres of land for an industrial park to accommodate hundreds of companies leaving China. Their argument is that it is unwise for the world to plant all of its eggs in one basket. We are nowhere near this level of thinking as we allow our petty differences to take centre stage. We senselessly fight over religion at a time when the Arabs and Europeans who brought us Abrahamic faiths are setting Islam and Christianity aside to build unprecedented infrastructure

[6] Make no mistake about it, the Chinese are ready for a fight to finish with their 5G technology. When I also see the way Bill Gates is aggressively leading American investors to come up with solutions with a Covid-19 vaccine, it is clear to me that these guys are in search of products that will provide them with monopoly rights and patents that will have the rest of the world in their pockets

[7] Moving forward, it is clear that China, India, the USA and the EU are going to be the world’s new economic powerhouses as we move towards the 22nd century. Their huge populations offer them the economies of scale for unprecedented industrial production which very few other countries have. Some people may be surprised as to why Canada is stepping up its receipt of immigrants. They are not dumb and realise that in the numbers game they will lose out big time, so simply need to boost their population to US levels if they want to compete

[8] More frightening for me is their huge land masses. Figures do not lie - China (9.5m sq km), USA (9.8 sq km including Alaska), EU (4.4 sq km) and India (3.2 sq km). When you merge the combination of a large population and a huge landmass, you automatically end up with an economic, military and trading powerhouse

[9] Now, I look at the African continent and Nigeria, the largest economy only has a landmass of 923,000 sq km. Yes we will have the population but to compete effectively, we simply need a landmass of about 3m sq km. An amalgamation of Nigeria, Niger Republic, Benin Republic and Cameroon will give us a total landmass of about 2.7sq km. This will give us a fighting chance but without it, forget it. We have already lost the battle

[10] What particularly appeals to me in all this is the fact that 80% of Niger Republic is Sahara Desert. The electricity potential of this is simply immense. What stops this combined nation accounting for 50% of global electricity supply? Can someone please explain to me why we cannot concert the Sahara into one huge solar farm that generates cheap electricity. We should come up with innovative production techniques that make alternative energy sources unprofitable, forcing the rest of the world to buy from us