Do you know that one in every 40 people on earth is Nigerian and it is our task to make Nigeria account for one fortieth of global production

Ayo Akinfe

[1] No matter how you look at it, large under-performing countries like Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the only hope for humanity in the post-Covid-19 era. With global economic output down by about a third, they are the ones who can drag the human race out of this morass

[2] When you look at Nigeria with a population of about 200m, making her the world’s seventh most populous nation in a planet, it is crystal clear that we are an under-performing parasitic economy. A huge liability

[3] We account for one fortieth of the global population, meaning one in every 40 human beings is Nigerian. It is only fair that we carry our fair share of humanity’s burden by accounting for one fortieth of global economic and industrial output

[4] Figures do not lie as the global economy is worth about $95trn but with the current crisis it down to about $80trn. One fortieth of that is $2trn. This is the very minimum Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) should be were we not leaches and parasites

[5] We shamelessly have a meagre GDP of about $375bn, less then a quarter of our fair share and it does not embarrass us. We then wonder why people disrespect us with all these racist insults, immigration restrictions and discriminatory practices

[6] Brazil has a population just 6m more than that of Nigeria, yet her GDP is $1.85trn compared with Nigeria’s $375bn. If na to throw owambe, open church or mosque or spray money now, we go sabi pass dem

[7] When you look at other developing nations with similar large populations like us such as Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico, you will find out that they all have GDPs in excess or $1trn, at least thrice the size of ours but Nigerians own more houses than their citizens in Dubai, throw more parties around the world than them and own more private jets than their elite

[8] In a world where people believe in equity, Nigeria should not only account for one fortieth of global economic output but also produce at least one fortieth of all automobiles, washing machines, fridges, freezers, TV sets, laptop computers, mobile phones, etc. Now, that would be pulling our weight

[9] With a new global economic order pending after the lockdown, it will be up to emerging economies to fill the void. Mature industrialised economies do not have the capacity to grow beyond say 3% but in somewhere like Nigeria you can get 30% annual GDP growth

[10] What I love about this coronavirus crisis is that it destroyed a lot of the impediments that have stifled our economic growth such as the over-reliance on oil, the naive notion that the government is there to solve all our economic woes and the shameless reliance on imports to meet all our needs. From now on, we have to produce what we consume.