I hope Bola Tinubu devotes at least 50% of his energy to manufacturing as low productivity is the root cause of most of our current problems 

Ayo Akinfe 

[1] Here is a pie chart, which offers a breakdown of the Nigerian economy into its component sectors. As you can see, manufacturing only accounts for about 7% of gross domestic product (GDP). This for me is at the root of all our problems

[2] Do you know the global average with regards to manufacturing as a percentage of national GDP is 30%. When we only have about one quarter of that, you can see why we are in trouble

[3] In China, manufacturing as a percentage of GDP is a whopping 40% and in developing economies similar to Nigeria such as Indonesia, Mexico, Iran and Brazil, it is 47%, 34.2%, 40.6% and 27.4% respectively

[4] Nigeria currently has a GDP of around $550bn. If we can double the contribution of manufacturing as a percentage of GDP, I think we can easily boost that figure to $1trn within two years 

[5] No matter how many dollars you throw at the naira, any respite is temporary as ultimately, the strength of your economy is what really determines the value of your currency. We import so much that any vagaries in the global currency market automatically has an inflationary impact on Nigeria

[6] We have a lot to leverage on as we can use agriculture as a basis to manufacture agri-based products. We also have enough solid minerals to begin manufacturing finished industrial goods like pipe rods, machine tools, ball bearings, etc. We also have enough oil and gas to become a major player in the global petro-chemicals industry

[7] We simply need to get Nigeria manufacturing to move on to the next rung of the ladder. I am hopeful that this new gas-fired industrial park in Delta State will be the catalyst for the Nigerian industrial revolution

[8] As an economic model, we need the margins from manufacturing to offset the volume of imports. Nigeria then needs to increase her export earnings from the current $50bn to around $100bn and to end this crazy dependency on crude oil

[9] I doubt if the APC has a policy unit or think tank that has drawn up any manufacturing plans. When President Yar’Adua assumed office in 2007, he said he could not believe there were no policy units in Aso Rock 

[10] If Nigeria can crack the manufacturing nut, watch all her other major problems crumble. Insecurity, corruption, limited power supply, ethnic mistrust, etc are all by-products of low productivity. Bola Tinubu’s first appointment should be that of a minister for manufacturing