10 things Nigeria has to do by 2030 to make a statement that the world’s largest black nation is ready to take her place on the high table

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Build the world’s tallest and first solar powered Ferris wheel

(2) Win the Fifa men’s World Cup

(3) We are the world’s largest cassava, yam, shea nut and kolanut producer. Let us build the planet’s largest and first-ever ultra-modular processing plant that can process all of these crops within the same facility

(4) China’s Shanghai Maglev train is currently the fastest in the world with a top speed of 317km per hour. Let us top this by building a Lagos to Abuja high speed link that can travel at 350km an hour

(5) We talk a lot about solar power but let us show the world how it is done. Zamfara State has a land mass of 39,762 km². Let us turn 20,000 square kilometres of this into the world’s biggest solar farm with nothing but panels in site for miles. We can do the same in Yobe as both states are very sparsely populated

(6) Education is a big challenge in northern Nigeria. Let us take the bill by the horn and come up with the most ambitious schooling programme ever. Build two primary schools and one secondary school in each of the 500 or so local government areas of northern Nigeria. Lay the foundation stone for all of them on the same day under an ambitious programme called Eliminating Illiteracy

(7) Let us open a zoological garden and nature park that actually holds animals not native to Africa. This will include animals like tigers, jaguars, bison, kangaroos, panda, kiwis, capybara and llama. The idea is to attract tourists from these countries. For me, Taraba State should a protected wildlife sanctuary guarded by special UN laws

(8) Given our number of health challenges, we should be home to the world’s hospital. At the moment, China’s First Affiliated Hospital at Zhengzhou University is the largest with 7,000 beds. How about we build the Olikoye Ransome Kuti Hospital in Abuja with 10,000 beds

(9) We spend too much time complaining about power, yet we are surrounded by the rivers Niger and Benue. Can anyone please explain to me why the world’s largest hydro-electric power plant is not located at their confluence at Lokoja. China’s Three Gorges Dam has a generating capacity of 22,500MW. Let us build artificial rapids at Lokoja and construct a power plant that generates 30,000MW of electricity

(10) Obafemi Awolowo was the last person to make a statement that Nigeria is open for business and investment when he built Cocoa House in Ibadan. Skyscrapers are telling the world we have office space for blue chip companies. Let us build the world’s tallest skyscraper, beating Dubai’s Burj Khalifa which has a roof height of 828m. Realistically, any such building has to be in Lagos but let us go for 1,000m in height. Maybe have it as part of the Eko Atlantic project