10 things President Buhari needs to do in 2022 to prevent Nigeria becoming the much feared Arewanistan

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Plant trees along Nigeria’s borders with her neighbours and paint them green and white so we at least know where Nigeria begins and ends

[2] Form a Border Guard and equip them with jeeps so they can conduct 24 hour patrols along the frontier. Too many arms are coming into Nigeria through her porous borders

[3] Have a registration centre in each local government area along our borders where migrant workers can register upon entering Nigeria. We need to know who is a Nigerian and who is not

[4] In the Niger Delta, we need an aircraft carrier based there with about a dozen helicopters on board to carry out aerial reconnaissance. Too many arms come into the country via the delta and oil is also smuggled out through there to furnish these purchases

[5] Across the rest of the country, each local government along the border must have a Border Guard office equipped with at least one helicopter. All migrants from neighbouring countries must be asked to register upon entry into Nigeria

[6] Every border state should be home to a mechanised division of the Nigerian Army

[7] As we move towards a more integrated Ecowas and federal West Africa, Nigeria should open pidgin English classes in every border local government area as part of a move to create one citizenry. These centres should also offer citizenship classes

[8] Whenever there is conflict across Africa, Nigeria should despatch troops there to secure her armouries. Today, we are suffering from the fact that arms looted in Libya when Gadaffi’s regime fell have found their way into Nigeria

[9] We should also establish a Coastal Guard with a mandate to patrol the Badagry to Calabar 853 km maritime border. It should be equipped with ships, high speed boats, aircraft carriers, helicopters and even submarines. We have to manufacture all these locally as no one sells them just like that

[10] Anyone from a village that straddles Nigeria and a neighbouring country should be made to take an oath of allegiance to Nigeria if they opt for our citizenship