By Ayo Akinfe
Whoever wins Nigeria’s next election must appoint a Minister of Double-Digit Economic Growth with a mandate similar to what Winston Churchill gave Lord Beaverbrook during World War Two. Nigeria’s socio-economic woes stem largely from one fact: we are simply not productive enough. If we quadrupled our industrial output overnight, half of our problems would vanish immediately.
Imagine if Nigeria had enjoyed 10% GDP growth year-on-year since independence in 1960. Ethnicity, religious intolerance, kidnapping, terrorism, and corruption would all have been reduced to irrelevancies. Our situation is now so dire that we need a genius whose life’s mission is to deliver double-digit growth for at least two decades.
History offers us a model. In May 1940, with the Luftwaffe threatening Britain, Winston Churchill appointed Max Aitken — Lord Beaverbrook — as Minister of Aircraft Production. Beaverbrook was given near-dictatorial powers to overhaul aircraft manufacturing. He raised production targets by 15%, seized materials, replaced underperforming managers, and even released German Jewish engineers from internment to work in factories.
He demanded daily reports of bottlenecks and resolved them personally. He ordered the cannibalisation of 2,000 wrecked aircraft, arguing that every two wrecks could yield one new plane. Under his leadership, Britain produced at least 300 aircraft a week. Churchill himself declared: “His personal force and genius made this Aitken’s finest hour.”
Nigeria needs a figure of similar tenacity. Someone who will not tolerate excuses, who will seize bottlenecks by the throat, and who will make double-digit growth non-negotiable. For Lord Beaverbrook, the end justified the means. For Nigeria, the same principle must apply. Without such bold leadership, we will remain trapped in mediocrity.
📧 ayoakinfe@gmail.com
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