[center][size=13pt]What if you were in charge of all spending, and trading that occurs in Nigeria?

What would your goals be to accomplish?[/size][/center]

[center]Part I: Infrastructure (Transportation)[/center]

The first step I would make, is to set up a Development Bank, and submit 20% of all mineral (oil, coal, etc. . . .) earnings into it each month. With this Development Bank, it puts money into a dedicated fund to further help develop the nation, without having to take money from elsewhere.


Other than the development fund, I would still pump billions upon billions into developing this country, with infrastructure as the first step. I would dedicate enormous amounts toward repairing all roads in Nigeria, and building new ones in order to increase domestic trade between the cities, and help farms trade  their products with urban buyers. Funds will also help build an Autobahn type highway system to connect all major population centers to each other. This will help the fast movement of goods throughout all parts of Nigeria, and encourage more to travel.


The Autobahn type national highway system would be distinguished by having set standards. The standards of these roads would be:

- Separated by concrete barrier in the center
- 2 shoulder lanes for each side, making sure no one breaks down in middle of Highway.
- Minimum of 2 lanes on each side in rural areas. In urban areas, there is no maximum number of lanes.
- Maximum of 6% Grade in Mountainous Areas, anything above that will have to be tunneled.
- Lanes will have minimum width of 12 feet.
- Overpasses over Highways will have to be a minimum of 15ft above.


There would also put much of that money to a Standard Gauge electrified railroad system that will connect all major cities to each other. This railway would have passenger lines, along with freight lines, on separate tracks. This will help encourage Nigerians to move around, and help tremendously the movement of goods throughout Nigeria. There would also be money committed to building a High-Speed railway similar to the ones in Europe, to connect the largest of Urban Areas to each other (ie. Lagos - Ibadan - Benin City - Abuja - Kaduna - Kano - Enugu - Port Harcourt - Calabar).


The final step in an integrated ground transportation system in Nigeria, is to connect our country to neighboring ones using our National systems. Our Highways and Railroads will be connected to our neighbors, rapidly increasing cross border trade, along with increasing cross border spending. All Trans-African Highways that traverse through Nigeria will be integrated within our National Highway system with special signage, and will have border checkpoints at numerous designated areas throughout the country.


Airports, and seaports would also need to be expanded, with more of them built. I would make sure all cities with over 1,000,000 people would have airports with International flights, and be able to support at least 5,000,000 annual passengers, and over 500,000 tons of freight. All Airports, rural and urban will have paved runways, with modern terminals.


Seaports will also be expanded, with the largest ones being in strategic locations such as: Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Calabar. New domestic seaports would also be built along large rivers, but not many, because our rivers are vital water sources, and can't be polluted. Passenger terminals will be built in the Southern States to encourage International tourism, bolstering economic growth in that area.


Major cities, and financial cities such as Abuja, Lagos, Kano, and Port Harcourt will have multiple airports, with ones dedicated to mostly International flights, and others with domestic flights. These type of airports will encourage business growth both Internationally and Domestic, and will connect the country more, with trade becoming more easy.


In the largest of cities, with many industries, there will be money from public investments, along with the Development Fund to go towards building METRO systems. Subways, Elevated Trains, Light Rails, Bus Rapid Transit, Buses, and ferries (for cities on the water) will be part of an integral transit system for major cities in Nigeria to mobilize the population. Smaller cities won't have subways, or Elevated trains because those are more often reserved to larger cities with higher population densities.


To connect the large cities to their respective Suburbs, I'd put money to build commuter railways that use the same standard gauge as the national railways, but they'll be slightly faster, and have more stations within the urban area. Urban areas with over 3,000,000 people will have these commuter train networks, along with their METRO systems.


Cities with these integral transit systems will have large Intermodal Transportation Terminals that will connect all these systems at a central location within the city. They will have international connections thorugh the railroads, connecting to other large West African cities such as Lome, Accra, Abidjan, Porto Novo, Douala, and Niamey.

[center]Infrastructure Examples:

National Highway System:


Passenger Cruise Terminal:
[img]http://www.kpt.gov.pk/Images2/PND_PRJ_34.jpg[/img]

Subway:
[img]http://nomernoy.msk.ru/foto/foto/nom_6k_pavkol1.jpg[/img]

Elevated Rail:



Light Rail (Trams):


Bus Rapid Transit:


Passenger Ferries:
[img]http://www.greek-tourism.gr/attiki-athens/attiki-images/ferries.jpg[/img]

Commuter Rail:
[img]http://www.ergose.gr/ergosesite/_images/uploaded/Gefira_isthmou_large.jpg[/img]

Intermodal Transportation Terminal
[/center]

[center]Part I - Infrastructure (Water & Power)[/center]


Nigeria is a nation that unfortunately has many problems with people receiving their water and power needs, and that immediately needs to be addressed. Millions of Nigerians today don't have access to electricity, or clean water, and many steps need to be taken to assure every Nigerian has access to clean water, and power.


There would be much investment in clean energy alternatives, along with expansion of existing power generating facilities. A nation such as ours, with so many rivers, and streams, we have enormous potential to be one of the world's largest producers of Hydroelectric Power. Hydroelectric Power would be heavily invested in, with dams built where enormous amounts of water flow through daily. This is one of the cleanest sources of power, along with one of the safest.


Nuclear Power would also be heavily invested in, granting the power output, along with the relatively cleanliness of the source, it would be a smart investment. Nuclear Power has a high output of power, and has a long lasting lifetime. The plants are safe, but should only have highly trained workers, operating it.


Power coming from Coal, Oil, and other not so clean sources won't be completely terminated, but we will adopt cleaner burning coal, and cut down on using oil for power.


Solar Power would be a major source of power in the Northern States, because of the large amounts of sunshine they receive, and also because there is more open land. Wind Power would be a major source of power for the rural communities all around Nigeria, mostly because production from these types of power sources aren't so large, and they're clean sources.


Power Substations will be throughout the country, with a fully integrated power grid that will connect all cities, and towns to electricity, and assuring every Nigerian electricity at all hours. These substations not only provide jobs, but they assure responsibility over the power grid, along with preventive measures to make sure outages are avoided.


Clean water isn't something many Nigerians get to have on a daily basis, but more of a privilege. I want to turn that privilege into a right for every citizen of Nigeria. The dams set up for Hydroelectric Power, will make it easier to set up aqueducts all over the nation, so we can provide water access to the driest of states in the nation, along with thirsty cities. Water pipelines will extend from every corner of the country, along as Desalination plants near the coastal areas, will provide much needed water to those communities, along with drier parts of the country.


The ultimate goal is to make sure every citizen has water access, and with these plans, this will significantly reduce the rick for disease, along with extend greatly improving the quality of life for this country.


Along with Water needs, there also needs to be adequate flood prevention measures that need to be accounted for. Many areas in our countryside are prone to serious floods that leave too many of our people dead each year, and flood control is a major area that needs investment.


With Dams in place, you get Hydroelectric Power, a Water source, and FLOOD CONTROL. Rivers that are the major cause for floods in Nigeria will have the water diverted into Lakes, that will ultimately reduce the rick of floods, along with creating reservoirs for the holding of water for the population. Levees will also be constructed near areas with this problem, as well as ones with large populations nearby. These Levees help hold water behind a river, or a lake where large quantities of water are diverted into.


In our large cities, Seawalls will need to be built near the low lying areas to prevent urban flooding. An important move though is to separate the sewer system from the flood control infrastructure, to prevent the pollution of our sensitive oceans.

[center]Infrastructure Examples:

Hydroelectric Dam:
[img]http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/06/23/knDAM_wideweb__470x309,0.jpg[/img]

Solar Power


Wind Power


Natural Gas Power Plant:


Nuclear Power Plant


Water Pipeline
[img]http://nipomonews.files./2006/11/water-pipeline.jpg[/img]

Desalination Plant:


Reservoir:


Levee:


Seawall:
[/center]

First of all, i will make sure there is transparency.
make sure that there is accountability.
Make sure there is check and balance for all you awarded and what you have done.
Seperate the Audit department and the govt thieves.

Then, i will start investing on the important stuff that you guys have mentioned above.

Nice pictures but will naija ever reach that stage.

Research that is West Africa centred (e.g. solar energy); no stupid "fact finding" trips to Europe and America.
Clear the polution in the ND (high priority), Lagos and Aba.
World class education system to set the tone for excellence.
World class schools and competitions for the gifted.
World science research institutes.
World class regional and national transportation networks for sea, land and air.
World class 24 hour renewable energy.
World class electric chairs for past politicians

Beaf:

Research that is West Africa centred (e.g. solar energy); no stupid "fact finding" trips to Europe and America.
Clear the polution in the ND (high priority), Lagos and Aba.
World class education system to set the tone for excellence.
World class schools and competitions for the gifted.
World science research institutes.
World class regional and national transportation networks for sea, land and air.
World class 24 hour renewable energy.
World class electric chairs for past politicians

@Blackspade
I read thru your plans and I find it interesting.
But there is a big question you failed to address!Funding.
The things you've outlined would cost nothing less than 1 Trillion dollars to accomplish.
Now given that all the oil Nigeria has ever sold since 1956 is somewhere in the region of $500 billion, how would you raise the funds for the projects you've mentioned.

The highlighted part is exactly what I would direct my goals and achievements toward, if I were in charge of all our income!
How do I raise the resources to accomplish these enormous development plans?

If you search for understanding on the theory of development, you'd find out how resources, not finance was used to develop nations. The moment Africa understands this fact, they would stop shipping out precious resources and start using such to directly develop their societies.

@ PapaBrowne

I see your point. When I originally started this thread, I intended on posting eight parts detailing how I would do all of this, but as you see I haven't touched this thread since last October. . .

blackspade:

@ PapaBrowne

I see your point. When I originally started this thread, I intended on posting eight parts detailing how I would do all of this, but as you see I haven't touched this thread since last October. . .

Yeah, it would be lovely to see those eight parts if you still got them.
Very impressive stuff you got!!

PapaBrowne:

@Blackspade
I read thru your plans and I find it interesting.
But there is a big question you failed to address!Funding.
The things you've outlined would cost nothing less than 1 Trillion dollars to accomplish.
Now given that all the oil Nigeria has ever sold since 1956 is somewhere in the region of $500 billion, how would you raise the funds for the projects you've mentioned.

The highlighted part is exactly what I would direct my goals and achievements toward, if I were in charge of all our income!
How do I raise the resources to accomplish these enormous development plans?

If you search for understanding on the theory of development, you'd find out how resources, not finance was used to develop nations. The moment Africa understands this fact, they would stop shipping out precious resources and start using such to directly develop their societies.

Something is wrong with my system. Cant seem to get to post my question properly