In a recent interview with Fortune magazine, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Founder and Chairman of Dubai World a holding company with $100 billion in assets was asked his formula for success he replied “build a port, establish a free trade zone around the port and then build luxury hotels and housing nearby”.

It sound so simple but Dubai holdings has pulled it off. It owns the Barneys in New York, owns the “Palms inlands” in Dubai. Dubai worlds is also building a $28billion city in Saudi Arabia, $20 billion worth of luxury projects in Algeria, resorts in Morocco, Housing in Vietnam, Free trade zone in Senegal, and Game parks in South Africa. In October Dubai World agreed to invest $230 million in Rwanda national parks. Yes Rwanda. All this from a simple idea of free trade zones. Please note that Dubai is part of the Federal United Arab Emirates, but unlike Abu Dhabi which has 90% of the oil wealth, Dubai only had sand and pearls. The wealth of Dubai came from positioning themselves as a world class destination to trade, shop and rest. In all this remember that Taiwan has a higher GDP (according to Purchasing Power Parity) than Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer. Taiwan with absolutely no natural resource yet has prospered on free trade, efficient ports and manufacturing.


Ok so? Two things our Tinapa and the Northern Governors new resolve to develop agriculture and education in response to being called “parasites” by Asari Dokubo. (Yes, Asari Dokubo called the northern governors parasites living off the Niger Delta oil).

Tinapa was a visionary project. The plan was simple and well thought out. Use the natural resources of Cross River,(people, position, environment) add the man made infrastructure (the Calabar port, the Calabar airport, Obudu cattle ranch) and events (mountain race, annual carnival) then add the federal government’s accent (a free trade zone approval) and Tinapa in Calabar would become a little Dubai in Nigeria.
So the first Element the natural resources was achieved, the denizens of Calabar embraced the idea, Calabar spick and span, it was widely acclaimed as the most beautiful state capital in Nigeria, crime was low and everywhere was green. Calabar naturally has access to the sea. 1:0 to Tinapa.
The Calabar government then promoted the second part in utilizing the man made resources hence events like the Mountain race which is the highest paying maintain race in the world were launched to promote Tinapa, a yearly Rio style carnival was launched. Tinapa even sponsored the English premier league. There were direct connecting flights from Lagos and Abuja. Package deals were arranged etc. The project was financed by the private sector through a zero coupon bond with the state government guaranteeing the loans.2:0 to Tinapa.

Then came the most important part, the approval of the Federal government to make the Tinapa area and the Calabar port a free trade zone. To date this has not happened. On this note here Obasanjo the house of parliament and Yaradua scored a late minute hat trick, 2:3 Nigeria wins.
Tinapa has actually sold stalls and some companies have open shop there, however the anticipated drive has not occurred because most shop owners cannot display the goods for fear of seizure by the Nigeria customs, so most retailer ask why move to Calabar with a limited market when I can stay in Onitsha? Fact is if the FTZ issue is not address quickly Tinapa will become another metaphor for a white elephant project. It will be a shame that after the great people of Cross River decided to improve the fortunes of the state from a net receiver of allocation to a contributor to the nations GDP only to be dashed by the ineptitude of the Executive and Legislative bodies. If we cannot approve an “internal” investment running into billions of Naira, (money that could have been stolen and salted away in Swiss bank accounts), how can we ever hope to attract foreign investors?
Our Northern governors have no significant oil wealth, the opportunity is agriculture, but they must learn from the mistake of Calabar.

First they should get the FTZ approval to establish a free trade zone in say Lokoja (as a confluence town will reduce transport cost of commodities) or Kano (a natural trading post for commodities). Then they harness the natural and abundant resources by employing modern, all year round, irrigated farming. The North combined has a formidable land mass which if cultivated with all year round, can feed Africa. Agriculture forms 60% of our GDP, so the Northern governors are clearly on to something. They must also follow through on the value chain to agro allied, food processing and cold storage.
Get high yield seeds, build dams, fund colleges of agricultures, establish faming settlements, declare a farming emergency do everything and cultivate that huge landmass. The Sultan of Sokoto declared yesterday that unemployment in the North was a time bomb, this massive agriculture effort is the defuse. If this is done well, unemployment will drop, forex will flow in a “green” way and our country gets better. Asari has thrown a challenge, if after 8 years nothing has changed then he is right; I hope he will be wrong.

It’s our problem, we can fix it.