THE GREATEST HEIST IN MODERN
HISTORY BY AWOLOWO AND THE
YORUBAS,
KNOWN AS
INDIGENIZATION OF FOREIGN COMPANIES
IN NIGERIA

This piece was prompted by what I saw
as benign ignorance amongst some of
our Ibo folks and because such ignorance
is music to the ears of some other people
and Yoruba in particular. In more than
one occasion my friends and other Ibo
have advanced the argument that if Ibo
was that smart, how come Yorubas
dominated the commerce industry in
Nigeria? What they meant were the
domination of Yoruba in the banking,
insurance industries, Coco Cola and some
other surviving industries. In one
particular occasion a friend revealed to
me that he recently discovered that the
reason why some Yoruba are so wealthy
is because they were smart enough to
invest their money in corporate stocks
and bonds (not realizing that Yoruba
actually stolen those corporations) while
Ibo is busy engaging in buying and
selling. The Yoruba will like people to
continue to believe that story, that it was
because they were smart that they were
able to do all these great investments in
the commerce industry. One relevant
question that I always managed to ask
my interlocutors is whether they were
aware of the indigenization decree of
1972, master minded by Awolowo and
the Yoruba and the ramifications of that
policy, as will be expected, the answer
ranged from, I have heard of it but does
not understand what it actually meant to I
have not heard of the policy. Listening to
this ignorance induced perspective from
my friends made my heart to skip a beat,
realizing that the task of bridging this
information gap is not going to be a
child’s play. What is disconcerting is that
some in their benign induced ignorance
believe that the effect of indigenization is
inconsequential at this time because it
happened about forty years ago. This
piece is therefore for those that are
educable and for those that have the
capacity to appreciate the magnitude and
most importantly for those that can relate
that gigantic economic event that
reshaped the economic foundation on
which Nigerian economy settled on after
the British/Biafran war and as well as
relate our present economic malaise to
that economic foundation engendered by
indigenization.
There is no doubt that most people,
particularly those that do not have either
basic or international economics
background are overwhelmed by the
subject of INDIGENIZATION OF FOREIGN
COMPANIES IN NIGERIA because of their
inability to understand the economics of
it and the efficacies to make the
necessary connections and relate it to the
present economic doldrums, some simply
brush it aside or worse, simple minimize
its far reaching implications particularly
on the Ibo. In so doing, majority of us
dabble into analysis of how terrible Ibo
has managed their affairs since after the
civil war, while leaving out a huge chunk
of the elements that need to be factored
into their analysis. The unspeakable effect
of the policy of indigenization on the Ibo
was wicked and dastardly. The economic
damage on the Ibo is impossible to
calculate. The psychological toll on the Ibo
is still reverberating amongst the Ibo
today and creating identity crisis. Some
folks will argue that we should drop the
subject because it happened forty years
ago, which is equivalent to saying that
because slavery, Jim crow and the
holocaust happened years ago, and for
that reason, they have no relevance in
today’s analysis. How can any credible
analysis of American history not include
slavery and its implications, or how can
any Jewish history not include the
holocaust and its implications and effects,
but that is what some folks want us to do,
to avoid or forget one of the most
devastating economic policies that
changed the economic landmark of
Nigeria, second to the genocide of more
than a million Ibo committed by the same
man, Awo, and still arrive at any
meaningful analysis. I believe that the
incredulity that any ethnic group is
capable of visiting such devastation on
another is still an obstacle that the subject
is struggling against and must overcome.
It is not that most people do not know
what happen, it is simply that they do not
what to believe that it happened because
it is mind bending. I also believe that if
we do not tell the story over and over,
the Yorubas will not tell and neither will
the Hausa tell it, as a matter of fact they
always wish that it will go away. So
whether they like it or not, we must
continue to broadcast what happened
until people start to understand the effect
of the policy not only on the Ibo but on
the nation as a whole. Suffice to say that
after Awo and the Yoruba succeeded in
executing the indigenization decree and
became overnight millionaires, many Ibo
packed their bags and left Lagos to the
east –ala Ibo, where they shortly died out
of heart break because some of them also
suffered the deprivation of their
properties due to abandon property
policy in Lagos and Port harcourt.

WHAT ENGENDERED THE

INDIGENIZATION POLICY?

It is no more news worthy to point out

that before the civil war that Ibo out of

their capacity for honesty, to work hard,

to produce, to innovate, to manage,

create and persevere were able to

penetrate all facets of Nigerian endeavor,

when the British used merit as a yard

stick. It is an irrefragable fact that even

Yoruba would not dare challenge that

fact, if not, what started the Yoruba hate,

envy and jealousy against the Ibo in the

first place, Yoruba and Hausa claimed that

Ibo was dominating everything in the

country but what they will not

acknowledge publicly was the fact that

the British were making the decisions

about who to hire by their own standard

and not by Ibo standard and that Ibo was

good at what they did and better than

them. The Yoruba and Hausa wanted not

only equal opportunity they also wanted

equal outcome regardless of effort and

everyone knows that that is impossible.

There is one very important fact in my

analysis that I want everyone to get, and

that is that before the civil war, Nigeria as

a nation did not have an economic of its

own. Let me say it again, that Nigeria as a

nation before the British/Biafran civil war

did not have an economy of its own. I

emphasized that point in other to say that

whatever seemed like Nigerian economy

were British owned. Put differently, if

you excluded few of the regional

cooperatives and some joint ventures

businesses which were mostly British

engineered to make buying raw materials

easy for the British, ever y other aspect

of the economy were owned majorly by

the British, even the military, given the

fact that almost every military supply

came from Britain. It is then save to say

that British investment in Nigeria

amounted to a great totality of Nigerian

economy or that Nigerian economy was

at that time synonymous to the total

investment of the British.

Below, courtesy of Africa today are the

list of some of the companies that

constituted Nigerian economy before the

war that the Yoruba stole in one swoop,

spanning the insurance companies like

Lloyd’s of London and all the banks in

Nigeria owned one way or the other by

the British. This is but a partial list of what

constituted the British investment in

Nigerian economy.

“Pharmaceutical Nigeria Plc ,May and

Baker Nigeria Plc,Vitafoam Nigeria

Plc,Wahum Nigeria Limited ,CAP Nigeria

Plc , International Paints of West Africa

[IPWA], Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, Berec

Nigeria Limited, Kabelmetal, Nigeria

Bottling Company Plc, Leventis Nigeria

Plc ,West African Portland Cement

Company,[Lafarge ],Wema Bank Nigeria

Plc, Scoa Nigeria Plc ,CFAO Nigeria Plc,

Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Wemaboard Estates,

Odua Group, Livestock Feeds Nigeria Plc ,

Nigerian Breweries Plc, new nigerian

Bank, Batta, Kingsway Stores, Crittal Hope

(Nigeria) Limited, Mushin, Lagos State.

Dunlop (Nig.) Industries Plc, Ikeja, Lagos

State. •Galvanising Industries Limited,

Ikeja, Lagos State. •Nigeria Construction &

Water Resources Development Company

Limited, Ibadan, Oyo State •Nigerian Wire

& Cable Plc, Ibadan, Oyo State •Nigerite

PLC, Ikeja, Lagos State •Nipol Limited,

Ibadan, Oyo State •Odu'a Textile

Industries Limited, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti

State •Soleh Boneh Overseas (Nigeria)

Limited, Ibadan, Oyo State •Vono

Products Plc, Mushin, Lagos State •Wema

Bank Plc, Marina, Lagos •West African

Portland Cement Plc, Ikeja, Lagos

State •Great Nigeria Insurance PLC, Ikoyi,

Lagos State •Glanvill Enthoven & Company

Limited ?Guinness (Nig.) Plc, Ikeja, Lagos

State. ?International Breweries Plc, Ilesa,

Osun State. ?Macmillian Publishers (Nig)

Limited, Ilupeju, Lagos ?Nestle Food (Nig)

Plc, Ikeja, Lagos State ?Nidogas Company

Limited, Lagos State ?Niger Mills Company

Limited, Calabar, Cross River State ?

Nigerian Aluminium Extrusions Limited,

Lagos ?SKG-Pharma (Nig.) Limited, Lagos ?

Tower Aluminium (Nig.) Plc, Lagos ?U. A. C.

of Nigeria Plc., Lagos etc.

The necessity of inserting this partial list

of the companies/assets that existed

before the war was to give the reader a

sense of the extent of what the issue is all

about and who owned what and when.

The Yoruba hardly owned much of

anything or any of these assets listed

above except in some regional joint

cooperative ventures with the British.

The story went like this, before the war

the Ibo dominated the economic work

force followed by the Yoruba, when

British/Biafran war started, Ibo, for their

safety left their jobs in different parts of

the country to return to the east, the Ibo

land. After the end of the war, the Ibo

went back to seek for their jobs that they

left for security reasons, the Yoruba who

took advantage and occupied the

positions that Ibo left decided that they

will not relinquish those position because

according to the Yoruba, Ibo abandoned

their positions and do not deserve their

position back, reminiscent of the

abandon property thievery in Port

Harcourt River State and Lagos. However,

a dynamic developed as Ibo every

morning dressed up and went and

occupied the lobbies of their different

offices that they used to work in. Tell me,

if this is not manifest bravery of the

highest order ever exhibited by any

group in Nigeria and we are talking about

days and weeks immediately after the

war was declared over. But the final say

as to whether or not the positions that

Ibo left for dire life was going to be

declared abandoned rested on the British

that owned these companies. As the back

and forth went on, the British started

angling to make an economic decision

because they understood the difference

between the Ibo worker and the Yoruba

worker and the three years of the civil

war made that difference even more

crystal clear to the British, if not, why

would the British bother to accommodate

the Ibo after such a long time? What

became clear to the Yoruba was that the

British were willing to make extra

provision to re-absorb the Ibo any way

possible. Yoruba was not ready to

tolerate any of that because they knew

that it was a matter of time before the

wheat will be separated from the shaft

that Ibo will assume their prominent

positions. In order to prevent the British

from re-absorbing the Ibo into these

British owned companies, the corporate

Yoruba decided to solicit the help of

Awolowo who was then the finance

minister and chairman of the federal

military council.

This is where a plan was hashed to wrest

the control of these companies,

consisting of banks, insurance

companies, corporations of different

kinds and types from the British. The best

way Awo and his cabal found fit was to

convince Gowon and the military

leadership who in all probability have

never had the word indigenization in

their lives to promulgate the

INDIGENIZATION DECREE in 1972 that

stipulated that every foreign owned

venture must transfer majority

ownership to Nigerian indigenes within a

year of the promulgation of the decree or

they will forfeit the assets of the

company to the Nigerian government.

(Emphasis within a year)

As expected, the

British were caught off guide, not

understanding the motive behind the

policy, the British thought it was a dream

or a joke that will go away, particularly

given the fact that they just won the war

against the Ibo for the Yoruba and Hausa.

After exhausting six months out of the

one year in their bid to reverse the

decree, the British became frantic and

concluded that they could not reverse the

decree and went about trying to salvage

whatever they could. What was worst

was that the British did not even have

enough time to evaluate the worth of

their ventures because of the limited time

the decree allowed, courtesy of Awo and

cabal. The situation gave chaos a new

name because the British were in chaos.

So the first problem the British ran into

was limited time that they couldn’t figure

what the value of majority of their

ventures were, they could not tell how

much to sell them for. Mind you that this

was happening within a year after the

end of the civil war. At this time the

Yoruba was running every conceivable

federal ministries, departments and

agencies plus all the corporations listed

above and more that the British owned. It

is important to point out that the north

had little or no presence in the commerce

economy of the country before the war

and after the war except in the military

leadership and infantry. The economy of

the country was dominated by Ibo first

and Yoruba second before the war. In

order to solidify the economic dominance

that the Yoruba attained during and after

the war and to make their position even

more potent in acquiring the British

spoils, Awo as the finance minister and

chairman of the federal military council

and his Yoruba cabal decided to

economically emasculate the Ibo

understanding

a) That Yoruba was fully running every

conceivable federal parastatals

b) That Yoruba was running every

conceivable corporation that the British

owned or had majority ownership as

listed above.

c) That Yoruba was managing all the

Nigerian banks, insurance corporations,

National shipping line, Nigerian airways,

Nigerian’s Ports authority, Nigerian

Railways and all the ministries,

Departments and Agencies conceivable.

Decided to destroy whatever was left of

the Ibo and putting a finishing touch to it

by

a) Stealing through confiscating all the

millions of pounds that Ibo had in all the

Nigerian banks

b) Offering every Ibo person #20 pounds

regardless of how many millions they

had in the Nigerian banks before the war.

c) Militarizing every part of Ibo land.

d) Rendering every Ibo without

exception a pauper.

e) Banning every importation of stock

fish and used clothes to deprive the Ibo

of any economic ability to compete with

the Yoruba in buying into the British

assets.

When that day of infamy arrived for the

British to start selling their assets, Igbo

having been disenfranchised and

emasculated in any and every way stood

on the sideline watching the Yoruba in

their glee as they scrambled to obtain

loans from their Yoruba dominated banks

to make the most minimal of offers to the

British as there were no competitions.

The British had no choice but to accept

any offer as the alternative was losing

everything to the federal government.

The British lost pretty much all their

investment to the Yoruba whose stock in

trade is robbing and stealing any and

everything they can get their hands on.

Thousands of Yoruba became millionaires

overnight and there was jubilation and

owanbe all over Yoruba land. Yoruba had

parties day and night and weekends.

They closed streets to display their new

found wealth as they partied. That day

marked the economic death of Nigeria,

that day marked the death of Nigerian’s

aspiration to join the civilized world. The

implication was enormous and it sent a

shock wave throughout the Ibo land, It

was a dark history day, it was a day of

manifest wickedness and viciousness, Ibo

was dumbfounded, the days that

followed were days of economic , social

and psychological morose and confusion

that are still lingering today within the

Ibo. It might be hard to accept but Awo

got the Ibo good and the country as well,

he brought the Ibo to his knees

economically at least temporarily and Ibo

has never recovered from that one blow

seven akpus in any appreciable way but

Nigeria as whole is worse off for it. I

believe that what was more devastating

was that Ibo had no place or body to turn

to. To be blunt, Awo decapitated the Ibo

leadership and through Ibo into great

confusion.

It is important to note that by this

singular act of INDIGENIZATION DECREE

engineered by the Yoruba, the Yoruba de

facto constituted the new economic

foundation, the sole owner and manager

of Nigerian economy without any rivals.

So, for those that have wondered why

Ibo became traders, this is the why. The

Yoruba will not let any Ibo near the

management of any of these stolen

corporations, will not let Ibo buy any

shares of these corporations for decades

following the heist. Now, some people

without the capacity to comprehend the

full seismic implication of this economic

shift and restructuring will want us to

believe that this does not matter and I will

beg to disagree because it is like

everything else, the foundation of

everything matters and determines the

success or failure, be it a house or

business. As time has revealed, Yoruba

stealing and forming the economic

foundation for Nigeria was a bad idea

and a monumental disaster. For the

ignorants, all things being equal (in a fair

fight) the Yoruba knew it, the British

knew it, the Ibo knew it and the world

knew it that the Yoruba did not possess

the capacity, creativity, drive,

perseverance, hard work and the

competence to do what some are

crediting to it if they did not conspire to

steal not only from the British and Ibo but

from everybody else that had any assets

in Nigeria. The apparent dominant control

the Yoruba has on the economy since

after the war was not out of great honest

smartness or creativity or innovation or

hard work or competence but out of

share robbery of the British and Ibo

sweat and hard work. I believe that the

question that the benign ignorant should

be asking going forward is what did

Yoruba do with all these assets and

corporations that they stole? How did the

country fair under the Yoruba

management of the Nigerian economy?

How did the Yoruba managed economy

relate to today’s economic malaise. Hope

they can make the connections.

My next piece will try to capture the mind

blowing implications of that great heist as

it relates to Nigerians and Ibo in particular

and the flight of international investment

from Nigerian for decades.

The posts above was culled from Onlytruth's comment.
www.nairaland.com/1023852/answers-common-questions-igbo-people/27#11913499

1. Do you agree with him?

2. Can you give us your own account of INDIGENIZATION POLICY?

3. How does this policy shape/affect Nigeria's economic landscape?

I intends to open a debate on this little known event among today's youth that had far-reaching consequence(s). It is so far-reaching that it continues to resonate up till this day.

I invite intellectuals, historians, economists to debate on this topic without rancor or emotions.

I plead with mudslingers to read and move on.

ACM10: The posts above was culled from Onlytruth's comment.
www.nairaland.com/1023852/answers-common-questions-igbo-people/27#11913499

1. Do you agree with him?

2. Can you give us your own account of INDIGENIZATION POLICY?

3. How does this policy shape/affect Nigeria's economic landscape?

I intends to open a debate on this little known event among today's youth that had far-reaching consequence(s). It is so far-reaching that it continues to resonate up till this day.

I invite intellectuals, historians, economists to debate on this topic without rancor or emotions.

I plead with mudslingers to read and move on.

you honestly think that you will get honest debate on this issue in nairaland/are you new here?i laugh.

asha 80:

you honestly think that you will get honest debate on this issue in nairaland/are you new here?i laugh.

You can never tell

Why do ibos love crying?
You wanted Nigeria, yorubas never wanted Nigeria.
The domination you keep moaning about was about,
Ibos trying to rule over Western region, and yorubas
said, NO, stay in your region. Is that a crime in a
regional government? Azikwe wanted ibos to be the rulers
and kingmakers in Western region, and we told fool to
go phuck himself in his region.

Most of companies you listed were owned by the western region,
and they were located in the western region. Why can't you list
companies in the eastern region that yorubas stole from you?
I still don't know why long throat is making you people what
was in your region.

Pharmaceutical Nigeria Plc - Western region
May and Baker Nigeria Plc - Western region
Vitafoam Nigeria Plc - Western region
Wahum Nigeria Limited - Western region
CAP Nigeria Plc - Western region
International Paints of West Africa [IPWA] - Western region
Berger Paints Nigeria Plc - Western region
Berec Nigeria Limited - Western region
Bottling Company Plc - Western region
Leventis Nigeria Plc - Western region
West African Portland Cement Company,[Lafarge ] - Western region
Wema Bank Nigeria - Western region and created by the western region(Odua group of companies)
Scoa Nigeria Plc - Western region
CFAO Nigeria Plc - Western region
Cadbury Nigeria Plc - Western region
Western Wemaboard Estates Odua Group - Western region(Odua group of companies)
Livestock Feeds Nigeria Plc - Western region
Nigerian Breweries Plc - western region

I'm tired now, but everything was either owned
by the western region, or in the western region.

Na jealousy go kill una. mtcheww

You are the one who is crying pal. What do you mean those companies were owned by the western region So for instance May and Baker that was a UK owned company that opened an outlet in lagos was automatically owned by the western region. Cool down o!

HiiiPower: Why do ibos love crying?
You wanted Nigeria, yorubas never wanted Nigeria.
The domination you keep moaning about was about,
Ibos trying to rule over Western region, and yorubas
said, NO, stay in your region. Is that a crime in a
regional government? Azikwe wanted ibos to be the rulers
and kingmakers in Western region, and we told fool to
go phuck himself in his region.

Most of companies you listed were owned by the western region,
and they were located in the western region. Why can't you list
companies in the eastern region that yorubas stole from you?
I still don't know why long throat is making you people what
was in your region.

Pharmaceutical Nigeria Plc - Western region
May and Baker Nigeria Plc - Western region
Vitafoam Nigeria Plc - Western region
Wahum Nigeria Limited - Western region
CAP Nigeria Plc - Western region
International Paints of West Africa [IPWA] - Western region
Berger Paints Nigeria Plc - Western region
Berec Nigeria Limited - Western region
Bottling Company Plc - Western region
Leventis Nigeria Plc - Western region
West African Portland Cement Company,[Lafarge ] - Western region
Wema Bank Nigeria - Western region and created by the western region(Odua group of companies)
Scoa Nigeria Plc - Western region
CFAO Nigeria Plc - Western region
Cadbury Nigeria Plc - Western region
Western Wemaboard Estates Odua Group - Western region(Odua group of companies)
Livestock Feeds Nigeria Plc - Western region
Nigerian Breweries Plc - western region

I'm tired now, but everything was either owned
by the western region, or in the western region.

Na jealousy go kill una. mtcheww

HiiiPower:
Most of companies you listed were owned by the western region,
and they were located in the western region. Why can't you list
companies in the eastern region that yorubas stole from you?
I still don't know why long throat is making you people what
was in your region.

Pharmaceutical Nigeria Plc - Western region
May and Baker Nigeria Plc - Western region
Vitafoam Nigeria Plc - Western region
Wahum Nigeria Limited - Western region
CAP Nigeria Plc - Western region
International Paints of West Africa [IPWA] - Western region
Berger Paints Nigeria Plc - Western region
Berec Nigeria Limited - Western region
Bottling Company Plc - Western region
Leventis Nigeria Plc - Western region
West African Portland Cement Company,[Lafarge ] - Western region
Wema Bank Nigeria - Western region and created by the western region(Odua group of companies)
Scoa Nigeria Plc - Western region
CFAO Nigeria Plc - Western region
Cadbury Nigeria Plc - Western region
Western Wemaboard Estates Odua Group - Western region(Odua group of companies)
Livestock Feeds Nigeria Plc - Western region
Nigerian Breweries Plc - western region

I'm tired now, but everything was either owned
by the western region, or in the western region.

Na jealousy go kill una. mtcheww

The companies were British-owned companies which were nationalized during the indigenization policy. Yorubas acquired those companies when the indigenization policy took effect. I doubt if you read the post thoroughly because your doubts were well attended to. You can drive home your point by telling us the founders of those companies you listed.
Ofcourse the companies were located in western region which is closest to the seat of British power in the country.

The events that took place during the indigenization policy can be compared to what happened during the fall of Soviet Union. Overnight, taxi drivers became instant millionaires by acquiring state-owned companies with little or nothing. They later became known as the Russian oligarchs.

Igbos are not trying to jealous Yorubas. Besides, this is purely my personal opinion and may/may not reflect that of average Igboman. I intends to set the records straight. It will be nice if Nigerian youths learns from this event in our history.

I must say the OP is VERY biased. Whilst in every right, the 20£ saga in my books was on a grand scale of wickedness and opportunistic theft.

The indigenisation attempt still remains a major policy error that culminated in the loss of substantial foreign capital and technical know how that still reverberates today.

However, blaming the yorubas in this case just doesn't hold. Besides, did the yorubas manage to 'corner' every single nationalised company or what really?
How about the companies in other regions-who took over them ?

BlackBaron: I must say the OP is VERY biased. Whilst in every right, the 20£ saga in my books was on a grand scale of wickedness and opportunistic theft.

The indigenisation attempt still remains a major policy error that culminated in the loss of substantial foreign capital and technical know how that still reverberates today.

However, blaming the yorubas in this case just doesn't hold. Besides, did the yorubas manage to 'corner' every single nationalised company or what really?
How about the companies in other regions-who took over them ?

Thanks for your civility. Can u point out those bias? Can you name some of those nationalized companies located in the other regions? I hope that Onlytruth will come around to respond to the accusation of bias.

@op,
Thanks for this very honest and insightful post.

ACM10:

Thanks for your civility. Can u point out those bias? Can you name some of those nationalized companies located in the other regions? I hope that Onlytruth will come around to respond to the accusation of bias.

Hmmn... Onlytruth is not exactly known for neutrality. Unless if[b] each and every single company was located in the western region[/b], I'll like to know what happened to companies in other regions. Sadly I can't mention any though.

Dr.ACM
u finally carried out ur threat. Opened up this topic,i can see u gathered much info jst like u promised. My eyes are drowsy now. Hope to read the post later.

Interesting.

So what's the way forward for the Igbo?

joeyfire: You are the one who is crying pal. What do you mean those companies were owned by the western region So for instance May and Baker that was a UK owned company that opened an outlet in lagos was automatically owned by the western region. Cool down o!

The OP is being disingenuous!
All the companies he listed were located in the western region and Lagos.

Can he tell us what happened to the companies in EASTERN REGION, NORTHERN REGION, AND MIDWEST?
Did the Yoruba take over them as well?

I don't know why you guys always cry spilled milk over things in Yoruba region and Lagos,
are we siamese twins? Our region is our region, and whatever we do there is non of your business.
The same way Azikwe wanted to rule over Lagos and western region; and cried cross carpeting till he died.

What do you people want from us?

The way forward is about how Igbo people would focus on their region,
stop moving to Yoruba land, and mind their own business.

Valid questions by Baron

OP, Why are Igbos interested in companies located in the SW?

Did the indigenization policy also affect companies located in the SE, SS and North? Did Yorubas also take over companies
in SE?

Yorubas took over companies located in the SW and the Igbos are crying. why cant you mind your own side?

ACM10:

Thanks for your civility. Can u point out those bias? Can you name some of those nationalized companies located in the other regions? I hope that Onlytruth will come around to respond to the accusation of bias.

Wont it be your responsibility to find out companies located in the SE and find out if it was Yorubas who took them over?

Why dont Igbos face indigenized companies located in the SE?

actually igbos are benifiting most now , all the companies in the east are owned by igbos and doing very well and igbos also have a large chunk of the companies in other regions so in the end you will continue to win if your good at what you do besides over three quater of those companies which where in hundreds have all closed down ,only a hand few are left today , if any group should complain about it its the hausa fulanis who are currently the poorest and the niger deltan who despite all the oil God have blessed them with are strugling like every other region while few politicians especially from the north carter away with their wealth.

HiiiPower:

The OP is being disingenuous!
All the companies he listed were located in the western region and Lagos.

Can he tell us what happened to the companies in EASTERN REGION, NORTHERN REGION, AND MIDWEST?
Did the Yoruba take over them as well?

I don't know why you guys always cry spilled milk over things in Yoruba region and Lagos,
are we siamese twins? Our region is our region, and whatever we do there is non of your business.
The same way Azikwe wanted to rule over Lagos and western region; and cried cross carpeting till he died.

What do you people want from us?

The way forward is about how Igbo people would focus on their region,
stop moving to Yoruba land, and mind their own business.

same companies, different locations in the country . leventis , dunlop , nigerian bottling company , berger paints etc they all have or had locations accross the country.

"one blow seven akpus"?
Who wrote this garbage? An elementary school pupil? Nairalanders need to stop recycling all these poorly written junk littered all over the internet.
As for the topic itself, I can't address it, because whoever wrote the article must either be childish or just plain uneducated.

indigenisation decree was not about transfering ownership of western companies to yorubas outright. it was about allowing all nigerians to buy shares in these companies. these companies were listed on the stock exchange and those who had money bought into them simple and short .

these stupid bastards ranting about ohhh , the yorubas took over these companies when all it was was people being able to buy shares in companies.

igbos cost the country billions in life and property , in that unnecessary war.

HiiiPower:

The OP is being disingenuous!
All the companies he listed were located in the western region and Lagos.

Can he tell us what happened to the companies in EASTERN REGION, NORTHERN REGION, AND MIDWEST?
Did the Yoruba take over them as well?

I don't know why you guys always cry spilled milk over things in Yoruba region and Lagos,
are we siamese twins? Our region is our region, and whatever we do there is non of your business.
The same way Azikwe wanted to rule over Lagos and western region; and cried cross carpeting till he died.


What do you people want from us?

The way forward is about how Igbo people would focus on their region,
stop moving to Yoruba land, and mind their own business.

The way forward is about how Igbo people would focus on their region,
stop moving to Yoruba land, and mind their own business

The way forward rather is let all Oil and gas company Headquaters move back to the Niger Delta from Lagos Maritime Activities for good SE/SS routed to Calabar and Ibaka Sea Port , CBN directing Banks to relocate their HQ to Abuja while while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will direct Embaasies to open consular Offce ibn every Geopolitical zones let us see what will become of Lagos.
why would the HQ of these companies be located in Lagos when Lagos is no more the federal capital just like Calabar and Lokoja. the most annoying part is that these companies pay taxes to Lagos Government . Who really is fooling Who.

The Niger Deltans will be the biggest fools on the face of the earth if after GEJ they have not built a deep sea port in Calabar,PH and Ibaka and they have not relocated the stolen Oil company HQs back to our region.

Did anyone force Banks not to have headquarters in Abuja or any part?

I dont know of any law which states that Banks must have Headquarters in Lagos. Unity Bank has its headquarters in Abuja at 785, Herbert Macaulay Way, Central Business District, Abuja

So tell us where CBN mandated banks to have headquarters in Lagos?

Banks chose a convenient Location for their head office

Unity bank being a Northern bank have their head office in Abuja, why cant Diamond and Fidelity Bank which are Igbo banks relocate their Head offices to Aba and Umuahia respectively or Zenith and UBA to relocate their head offices to Asaba and Portharcourt

The Indigenisation Decree eventhough Awolowo used to to siphon the Economy of Nigeria in to the hands of the yorubas has not only shown the vulturistic tendencies of the yorubas but has also exposed their ineptitude,incompetence and incapacity to manage world class companies .

I have been studying for some time 3 islands founded by the British , built and developed by them and eventually made independent by them , the 3 island are
Lagos , singapore and Hong kong the 3 islands are the most densely populated cities of the world and they are also economic nerve centres.

Singapore is a southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay , Singapore is the world's fourth leading financial centre, and its port is one of the five busiest ports in the world. The economy depends heavily on exports and refining imported goods, especially in manufacturing, which constituted 26% of Singapore's GDP in 2005.The British obtained sovereignty over the island in 1824 and Singapore became one of the British Straits Settlements in 1826.

Hond Kong It is situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is known for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade, and the currency, Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world. Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42).

Lagos is a port city and the most populous city in Nigeria. Officially, the population of Lagos was last recorded at 7,937,932. Lagos is the second fastest growing city in Africa in terms of population and the seventh fastest in the world. Lagos was originally inhabited by the Awori subgroup of the Yoruba people. Lagos is the 5th worst city to live in.Lagos was formally annexed as the British Lagos Colony in 1861.

@ poster is it only Banks that i mentioned , what of the Oil and Gas companies and the Deep Sea port.

If the greed motivated indigenisation decree was not done possibly the above mentioned Companies would have been groomed to be world class enterprises employing Nigerians in their thousands and the whole Nation would have been better for it, it would have triggered the setting up of smaller indigenous companies which would have been off shoot of the big ones and which will grow with the big companies.
Notice how these companies like Wema Bank, Dunlop, Unilever , cadbury are operating on the Margins and barely paying salary of their workers becasue they have been run down by incompetent yoruba managers whose only qualification is that they are from yorubaland and the companies are in yoruba land.

Comparing it with what is happening in the banking industry where a little Zenith Bank incorporated less than 25 years ago is now the biggest bank in Asset Base while old inefficient banks like First bank and union bank that is almost 200 years old, which the Hausas and yorubas with their unenterprising business approach has been run down to second position.

The list of such run down companies and inumerable ,Nitel which had everything going for it and would have matched MTN Naira for Naira , base station for base station and subscriber for subscriber was run down by a Hausa MD and a yoruba CTO, Nigeria Airways that has everything to beat Egypt Air, South African Airways , Kenyan Airways,Ethiopean Airways was sacrifriced on the Alter of Nepotims and Hausa/Yoruba ineptitude.
The list is simply uncountable for more than 10 years Jacob Makoju was the MD of NEPA his only achievement was paying workiers salary and sitting over a company that could not generate enough electricity to power a city in south africa . with Obasanjo in Aso rock NEPA did not improve for ten years .(i wonder who really should be called a Clue less president)

NLNG Head office is in KM 16 Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.

Most oil coys relocated their operations during the militancy era in the Delta.

The Lagos Port operations has been in existence since the mid 19th century

You can also tell the Atlantic ocean to have a tributary through Nnewi so that the ship can berth in your backyard.

Tell us about how ACB a Igbo company was run. At least Wema Bank is still managing to pay salaries tell us what happened to ACB

As at the last check Mobil still had its HQ Near the Law school in Victoria Island while Chevron still retains it HQ in Lagos and operating base in Delta same applies to Total.

This is worst than having the Cocoa Heaquaters in Calabar a city which is a cocoa producer but not neccessarily a major producer or having Coal corporation in Ibadan which has no coal deposit.

BlackBaron: each and every single company was located in the western region, I'll like to know what happened to companies in other regions. Sadly I can't mention any though.

HiiiPower:

The OP is being disingenuous!
All the companies he listed were located in the western region and Lagos.

Can he tell us what happened to the companies in EASTERN REGION, NORTHERN REGION, AND MIDWEST?
Did the Yoruba take over them as well?

dayokanu:
OP, Why are Igbos interested in companies located in the SW?

Did the indigenization policy also affect companies located in the SE, SS and North? Did Yorubas also take over companies
in SE?

Yorubas took over companies located in the SW and the Igbos are crying. why cant you mind your own side?

dayokanu:

Wont it be your responsibility to find out companies located in the SE and find out if it was Yorubas who took them over?

Why dont Igbos face indigenized companies located in the SE?

The onus is on you guys to name those companies that are located in other regions of Nigeria. You made the assertion, not me.