Biafra spirit in Anambra oil…

Monday, August 27, 2012


Biafra spirit in Anambra oil…

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Uche Ezechukwu

If things go as planned - and there is no reason why they will not - the government and people of Anambra State will on Thursday, August 30th, host President Goodluck Jonathan to a one crowded day of commissioning activities in their state. It will be a proud and happy people, led by their unusual governor (as the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu used to describe him) that would be marshalled out to welcome and watch the president as he inspects and commissions some solid projects which promise to touch on the socio-economic life of the people of the state and Nigeria, in very significant and practical ways.

The most significant object of the impending presidential visit would be the commissioning of the oil production activities in the Anambra basin. He will also commission some facilities that will have a tremendous impact on the socio-economic life of the people, as well as the over-all development of not just Anambra State, but other surrounding states and zones. For me therefore, that visit will be significant in three very concrete ways. First, the visit will formally usher the state into the privileged and hallowed portal of oil producing states, alongside states that have been enjoying a jumbo chunk of the nation's revenues that come mainly from oil resources.

The critical issue of welcoming the state into that exclusive lucrative club should be of a special significance that should not be lost on Nigerians, as it comes along with historical implications that far outweigh the event itself. It marks a watershed that is closely following the great honour which the president accorded Ndigbo with the rousing national burial that was given their departed hero and leader, earlier this year. With that funeral, the Igbo nation felt more fully integrated into the Nigerian family, even if only psychologically.

The official commissioning of oil activities next Thursday will make such a feeling more secure. And this is why: For several years, it has been established that huge deposits of petroleum and gas resources abound in the Omambala basin of Anambra state in commercial and exploitable quantities. Even as the Nigerian state rolled out drums in jubilation at every new discovery of petroleum deposits elsewhere else in the country, the Anambra discovery was somewhat different.

The federal authorities embargoed its exploitation and under a very bizarre and dubious pretext, claimed that it had placed the Anambra State oil under what it termed as 'strategic reserve', which euphemistically speaking, meant that it was off limits to the people who should benefit from it. Anambrarians would not have bothered had they been allowed to benefit, as an oil bearing state, and as the other states that are similarly endowed, have been doing in terms of enhanced revenue share. All efforts to reverse the vindictive situation fell on deaf ears of the successive military and civil authorities. It was, therefore, easy to see that it was a deliberate punitive policy against the people of the South East, who saw neither rhyme nor reason in the policy.

The 'whys' and the dynamics of that obnoxious policy would be discussed in my subsequent submissions in the very near future, as I would not want its discussion here and now, to divert me from the weighty matter at hand. For, even when Orient Petroleum Resources Plc was incorporated and expanded into a big and serious company which the people and government of the state massively bought into and obtained an operating licence to prospect for oil and build a refinery close to the site of the hydrocarbon deposits, Anambrarians were reminded of the obnoxious provision which was in place, and they knew that the crude they would refine would either be piped or ferried from the oil exploration sites in the Niger Delta, even as huge deposits were under their feet.

However, being a people of faith who understand that injustice can never persist forever, the OPR was never deterred but hoped that one day, a Daniel would come to judgement with a winnowing fan of justice and fair-play in his hands. That has happened with the coming of President Jonathan.

It goes without saying that if the OPR was able to commence exploration and exploitation of the petroleum resources from the hitherto so-called 'strategic reserve', it is obvious that someone who has the right to change the situation has done just that. So, when President Jonathan goes to Aguleri-Otu to commission the activities from the site from where prime and high quality sodium-free petroleum had already been extracted, it would mark a significant step in his transformational agenda and become a major plank of the fulfilment of his election promises to the people of the South East, to end the long-standing era of structured injustice foisted against them. It will also be a glowing tribute to the dogged determination and acumen of Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, who has catalyzed the process and made all that possible through his uncommon and deft sticking to principles and making the right choices of 'friends'.

In the second place, the Anambra oil would be a celebration of the fact that nothing is beyond a people who show determination to achieve and the faith in their capacity to weather all the storms against them. The OPR and its activities are one of the few Nigerian success stories. It is the triumph of indigenous spirit and enterprise which goes to underscore that nothing is ever beyond the attainment of a determined people under a good, committed and selfless leadership as epitomised by Mr. Peter Obi's government, in spite of the incessant noise of some disgruntled members of the elite class of the state. OPR is a completely an indigenous project of Anambra people which showcases the best in men and materials from the state. When OPR was incorporated in July 2001 under the Chinwoke Mbadinuju administration, it took off with the same men of stature and integrity both in its board and management, who still run it today.

It had Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the former Commonwealth Secretary as the chairman, while such other eminent success stories as the former vice president, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the eminent Igwe Peter Anukwu of Mbaukwu and others on its board, with the brilliant engineer and key player in the industry, Emeka Nwawka as its managing director. In spite of the giant pioneering efforts of these eminent people in laying the foundation of what has become a very big success story, the company could not achieve as much as its founders had envisaged, which says everything about the roles a political leadership is capable of playing in the affairs of men. Obviously Mbadinuju was not an inspirer of men and events and it showed manifestly.

For, it was not until Peter Obi came on the scene that OPR got a new lease of life and turbo-charged into a new trajectory that has written the story which we are reading today. Apart from investing the sum of four billion naira into the company on behalf of the state, the state governor has taken a personal and keen interest in the project and has shown other levels of commitment which has greatly catalyzed the take-off of the OPR activities. The Anambra oil sites, like every other petroleum exploitation habitat, is topographically inclement and almost inaccessible because of the difficult terrain. Before now, access to the location had been through the Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State and across a river. But the state government has promptly constructed a 20-kilometer access road from Aguleri-Out in Anambra West local government area.

Last week, OPR board members and the governor inspected that road as well as the 10 kilometer flow pipe that would evacuate the crude from the wells to a spot on Anambra River from where it would be loaded in barges for transportation to Brass in Bayelsa State where it would be processed for export or local refining. The Anambra oil would be walking that road until the OPR Refinery is comes on stream, hopefully in the next 12 months. When oil officially starts to gush forth from the Orient Petroleum facilities, after the commissioning , it would mark the first time crude oil would be produced from an inland basin in the country. it was learnt that OPR's service contractor has already acquired high resolution 3D seismic data over 640 square kilometers of Orient's oil blocks OPL 915 & 916 to delineate the full extent of the hydrocarbon discoveries and prospects.

Chief Anyaoku had also revealed, when the governor went for the final inspection last week, as a prelude to the presidential visit, that his company had equally finalized the detailed engineering and ad sourced the modules of its 55,000 barrels-per-day refinery and that the installation of the refinery equipment was ongoing. Oil production activities are, as Ndigbo would say, like the carcass of a fallen elephant which is guaranteed to reach people who live far and near. In the same vein, the favourable impact of the Amambra basin oil activities will touch the lives of the people of the adjoining states and beyond in very significant ways. For, not only would all benefit from employment opportunities that would run into thousands, there would be direct and fallouts in economic benefits from the hustle and bustle of petroleum industry activities.

For instance, OPR has already acquired an expansive seven hectares land in the adjourning Kogi State for the construction of a product depot for distribution of the products from the refinery to the northern parts of the country. It goes without saying that the largely virgin parts of the Anambra North would instantly burst into booming economic vibrancy. Inside sources in the Obi government have intimated me that the government has concluded arrangements to commence the construction of an airport close to the oil facility to take care of the boom that is sure to ensue. The third and very important aspect of the presidential visit is that he will also commission the giant SAB Miller Breweries at Onitsha.

The factory is reputedly going to be the biggest brewery on the African continent, and hence the implication for job creation and economic development needs no further elucidation. SABMiller is a FORTUNE 500 company and a global player which boasts of over 72,000 employees worldwide, the figure that will definitely swell with the expected 2,000 direct jobs from the Onitsha plant. The state government has invested heavily in the facility in which other Anambra businesses have heavy stakes.

The company as well as OPR are a showcase of the excellent benefits derivable from the synergy between the governments and the private sector. The commissioning of other enterprises which include Krisoral Factory in Onitsha, only a second of its kind in Nigeria and which produces caps and labels for the drug industry with a capacity to cater for the needs of the entire industry in the country that had hitherto been importing their caps and labels from abroad. in the process, the president will also commission roads and industrial facilities at the Harbour Industrial Estate, a burgeoning estate where players like Chief Tony Ezenna of Orange Drugs fame, hold sway. A main derivative from this visit is the showcase of the indomitable and industrial spirit of the Igbo person which is still alive and well, and the fact that once a committed leadership that leads selflessly from the front is there to give leadership and guidance, the people are also there to key into his vision for the good of all.

That lesson was evident in Biafra, when the people, in spite being blockaded by land, sea and air, and under a war situation, were still able, under Ojukwu's leadership, to accomplish such technological feats that astonished the world. That OPR is a totally an indigenous thing should shock none, when we recall that Biafra was able to drill and refine its own petroleum products all through the 30 months of the war. It also shows that no amount of political and hate machinations can stop a determined, goal oriented people; it might even make them more determined. There is no doubt that the Biafra-of-the-mind and its current renaissance in Anambra and other parts of Igboland can be replicated nationwide as far as the culture of self reliance and non-reliance on federal government is concerned.

If other states could buy into the vision of the likes of Peter Obi who creatively invests the people's money and makes it to work for them (he has pledged to invest N25billion of Anambra fund in viable and money generating enterprises before he quits the stage in 2014), the era of going with begging caps to Abuja every month would be a thing of the past. The icing on the cake of the president's visit would be the unveiling of the statue of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and at the section of the federal highway from the Niger Bridgehead through Upper Iweka Road to the Zik's Roundabout in Onitsha.

That would also be followed by official re naming of the prestigious gateway to the East as the Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Express Drive. Coming immediately after the end of Ojukwu's mourning period, the act would mark the commencement of the immortalization of the hero. Like joke, like play, President Jonathan is systematically leaving an imprint on the tenderest part of the Igboman's heart. There is also no doubt that just within one year, the Peter Obi -Jonathan romance is paying off handsomely. All are waiting to see how further it would pay off in the long run, especially with the fate of the second Niger Bridge and the dilapidated federal infrastructure in the South East Zone, which remain a festering sore on the heart of every South Easterner.

I am not from Anambra but I believe the growth of Anambra is, by extension, the growth of Igboland.
If anything, at least many of the the Igbo boys (mainly from Anambra, by EFCC accounts) selling ''market'' and doing ''school time'' in Europe and Asia might be gainfully employed back home.

To nu Jehova.

Thank God for His mercies. It is well with Anambra state

Good for Anambra, no wonder my fellow yorubas are always jealous of Igbos. Now lets see if this makes the front page.

Please, bring these home FROM MALAYSIA TOO. . . for more growth!
Looks like 'the anus' keeps 'growing' too!

[size=20pt]Cocaine In Anus At MMIA, Lagos by jamp: 8:13am On Aug 03[/size]






Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, have arrested a suspected drug trafficker, Obivuko Ifeanyi, with 210grams of substances that tested positive for cocaine.

[size=20pt]Obivuko, who inserted the drugs into his anus,[/size] was detected with the aid of a body scanner during the inward clearance of passengers for Turkish airline flight No.TK0625 from Brazil.

The NDLEA airport commander, Hamza Umar, said drug traffickers were currently on the run from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport as a result of a renewed onslaught by his men, coupled with the new body scanner donated by the United States of America (USA) government, which had greatly improved the NDLEA’s efficiency, Obivuko, according to him had decided to take the risk and was apprehended.

Hamza noted that BehindBased insertion by men was a rare and dangerous mode of drug concealment, but said his men were ever ready to beat drug traffickers in their own game.

The suspect, who hails from Orumba North Local Government Area in Anambra State, said he ventured into the drug business in order to give his in-law who died in Brazil, a befitting burial ceremony here in Nigeria.

Igbos are trully a blessed people inspite of all the odds.

Didn't see where a mention was made of the Onitsha river port, or isn't the President going to commission that as well?

Is it possible for the number crunchers to give a rough estimate of how much the exploration and refining of crude could add to the states annual revenue receipts?....i suppose we should first know how much equity the state gov't has in the business, and what percentage of tax the company would be paying.

Please ignore the bitter old crows post above mine.....looks like she's out of hibernation .

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Oh yes! Out of hibernation. . .get ready 'old king cole' the 'merry old SOW'!

You tink say I don 'quench'? Try HARRRRRRRRRRRRDER!!!

We are here to give tribute to 'Anambra State'!

Even with 'growing' anuses too!

Callotti: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Oh yes! Out of hibernation. . .get ready 'old king cole' the 'merry old SOW'!

You tink say I don 'quench'? Try HARRRRRRRRRRRRDER!!!

We are here to give tribute to 'Anambra State'!

Even with 'growing' anuses too!

^^^I was hoping say you don quench actually....anyway, where there's life there's hope, as the saying goes.

PROUD-IGBO:


^^^I was hoping say you don quench actually....anyway, where there's life there's hope, as the saying goes.

Hey. . .be careful o!
Your God just aborted one UGLY, 40 year-old, UNMARRIAGEABLE, WIFELESS/CHILDLESS, OLD-CARGO GENETIC BA-TCHA-LOR BOY-TO-MAN. . . . . AKA 'SHINYCOIN' on NVS, from Anambra State too! He was only survived by GROUND ZERO!!! We all know what killed his arzzze now!!!! You might be next. . .for drowning under water while giving MAMMY WOTA Blow-job!!!! You too might be buried in a 'strange man's land'. . .while waiting for contributions from TEHN Nairaland branch to take your raggedly corpse home! EWU!!!

TO LIVE AND DIE AS A TRIFLIING ILLEGAL RESIDENT OF THE FOREIGN PLANET!!! FROM ABIJAN TO NNEWI SUPER STARLETTE!!!

No wonder y'awl spend your life on the cyber. . . When you quench. . . no money to carry your ANAMBRA 'STIFFS' back to your villages! Even after your fake lives on the www, no money to buy casket take reach Nnewi. . .Sorry arzze dika gi! Your dane GOD will keep opening your useless azzzes! Mu he he he he he he he

So back to topic huh?

Read more on the 'growth' of Anambra State here:

https://www.nairaland.com/1029570/full-documentary-nigerians-jailed-china#11953370

[size=20pt]He said: "The bulk of those caught for drug-related offences outside the country were from the South-East with majority coming from Anambra State. "I do not know what we can do to the upsurge of our brothers from the South East-who indulges in this kind of business.

[/size]

Behold!!! The Anambra "SHAME"!!!

Later dia. Some of us have reaaaaaaaaaaaaaal jobs that do not involve 'BLOWING'. . . above or below sea level!

Ta ta!

Thread closed?
Haba na!
Mu che che che che che che che

Can somebody tell this 58-year old, Igbo-Yoruba-Edo hybrid of a hag called Calloti to stop defacing ma thread

FSU: Can somebody tell this 58-year old, Igbo-Yoruba-Edo hybrid of a hag called Calloti to stop defacing ma thread

Thank God I am a true Nigerian! You forgot the 'Kogi' part of my ancestry o!

Thanks for the wonderful thread "Ikemba"!
Happy Anambra day!
I will be 60 years YOUNG IN EXACTLY 2 MONTHS.
You are invited.
NO MY FELLOW WIDOWS PLEASE!!!
100% ANAMBRA-BORN criminal!
Your thread indeed!!! SHAMELESS IGBOTIC LOUSE!!!
When you should be hiding Anambra in SHAME. . .you reetarded Mangabee of a Mongolian Monkey will be bringing your stinking azze out for Nairaland and the world to sniff. . .even where laden with cocaine-ruptured polyps and hemmorhoids seeping through your bend-down-pick. . . 'Corporal Nwafor, OBIOMA-designer, Rainbow-BIAFRAN drosses'! TOUT!!!

Viewing this topic: FSU, [size=20pt]Onlytruth(m), [/size]Callotti

Gburu-Gburu don land!!! Mu he he he he he he

Bye darlings. . .it was fun. Time to 'baff'!

Futuristic. Nice!

Blazay Calloti abi na blazes will never repent. haha.

Onlytruth: Blazay Calloti abi na blazes will never repent. haha.

Aka MILITIA or somthing like that. She was the reason my sister osisi diserpeared from NL never to be seen again. Madam blazay i dey salute ohhh.

Freewilly:

Aka MILITIA or somthing like that. She was the reason my sister osisi diserpeared from NL never to be seen again. Madam blazay i dey salute ohhh.

Chineeeeeekeeee meeee!!!!!!!! So na she be Militia? That lady na cyber terrorist.

^^^ not from my mouth you hear that one ohhh

Never knew this was Mbadinuju's initiative and some people have been giving Peter Obi the credit.

Oil again, I thought it was something else. SMH, I pray Anambra open their eyes before they burn themselves.
You've been warned by others, please abeg please listen to the warning. Biko nu

Callotti:

Thank God I am a true Nigerian! You forgot the 'Kogi' part of my ancestry o!

Thanks for the wonderful thread "Ikemba"!
Happy Anambra day!
I will be 60 years YOUNG IN EXACTLY 2 MONTHS.
You are invited.
NO MY FELLOW WIDOWS PLEASE!!!
100% ANAMBRA-BORN criminal!
Your thread indeed!!! SHAMELESS IGBOTIC LOUSE!!!
When you should be hiding Anambra in SHAME. . .you reetarded Mangabee of a Mongolian Monkey will be bringing your stinking azze out for Nairaland and the world to sniff. . .even where laden with cocaine-ruptured polyps and hemmorhoids seeping through your bend-down-pick. . . 'Corporal Nwafor, OBIOMA-designer, Rainbow-BIAFRAN drosses'! TOUT!!!



Gburu-Gburu don land!!! Mu he he he he he he

Bye darlings. . .it was fun. Time to 'baff'!

you bloody ashawo high class b.i.t.c.h. is back to get your stinking hole weep again yeah? f.u.c.c.k.i.n.g slut....

ak47mann: you bloody ashawo high class b.i.t.c.h. is back to get your stinking hole weep again yeah? f.u.c.c.k.i.n.g slut....

High-class b.i.t.c.h kwa nu? Thanks for the compliment sugar! I be reaaaaaal ashawo o! Ask my darling husband. . .

This AGB-O-RO is dey alive? LOL!!! Always fascinated by 'ashawos' and 'holes'! No wonder you nor fit to save money, PAY DOWRY and carry NAIRALAND. . . .YOUR ONE AND ONLY BRIDE. . . . go h-altar from Ogun State to Anambra State!!!!! LOL
Hmmmmm!!! I see writing the English language still poses grave and insurmountable challanges for you ESUT graduate huh?
Anambra is really growing in ILLITERACY!!! How is your Onitsha-2-Year-Old-Virgins-Kidnapping-Market for RITUALS thriving?
THE BISSSSSSSH IS BACK!!! Start "weeping". Ode!!!



Get that your SHARIA-monkey-face-princess(MONKEYNA2) and her reeetarded, polymonikering, Okoro-Ngbatic cyber gang aka ASHAWOS EDINBURGH to SEATTLE . . . . . . . . . . of illegal diasporan residents to RE-GROUP. . . . . Plan another coup!!! Time to bury another one of you on NL again. . . Make I contribute money.
MY WOMANHOOOOOOOD LIVES ON!!!
Bush RAT.

C'mon go back to your BIAFRAN hut without inner-plumbing and BEAT yo MAMMA to death for not cooking your AKPU/SANTANA without soup BIAFRAN-KWASSSSHIOKOR, afo-OKUTA(stone-belle) IGBOTIC-DIET. . . . when you close from NL!!! Anu-404!!!

CALLOTI MARRY ME PLEASE!!

I AM SUCH A FAN!!!