Auctioning of 419 2nd
Niger Bridge and
Jubilation of Igbo Fools
Written by Obinna
Akukwe
Lots of Igbo fools,
including many top
politicians, traditional
rulers and other
misguided elements
jubilated when President
Goodluck Jonathan was
dragged by Ex Gov Peter
Obi to belatedly
commission an auctioned
419 2nd Niger Bridge
that will be tolled for 25
years. This president while
seeking for Igbo votes in
2010 promised to deliver
the bridge before the end
of his tenure. Five years
later and a year to the
expiration of the same
tenure, they concocted a
PPP arrangement to
make the Igbs pay for the
bridge through the back
door.
I have written an earlier
write-up titled ‘Fraudulent
Construction of 2nd Niger
Bridge: Another 419 on
the Igbo Nation’, where I
gave a hint that the
thieves that concocted
the financial criminality on
the Igbo nation will
recoup their investment
within 4 years therewith
exorbitant toll fees being
planned, and the rest 21
years will be profits-and
excess profits at the
expense of the all wise
Igbos. Since the piece
was released, I have
received far more facts
which show that the N50
billion naira estimated as
the inflated cost of the
bridge is by far more
costly. Under Obasanjo,
the bridge was estimated
to cost N54 billion naira
(without the usual due
process) and experts
believe that with due
process, the estimate
would have reduced to
N30 billion naira. It cost
Yoruba man Fashola N29
billion naira to construct a
l.3 km Lekki-Ikoyi
suspension Bridge with
adjoining roads while the
1.5 km 2nd Niger Bridge
and 11 km adjoining
roads will cost N117
billion naira. The
difference is to be
probably shared between
some APGA chieftains,
their PDP benefactors,
and Julius Berger
Consortium is just a
smokescreen used to
diver illicit gains.
This bridge will
conservatively yield N12
billion annually for the
419 ers and in 25 years it
will become N300 billion
naira while not spending
up to N50 billion on the
project. I was told that
the conservative estimate
to be raked from toll at
the Asaba end alone is
N50 million naira daily.
This translates to N1.5
billion naira monthly,
therefore my estimate of
N1 billion annually has
been termed too
conservative. With my
professional finance and
accounting background, I
purposely made the
figures very conservative.
It is most likely that the
toll fee will be reviewed
at least 5 times in 25 years
to something above
500% and this will give
the thieves revenues and
profits in excess of N1
trillion naira in the same
25 years. In addition to
this excess rip-off of the
all wise Ndigbo, all the
extortionist Federal
Government agencies
whose contempt for the
Igbo Nation is
phenomenal like the
Nigerian Police, Customs,
NDLEA, VIO, FRSC and
Boko Haram will all have
headquarters annexes at
this tollgate to extort,
intimidate and monitor
the movement in and out
of the South East – yet
some Igbo fools are still
jubilating. When the
bridge is fully operational
the tolling point of
convergence and exit will
afford the security
agencies the opportunity
of constituting a
monitoring spirit to all the
vehicular movements in
and out of Igbo land and
a telnet of such could be
monitored from a
personal computer
anywhere in Sokoto,
Maidugeri or Offa.
The 2nd Niger Bridge will
be the only Federal
Government owned
bridge to be tolled
throughout Nigeria.
Bridges have been built
all over Nigeria running
into hundreds of billions
of naira. Tolls at Lagos
Ikoyi bridge has been
stopped by the courts
due to resistance from
Yoruba nation and Igbos
cannot be accepting what
their counterparts in the
west stoutly resisted.
Dams, silos and-roads
have been built for the
rest of the country at
costs beyond N150 billion
like the Lagos-Shagamu
road at cost of N170
billion Naira yet it is only
in Igbo land that a bridge
will be built through PPP
and some fools are
jubilating.
.
The Lagos Shagamu
expressway is to cost 170
billion naira and yet the
Yoruba people have not
groveled before any
Jonathan the way the
Igbo over praise the
construction of a 419
Niger Brigade.
This bridge was first
promised by Obasanjo
and some Igbo fools
around him failed to task
him on his promise
despite the fact that the
South East voted en-
masse for PDP. Later,
Ebele Azikiwe followed in
the footsteps of Obasanjo
and after promising to
finish building the bridge
before 2015, he just
recently woke up in 2014
and kick started the
construction of a modern
slavery of a bridge.
The problem that puzzles
me is why the entire Igbo
politicians, intelligentsia
and traditional institutions
failed to see this 419.
I was part of an Igbo
clergy group comprising
Archbishops., Bishops,
Apostles, Pastors and
church leaders with
members drawn from all
denominations that held
several meetings with
some representative of
Jonathan from February
2010 when he was still
Acting President even
before the death of Yar
adua and we discussed on
the projects the Jonathan
government will do for
Igbos as condition for
unalloyed support in 2011
elections. The conditions
include a new Niger
Bridge, new Seaport,
Enugu Airport to be
upgraded to international
standard, reconstruction
of Enugu-Onitsha and
Enugu-Port Harcourt
Expressway. There was a
gentleman’s agreement,
and the group was on the
verge of signing some
agreements with
Jonathan’s couriers and
kinsmen before an
Archbishop suggested
that we involve Ohanaeze
Ndigbo since nobody will
leave his flock to chase
Jonathan around to fulfill
his promise. I initially
opposed this view but
then my voice was over
ruled by the more
elderly voices.
Since the church leaders
involved Ohanaeze in
2010, a proactive demand
schedule was reduced to
political theatrics and
unbridled sycophancy. A
presidential aide hijacked
both Ohanaeze and the
noble demands and
reduced the Igbo nation
into a fleet of buses and
couples of billions of naira
under an Ohanaeze
Foundation registered as
personal business.
Ohanaeze, of which I am a
stakeholder, is yet to
recover from that
Foundation used to
muzzle their voices. Even
the much celebrated
Enugu International
Airport is another of such
419 on Igbos.
During the colloquium in
honor of the demised
Ohanaeze Ndigbo
President-General,
Ambassador Raph
Uwechue, at the
Ohanaeze National
Headquarters in May this
year, and as one of the
guest speakers at the
occasion, in paragraph 15
of my speech I tasked the
Igbo leaders on the same
PPP bridge thus ” Igbo
leaders must ensure that
the fraudulent
construction of second
Niger Bridge which will be
tolled for 20 years is
stopped forthwith. For
our support for Jonathan,
we should have a toll free
Niger Bridge constructed
with Federal Government
money, not this private
public-private partnershp
meant to enslave
Ndigbo”
I have personally called
as many Igbo leaders as
possible on this 419
bridge issue and many
including elements in
Ohanaeze , APGA, PDP
and APC had explained to
me that it is difficult to
change the PPP model
because one Mr Peter
Obi and another Ebele
Azikiwe seems to have
some interests in the multi
billion naira 25 year
business
This 419 bridge being
given to Ndigbo through
the back door when even
some illiterate NASS
members from Nigeria’s
North is ensuring that
multi billion naira dams,
bridges, silos, roads,
irrigation projects ,
fertilizers and recently
Almajiri schools is being
done in their zones by the
Federal Government
without any PPP
enslavement . No Yoruba
or Hausa-Fulani politician
will accept such nonsense
but Igbo leaders,
politicians, businessmen,
professionals all foolishly
accepted the financial
brigandage.
How a great nation that
produced the likes of
Nnamdi Azikiwe,
Odumegwu Ojukwu,
Emeka Anyaoku, Pius
Okigbo, Emeagwali,
Chimamanda, Okonjo
Iwuala, Chinua Achebe etc
will descend so low to be
hood winked by an
inflated 419 bridge PPP
to be built at N117 billion
naira when Governor
Fashola of Lagos State
built a similar one at N29
billion is still a Guinness
Book wonder.
Lots of Igbo fools have
rejoiced over a modern
day financial)l brigandage
over their future. Foolish
Igbo leaders have
followed the bandwagon
to celebrate a fraudulent
bridge. Their friendship
with President Jonathan
and even all the years the
All Progressive Grand
Alliance (APGA) sold
Igbo privileges to
Jonathan cannot attract a
toll free bridge. This is
nothing but a charm that
cannot catch me and my
family. Shikena!!
Fools have taken over
Igbo land as leaders,
representatives, senators,
governors, and
presidential aides. It is
time for all well meaning
Igbo, including those in
Diasporas to rise and
condemn this financial
criminality until this Julius
Berger PPP enslavement
is reversed. If Jonathan
cannot give us a toll free
bridge despite all our
support then let it be. This
jubilation of Igbo fools
over 419 bridge must
stop because an Igbo
fooled after 54 years of
independence with an
auctioned bridge is a fool
forever.
Obinna Akukwe
profetobinna2@
yahoo.com
How 2 G

True talk, nice write up, but please note that ibos Aint fools (topic).
I guess that leaves only one fool. YOU

waste of time. rubish. GEJ TILL 2019

THIS OP IS ACTUALLY A YORUBA, MASKING AS AN IGBO.

EVEN IF JONATHAN DID NOT DO ANYTHING FOR IGBOS, WE SHALL VOTE FOR HIM MASSIVELY. HE IS A BETTER BET THAT A KNOWN TERRORIST LIST BUHARI.

EVEN IF BUHARI WINS THE ELECTION, HE WILL NEVER BE THE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA.

OP, SPARE YOURSELF OF THE TROUBLES AND CAMPAIGN ONLY WITHING THE Southwest.

THE IGBOS TRUELY KNOW THEIR ENEMIES. THERE ENEMY IS NOT THE HAUSA BUT THE YORUBAS.

GOOD MORNING PEOPLE OF BIAFRA.

don't pick on an ethnic group n throw insults around.....it only reflects d kind of person u are....have some respect please.