Objectives of the SSEM We want to draw public awareness to the crisis ravaging the South-East. Curiously, there is a seeming palpable ignorance among the members of the public, and the government on the exact nature of the crises of the South-East. This problem has manifested in recent times in terms of kidnapping and general insecurity. So, there is a tendency by many people including the government to see the South-East problem from the prism of security, knowing fully well that that it is not so. We decided to set up the Save South East Movement as a way of creating public awareness on these problems. Issues The issue is that the South-East is the poorest part of Nigeria. It is the only zone in Nigeria that is regressing, where much value is not being added, where there isn’t productivity. Where you do not have industrialization of any sort. So, the people have resorted to survival by whatever means. Unknown to many Nigerians, the South-East is suffering acutely in various ways. As an indicator of the peculiar difficulty of the south East is the fact that Abia State government generates 150 million per month as Internally generated revenue. While Lagos State government generates about 15 billion a month as internally generated revenue. The five States in the South East do not generate in a year what Lagos State government generates in a month. The five states if you consolidate their internally generated revenue, it is far less than what Lagos state government generates. IGR is an indicator of the level of commercial and economic activities in a zone. So, what it says is that there isn’t much economic and commercial activity going on in the South-East. What you see is peasantry, trading and peasant farming. South-East is the only zone in Nigeria where non-indigenes don’t live in. You could hardly see a non-Igbo living in the South-East. It is also the only zone in Nigeria where non-indigenes don’t invest in. I have challenged many people: tell me any Hausa,

I have challenged many people: tell me any Hausa, Yoruba or Ibibio man who have real estate in the South-East or who has any business of any sort in the South- East? Ostensibly, it is self-inflicted. But as I said during our summit, the problems of the South East are two. Really two plunged-one is what Nigeria did to the South-East and second is what the South-East is doing to itself. Now ,government is the biggest is the biggest actor in any economy. In economics we say government functions in an external level. We say it is externality. It is the government that drives the locomotive of economic development. At a time in Nigeria when government was the principal investor in industrialization, it did not locate industries in the South-East . At the end of the war in 1970 , General Gowon launched an ambitious programme called the 3 Rs-Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Reconciliation. Only the reconciliation aspect succeeded. There was hardly any reconstruction. There was hardly any rehabilitation. At a time the government was building industries all over the country, it did not build in the South-East. Which is why there was a time the phrase “marginalization” was very much in use. That the South-East was being marginalized. The Federal government did not site industries in the then South-East. And so, because of that, the South-East economy did not develop. What happened that peasantry took place, and South Easterners had to migrate to other parents of the country in order to earn a living. Right now, it is difficult for any average South Easterner to live there and earn a decent living. The most successful Igbo are those who live outside Igbo land. Because Igbo land does not offer enough nourishment for people to survive there. So, they migrate. Igbo are the most migrant population in Nigeria. What explains that? Because where they are coming from , there isn’t enough engagement for them. Somebody said that the five per cent of every indigenous population i

Somebody said that the five per cent of every indigenous population is made up of the Igbo. In Lagos , about 40 to 48 per cent of the population are Igbo, which creates another problem. And that problem is a potential rift. A potential conflict between the settlers here and the indigenes. The lesson of history is that any time the population of settlers begins to threaten that of the indigenes there is often a conflict. Historically it has never failed. If you remember the saying a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph came on the throne, it is because the population of the Israelis started growing and so there was a conflict between the Israelis and the Egyptians. So, any perceptive student of history will tell you that there is a feeling of unease. So, I am telling you this. I am saying it loud and clear. Among many Igbo who live in Lagos, there is a feeling of uneasiness about the future of the Igbo in Lagos. We are first generation Igbo settling in Lagos so to say. I have a home in Umuahia, I go to. But my son has only been to Umuahia twice, and my son will be ten years on January 1. His own life is going to be conditioned in Lagos. And then my son is never going to be called a Lagosian , because of his surname. What about his future? In literature, in African American literature we call it rootlessness. The theme of rootlessness is the core of the African- American crisis both in Caribbean, and in Latin America and the North America. So, the Igbo are going to have a generation of indigenes who do not have a root, because they have been cut out from their original roots. And they cannot be indigenes of where they live in; so, they are going to be rootless, which will have severe implications-socio-economic and even political implications. People are not thinking about that. Let me also talk of what the Igbo are doing to themselves.

I call it the lost decade. Because we flaunted the numbers here, and we discovered that about 3 trillion naira has flown into the South- East from the federal government since 1999. If you factor in, statutory allocation to state government , statutory allocations to local government and petroleum windfall and all that. You go round the South East, you cannot see where that money was spent. Mbakwe was governor of old Imo State and practically everything that was built was done by Mbakwe with meager resources. Even to he leveraged money, that is to say he borrowed money offshore, and you can still see what he used that money to do. He built Concorde Hotel, the major hotel in Imo State, which has been hopelessly run down. He built Avutu poultry. He refurbished the Golden Guinea Brewery in Umuahia. The modern ceramic industry in Umuahia. He launched an ambitious urban renewal projects. He built Aba township roads, Umuahia township roads and Owerri township roads. Mbakwe realized that it was important to live in the East and earn a meaningful living. Now fast forward, from 1999 to 2007 there was nothing built. So, you have a problem where Igbo governors have not understood exactly the peculiar situation of their people and try to act. The way forward We want to get government to be aware of this. First, you create awareness. the ordinary person has to understand that the problem in the South East is not just a law and order problem. It is not just a question of security. It is also a question of lack of economic opportunities and empowerment. And there fore , we have to get the government to understand that and appropriate funds to develop the South-East. They have to be a deliberate policy of industrialization. The kind of policy we have towards the Niger Delta. If you factor in NDDC, the Niger Delta Ministry and the money created for militants and the budgets of the various states in the South-South, do you know what you get? You get three hundred and some

The whole South-East budget is 330 billion naira for the fiscal year 2010. The budget of River State for the fiscal 2010 is 425 billion naira. The budget of Akwa Ibom is 300 and something billion naira. The budget of River State is more than the budget of the whole South-East for the fiscal 2010. I tell people , Ikeja local government is bigger economically than the whole south East. That is the truth. Ikeja local government has Cadbury, Guinness, Coca-cola, 7 up ,and so many other industries. The whole South East has only one industry that can compete with Guinness , that is Nigeria Brewery in Enugu. There is nothing going in the place. What do people do? This does not justify kidnapping or criminality. But it explains it. The devil finds work for the ideal mind.

Quite educative.
Still in early mode, I'll be back for proper discourse.

THIS POST IS TRASH COS YOU OVER EXAGGERATED THE SECURITY SITUATION IN THE SOUTH EAST. ITS NOT AS BAD AS THE WAY YOU DESCRIBED IT. I STAYED IN THE SOUTHEAST FOR A WHILE OF RECENT AND ITS NOT LIKE WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN READING ON THE PAPERS. YOU CAN GO AND CHECK FOR YOURSELF AND SEE THE REAL SITUATION OF THINGS. ITS VERY MUCH SAFER TO LIVE IN THE SOUTHEAST THAN THE NORTH.

THE SOUTHEAST MAYBE GENERATING A LOW REVENUE, BUT DONT FORGET THAT THE PEOPLE OF THE SOUTHEAST HAVE THEIR INDISPESABLE TOUCH IN THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY. THE PEOPLE OF THE SOUTHEAST ARE ALSO LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR WHATEVER THE REVENUE OF LAGOS IS.

besides your post was too lenghty i couldnt read them all.

i dont think i agree with the thread title.

I think it is more beneficial to allow you brand the South East Poorest, but I can't resist pointing out a slight flaw, you are comparing the SE with the commercial/Economic center of the whole country, Lagos. Compare the rest of of the SW with Lagos and see if the result is different. Or compare the North, removing FCT with Lagos, and tell me if your result is different.

The fact is that the inability of Nigeria to do proper planning left everything in Lagos. What you should be worried about is how to redirect a portion of that flow to the SE. What are your ideas? What are you ready to do about it? And believe me if you are aged bw 25 and 35 like me, then it is our responsibility. The generation that fought and survived the civil war have successfully lifted us out of poverty and loss. They used migration and peasantry as you said, and worked very very hard to place me and you on the pedestal we stand today. By the culture of that christmas vacation in the village they ensured that we did not become rootless like you fear.

If you today, with much more than they had allow your children to forget their roots, who will you blame. Me and you we have been given much, much is expected of Us. Many of us are much older than our fathers were when they reported at the milliary camps in 1967 and took up on their shoulders the responsibility of leading their people. The traditional ruler of my village ascended the throne at the age of 28 after the civil war, he made a difference. Are we too young to make a difference, the barten has been handed over, what do we do with it.

You have identified a problem, please do not stop there, how should it be solved? people like Innoson Autos did something about it, what are you ready to do about it, no matter how little. Every time I pass through the land and see issues, I ask my self what should be done about it and write it down in my diary believing that sometime soon I will be in a position to make that change or prompt some one who will.

I don't agree that SE is the poorest. you have not compared them to other states eg ondo state or taraba state

I read two lines of this rubbish and just had to quit. . . . I got other things I plan on doing in life and sitting here reading a post by Abagworo until I'm 89 yrs old just aint one of them.

However, the following quotes caught my eye:

Abagworo:

I have  challenged many  people: tell me any Hausa, Yoruba or Ibibio man who  have real  estate in the South-East or who has any business of any sort  in the South- East?  Ostensibly, it is self-inflicted. At  a time  the government was building industries all over the  country, it did not  build in the South-East. 

Not acting like I know nothing, but, wont it make sense that if "non-indigenes" refuse to settle in your homeland, its cus something is wrong with u as a host?! I mean, who wants to live next to a grumpy old man? Can You Imagine nice folk like Bluetooth and BabaPupa living next to Eziachi, Andre Uweh or OnlyTruth out in Ibo country.  . . . So,clearly, ure not hospitable by nature! If even the murderous Hausas got folks flooding to their gates, doesnt that say something about you as a people?

As for the second quote, I ask: WHAT INDUSTRIES DID NIGERIA BUILD, THEN NEGLECTED TO DO SAME IN THE SE? Isnt that the biggest problem in Nigeria; that it has no functioning industries? I guess Ibos just like to complain.

Abagworo, your post is quite informative even though is disagree with some of your points.m When compared to other regions i don't think the south-east is the poorest region but when you imaging where the zome is supposed to be duw to the commercial nature of the Igbos then the situation could be best described as pathetic. That's why i'm thinking of supporting GEJ for presidency because he's doing things that previous administrators have ignored. Rasing the profile of the Akanu Ibiam Airport will help the situation and i hope they will do something about the River Niger. Because this is one of the reasons why Igbos invest in Lagos and other parts of the country.

@ post
i greatly disagree with you. perhaps, i would say you lack basic economics knowledge i am sorry to say that though. the gross domestic product (GDP) measures how large the economy of a place is. while the GDP per capital is a measure of the standard of living of the people residing there and is a reflection of how rich or poor the people may be. that's why USA has the largest economy but they are not the richest country in the world because they have more people to share in there vast GDP resulting to lower GDP per capital compared to richer countries like Luxembourg, Norway, etc. base on this fact, i would say that the SE are the second richest of the six geopolitical zones after the SS region. the economy of the SE region is more or less made up of private and informal economies so you wouldn't expect their gov't to generate much revenue internally so they are hugely dependent on the FG allocation to found there projects. That is why they may not have appropriation as huge as Lagos state whose internally generated revenue is enough to found more than 75% of it's budget.
you also commented that most Igbos migrated out of SE due to the poor nature of the region. but i have to educate you that the SE region has the highest population density in Nigeria so you wouldn't expect them not to migrate . apart from that Igbos travel a lot because they are mostly traders as well as well businessmen and women
always make your research very well before posting.

Contrary to views held by many,the richest town in Southeast is not Onitsha or Enugu.Aba is the richest town in the Southeast followed by Nnewi.Enugu and Owerri are highly dependent on Fg allocations while schools and tertiary institutions constitute a huge portion of the economy.Onitsha is a commercial town which just serves as a distribution point for goods manufactured in Lagos,Aba and Nnewi.So the true wealth creating towns are Aba and Nnewi.The two towns are contrasting in nature.While Nnewi's industries are as a result of direct investments by Indigenes,Aba hosts multinationals and non-indigenous industries like PZ,Lever brothers,International Equitable,NBL,Guiness,Neimez and more.What Igbos need is to invest in rapid industrialization of the Southeast.Many of the industries in Lagos and Otta can be replicated in the southeast to serve the east rather than carrying finished goods from Lagos to Onitsha and Aba to distribute.If a seaport is established at Onitsha,some of the Southeast wealth lost in Lagos will now remain in the Onitsha.

Well Agbaworo you would do well to itemize your points and give a more structured,  coherent account of your views. Who has time to start going through completely unedited and unparagraphed posts?

However you are completely wrong when you say that insecurity of lives and property is not the principal problem of the South-Eastern states like Abia and Anambra. THAT HAS TO BE DEALT WITH before all this utopian talk about new investment.

nice.one:

@ post
i greatly disagree with you. perhaps, i would say you lack basic economics knowledge i am sorry to say that though. you also commented that most Igbos migrated out of SE due to the poor nature of the region. but i have to educate you that the SE region has the highest population density in Nigeria so you wouldn't expect them not to migrate . apart from that Igbos travel a lot because they are mostly traders as well as well businessmen and women
always make your research very well before posting.

Very clever points. I don't really get this curious paranoia that some people here regularly exhibit. In fact the land of the South-East is now prone to erosion due to massive over-use and in no way is it able to support the native population.

THERE HAD TO BE MASS MIGRATION TO OTHER PARTS OF NIGERIA.

Arrant nonesense! This writer knows next to nothing about the south east. At only ninth mile Enugu, we have Nigerian breweries, coca cola, 7up, guinness, sharon, aqua rapha etc. Emene Enugu has about twenty big companies including the only place indegnious cars are made, Innoson group. The south east has some of the best posh houses in Nigeria. Only enugu sef, have you been to independence layout, new haven and GRA.
Come and see things for yourself and stop the stupid and meaningless posts.

The writer is obviously disturbed by the FEDERAL revenue sharing formula and then he goes off on a lying spree.

He says there are no other Nigerians in the south east? I'm like excuse me? Has he been to Onitsha and Nnewi?
There are thousands of northerners and westerners in Nnewi. They may not be professionals (though I've seen many bankers from other parts of Nigeria too), but there are many unskilled workers there.
What is he talking about?

I'm all for relocation of business to the south east, Enugu for instance if they finish that international airport, but I wouldn't say that the south east is the poorest in Nigeria by a long shot. It may even be the richest in terms of money in the hands of people, which explains the large population of non-skilled Nigerians there.

I'm not saying that we are where we should be in terms of development. Far from that. But the situation is easily remediable by throwing in that airport (I really don't care much about sea port, we can cargo things in).

What I found shocking was that the zones get BILLIONS of DOLLARS yearly. Believe me, we can turn Igboland into heaven with the money we are already getting. It only needs men of ideas to take over. That's all.

What Ngige did in Anambra state in 2 and half years was a big eye opener.

Onlytruth:

The writer is obviously disturbed by the FEDERAL revenue sharing formula and then he goes off on a lying spree.

What Ngige did in Anambra state in 2 and half years was a big eye opener.

Well he and others is just being greedy if that is the case. How does pumping more federal money solve the basic leadership issues in most South-Eastern states?
What Anambra needs are more governors like Ngige who are ready to roll  up their sleeves and work for the benefit of the ordinary man regardless of the consequences

I am tired of this [b]"woe is me" [/b]nonsense.

We Igbos need to grow some balls. No one cares about our marginalization so instead of whining about it, I want to see some action.

EzeUche0:

I am tired of this "woe is me" [/b]nonsense.
We Igbos need to grow some balls. No one cares about our marginalization so instead of whining about it, I want to see some action.

True. But what action do you want to see? There is [b]already too much criminality and banditry in that region.

tensor777:

True. But what action do you want to see? There is already too much criminality and banditry in that region.

I want the Igbo people to rise up. We need to deal with the thieves and crooked politicians that inhabit our region. I go by the words - ONE BULLET ONE (THIEF, KIDNAPPER, Crooked Politician)

EzeUche0:

I want the Igbo people to rise up. We need to deal with the thieves and crooked politicians that inhabit our region. I go by the words - ONE BULLET ONE (THIEF, KIDNAPPER, Crooked Politician)

Smart words. Definitely the entire region is overdue for a people's revolution. Who is still harbouring the notorious kidnapper Osisi Ba Nkwu for instance?

EzeUche0:

I want the Igbo people to rise up. We need to deal with the thieves and crooked politicians that inhabit our region. I go by the words - ONE BULLET ONE (THIEF, KIDNAPPER, Crooked Politician)

And, you will be shooting from Washington?

tensor777:

Smart words. Definitely the entire region is overdue for a people's revolution. Who is still harbouring the notorious kidnapper Osisi Ba Nkwu for instance?

And which region in naija doesnt need a revolution? Is SW less corrupt than SE, is North more prosperous than the east? Does Niger delta have more electricity than the east?
South east is growing steadily, only that you may be too far to see it.

invisible!:

And which region in naija doesnt need a revolution? Is SW less corrupt than SE, is North more prosperous than the east? Does Niger delta have more electricity than the east?
South east is growing steadily, only that you may be too far to see it.

gbam

EzeUche0:

I am tired of this [b]"woe is me" [/b]nonsense.

We Igbos need to grow some balls. No one cares about our marginalization so instead of whining about it, I want to see some action.

The most peaceful means of achieving this is by investing most of our money back home.I am guilty of this just like most of us.I invested  in landed properties at Abuja and Port-Harcourt(redefined Igbo).I smile to the bank from each rent but my friend who invested in Onitsha(two Four-storey buildings) gets little from rent.If God willing I raise reasonable funds,I will invest in industry in Southeast.

[b]Dear Poster, You are totally wrong. The use of "POOREST" shows that you know nada about where you are from. Use of "Lack of FG's presence" would have been better.

The difference between a rich Igboman and rich peeps from other part of Nigeria is that their wealth is spread to other ordinary Igbo people in the form of apprenticeship. They rarely run organised business settings with employed staff. They run informal structures for their staffing need. This is why it is difficult to find Igbo men among the forbes richest Africans. It is because the richer an Igbo man is, the more Igbo "Serving" boys he'll have. And such acts brings more responsibility to the Igbo rich men because they extend their wealth to the families of their boys. This is called "Igba boy" in Igbo land. These Boys that become "boys" to rich men are set up in business (Or other forms) and let go. When they start making some money, they get their own boys. This is why wealth is well spread in the South East. If you know how much these "Boys" make on their own to help their families, you will understand that you are wrong. This is aside from the abundant professionals, top political figures, Academicians, abundant sports personalities, Wealthy Entertainment professionals, the wealthy "bad" men etc that are in the region.
South East is one of the richest, if not the richest region in Nigeria. The wealth that flows around there is largely unnoticeable, but huge.

Contrary to your opinion, the reason why there are few Nigerians from other ethnic groups in the East is because the market and business system there is saturated. The large population in the east has made it impossible to see ideas that has not been implemented, or positions that has not been taken up. This is why even Easterners are migrating out of the region to unharnessed and unsaturated Areas. Funny enough, as over populated and wealthy as Lagos state is, it is largely unsaturated compared to Onitsha and Aba. There are still abundant opportunities in Lagos state. In Aba, any new idea that can generate money spreads like a wild fire, and becomes intensely harnessed. In Lagos a new idea can enjoy some monopoly over time, before others can duplicate it. For example, Once Innoson starts making billions, watch how fast other car manufacturers will spring up in the south East. Also watch how fast such manufacturers will want to spread to other parts of Nigeria for competitive advantage over people like Innoson. On the other hand, If innoson was in the west, they will gain more patronage than competition over a long period of time. That is what I mean.

Do you know that it is difficult to go to a home in the South East and see a family without a very successful or wealthy member (Their Wealth may be good or bad)? My point is that in terms of being poor, the East is far from it.

DO your research properly.[/b]

The south easterners are not the poorest in Nigeria. And on the marginalization issue, I believe the SE's are the engineers of the predicament, like a previous poster stated, they really need to grow some balls and take necessary actions instead of whining and ranting about marginalization all the time

Justcash:

Dear Poster, You are totally wrong. The use of "POOREST" shows that you know nada about where you are from. Use of "Lack of FG's presence" would have been better.


Contrary to your opinion, the reason why there are few Nigerians from other ethnic groups in the East is because the market and business system there is saturated.
.

You ended up saying thesame thing.

Abagworo:


You ended up saying thesame thing.

[b]

Nah, it is not the same thing. Living in an area with a saturated market does not make one poor. A saturated market still gat its players, movers and shakers. Those that cannot bear the competitive intensity associated with it would not dare to enter such a market. Those in it have a tendency of spreading out for competitive advantage. Despite how few they may be, there are still many people from other ethnic groups in the East moving on with the competitive intensity in the region.
You cannot equate a saturated market with being poor. A saturated market has been fully utilized, as a result of which opportunities become little and new areas are ventured into, Like what Innoson is doing.  it is the unsaturated ones that shows some sign of being poor, due to unrecognized, underutilized, and redundant opportunities that leaves people poor. Which is the same problem we have in Nigerian leadership. Lack of ability to recognize opportunities and means of ensuring development. If we had good and fore-sighted leaders, Onitsha, Aba, Awka, Lagos and Kano would be generating more revenue and ensuring more employment than the Petroleum sector.
The East is not poor. It was grossly neglected by the FG for many years, probably a consequence of the civil war. [/b]