The metamorphosis of 20 pounds
Saturday, 23 October 2010 02:02  E-mailPDF
By Peter Onyedika Anosike

[b]On October 15, I was at Nnewi and Awka both in Anambra State where President Goodluck Jonathan commissioned two privately owned multi-billion naira projects.

In Nnewi, he commissioned Nigeria’s first private vehicle manufacturing plant owned by Chief Innocent Chukwuma, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Innoson Group of Companies and in Awka, he commissioned an infusion plant owned by Dr Ifeanyi Okoye, the Chairman, Juhel Pharmacy Limited which is the biggest in Africa and the first of its kind in the West African Sub-region.

At the events, I had watched Jonathan very closely to see the expression on his face and my humble conclusion was that he was overwhelmed by what he saw on the ground. Speaking while commissioning Innoson Vehicles, he had said: “…coming here gives me joy because Innosen Vehicle Manufacturing plant is not just assembling parts that are imported but, from all indications, it is only the engine that the company brings in from their partner in China and every other thing is built here. Even abroad, no particular company produces everything whether aircraft, automobile or even turbines”.

Early this year, I was on the entourage of the Minister of Works, Senator Mohammed Sanusi Dagash, when he was on a working visit to both Lagos and Ogun states. During the visit, he inspected the facilities of Capital Oil Limited, owned by Ifeanyi Uba. He visited the Capital Oil depot and Capital Oil Truck Park where he declared open a restaurant. Seeing the Capital Oil facilities, which have the highest fuel storage capacity in the country, as well as the truck park, said to be the biggest in Africa for its capacity to accommodate more than 1,000 trailers at a time, the Minister lacked appropriate words to express his feelings.
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Again, sometime in 2002, I was present when the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, commissioned the Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association (ASPMDA) Complex and Balogun Business Association Complex both in Lagos International Trade Fair Complex respectively. I also saw the wonder on their faces then. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, not known for making ‘quotable quotes’, the only one that could be attributed to him in recent times being the one he made at Owerri the day Gov. Ikedi Ohakim defected to the Peoples Democratic Party when he said : “this is a promise made, promise kept and promise fulfilled”, had on the day of the commissioning of ASPMDA, said “People are talking about privatization, this is privatization itself.”

Having been privileged to witness all that, I can sincerely say that I am not a mind reader to know whether the wonder on the faces of the people mentioned above during the commissioning of the various Igbo self help efforts were that of love or hate. However, I can bet on the sincerity of the Works Minister, Senator Mohammed Sanusi Dagash for one thing. The way he expressed his disappointment over the poor handling of the Onitsha-Owerri road, which was awarded to two traditional rulers in the South East as far back as 2002, and till date the road project is still ongoing. Few years ago, he had, out of anger, taken one side of the road and given it to Julius Berger and the part has been completed, leaving the other side to the traditional rulers who are no doubt well connected to the powers that be at Abuja.  If the Works Minister had his way, he would have revoked the contract for the other side a long time ago. That is a case of somebody who means well for a people and that is why I say that I can bet for his sincerity on the gigantic strides being made by Igbo sons and daughters because there is no way we can know what is going on in somebody’s mind except through his action or inaction.

But one common thing with all the people mentioned except Senator Dagash is that they just, commissioned the projects and goes their way without talking about the infrastructure like road and power supply that would sustain the project that they had commissioned.

[b]On the part of the former president Olusegun Obasanjo, the type of economic warfare, which he launched against Ndigbo immediately after the commissioning of the Auto Spare Parts Complex in 2002, was beyond imagination. It seemed as if the thought that was going on in his mind was how could a people that were reduced to point zero during the war and [size=14pt]given only 20 pounds after the civil war[/size] would have risen so fast to be making giant strides. Therefore, the only option was to cripple them economically and that was probably why his administration began to bring out policies to destroy businesses where Igbo hold sway and also to starve them of enabling infrastructure like good road network and power supply that would enable them to continue to make more giant strides as well as deprive them of federal government presence.

That was evidenced when the contract for the second bridge across the River Niger came up. Federal government had awarded contracts for the construction and rehabilitation of many bridges across the country but the Igbo were told by the Obasanjo administration that if they needed a second bridge across the Niger, they should construct it by themselves. The thinking could be that after all, the Igbo have got used to doing things for themselves.

Since then this policy has come to stay and that is why presidents in the country go to the other parts of the country to lay foundation of projects but only go the South East to commission privately owned projects and they never see anything wrong with this.
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Why I commend the ‘can do’ spirit of the Igbo, the people at the centre should at least try to search their conscience. They should ask themselves why there is no federal presence in the South East as is in the other parts of the country.

Federal government should in good spirit begin to appreciate the nationalistic spirit of the Igbo. It is only the Igbo that can go to another part of the country, fill up swamps or reclaim lands and build houses or set up companies.

It is the Igbo that can go to the other parts of the country and build multi-billion naira projects as evidenced by Capital Oil’s investments in Lagos and other parts of the country as well as what the Igbo did at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex.

These are signs of self-integration into the entity called Nigeria.
Since the end of the civil war, the Nigerian state has been playing politics with the re-integration of Igbo, but Igbo has through their investments in the other parts of the country shown commitment to one Nigeria.

Therefore, I feel that the Federal Government should appreciate this by making its presence felt in the South East.


http://www.peoplesdaily-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17822:the-metamorphosis-of-20-pounds&catid=95:opinion&Itemid=143

This is a good article but i think you should take off the first sentence of the thread's title.

OMFG

Some people have time sha!

Igbo! Igbo! Igbo! How many times I call u? E tin si ere ni, abi wetin sef? Na everybody hate una, abi no be so? The same OBJ wey dobale like house boy to Paris Club for debt forgiveness na him una dey accuse of tryn to sabotage ndigbo econonically? So, let's get this: OBJ wants better life for Nigerians by seeking debt relief but targets the Igbos economy, e no go affect Naija as a whole, abi? This same OBJ that gave Igbos the most govt posts EVER? Who says paranoia aint equal to madness?!

Posted by: jaygetta Today at 11:55:23 AM

Na everybody hate una, abi no be so?

My sentiment, exactly!!!

When everone (near you) hates your guts THEN i think Its time that particular person in question, check himself.
Its either, due to your behaviour or your mind is playing tricks on you.

I cant say for sure dat obj hates igbos.
Most of his policies were anti igbo even though his appointments werent.
As for awolowo, shebi they say he was only implementing his own war stratergy even after the war has officially ended.

onye_ngbu:

I cant say for sure dat obj hates igbos.
Most of his  policies were anti igbo even though his appointments werent.
As for awolowo, shebi they say  he was only implementing his own  war stratergy even after the war has officially ended.

Obj definitely does not hate Igbos. He made policies which, in his judgement, he believes are okay for naija. It just happens that Igbos, being ubiquitous in all facets of life in Nigeria, will be hurt any which way it goes. Take for e.g., Jonathan just inaugurated the Innoson motor company in Enugu, but few months later he lifted the ban on vehicle importation and even extended the allowable vehicle age from 8 to 15. Either way, Innoson (Igbo) and his employees lose, while other Igbo (car dealers) who suffered the ban under Obj gain. Under these circumstances, I doubt that a swathe of Igbos will not be hurt even by an Igbo president.

On Awo, I have heard repeatedly that he hated Igbos. I do not doubt that, seeing how he, an Ijebu, hated Egbas too (how much much Igbo).

My instinct tells me that even the support some people have for GEJ for 2011 is to make sure ibos don't get there at all because this support nullifies zoning.
They didn't know however that GEJ is possibly an ibo born in SS.

Some ibos have not learnt any thing from the civil war. Building estates and hotels in kaduna, jos, abuja,kano lagos , Ph and other cities doesn't speak well of victims of abandoned property.
Awolowo has done his worst , now is the time to appraise the worst and learn the lessons. And like the jews the Ibos should unanimously say NEVER AGAIN.
The jews learnt fast and hard and that is why they are where they are today. Ibos didn't learn anything.

What do you mean by integrate, integrate into what ? The nigerian state and econonomy whose national budget is not equal to the defence budget of japan or the revenue of Cisco or HP.
Where are  the ibo multinationals ?

The can do it spirit is bad without I know it spirit. Next phase for ibo integration is to move the ibo economy out of very unreliable , unsteady political and economic climate like nigeria's violent northern cities.
The ibos rather than integrate into nothing should use their contacts in IMF and UN to get integrated into world economy.
World class outfits can be owned by ibos with offices in the major capitals of the world and can have office in Enugu representing Africa .
The major commercial cities like Aba and onitsha can face lifted to compete with Dubai ,shanghai and hongkong in trade and tourism.
The ibos also need to get their international airport fully functional , (hint make it a regional hub)that was what sustained them during the war ,air link with the outside world can never be toyed with, all ibos henceforth should fly straigth to enugu.

Akin-Egba:

Obj definitely does not hate Igbos. He made policies which, in his judgement, he believes are okay for naija. It just happens that Igbos, being ubiquitous in all facets of life in Nigeria, will be hurt any which way it goes. Take for e.g., Jonathan just inaugurated the Innoson motor company in Enugu, but few months later he lifted the ban on vehicle importation and even extended the allowable vehicle age from 8 to 15. Either way, Innoson (Igbo) and his employees lose, while other Igbo (car dealers) who suffered the ban under Obj gain. Under these circumstances, I doubt that a swathe of Igbos will not be hurt even by an Igbo president.

On Awo, I have heard repeatedly that he hated Igbos. I do not doubt that, seeing how he, an Ijebu, hated Egbas too (how much much Igbo).

I really think that was a dumb move.Just as manufacturing was finally starting to gain ground in nigeria, he lifts the allowable vehicle from 8 years to 15. I guess he really didn't know that much about simple economics.I'd say fire who ever advised him on that move. If ye were smart he'd lower it it again after election and then require all new defence/goverment vehicle to be Nigeria-made(Innosons manufactured) like the U.S. does.

@Topic, this goes a long way to show that it's not how much you have but how enterprising and hardworking and determined one is. Kudos umuigbo.

If every NdiIgbo were given 20pounds today poverty wouldnt be existing in the North and West. Thanks to Awo's dirty policy Nigeria is in this mess today.

Apt, very apt @op.

As it was, so it is.

nwabobo:
As it was, so it is.

And so shall it remain forever and ever.....