It is of grievous shame the state Aba n Onitsha has been left to, a shame of genocidal proportion that has decimated the accomplishment and efforts of the people. Wealth n fortune laid  to waste. A waste so big, that it had to be icinged with filth n grime crock.

What is wrong with us?

As late as 30 years ago, the only place one could buy unit motor spare parts in amble quantity in the whole of West Africa +Central Africa + southern Africa -(can't say of north) was in nnewi, anambra state, Nigeria. Lagos and Kano bought from her, Malabo, Gabon, Congo- kinsasha, Congo -brazaville, Uganda, Namibia, an even south Africa- a man I know was among the first pioneers in SA. Don't get me wrong, in some these countries including in Lagos one could directly buy from a company representative -which meant if one of your head lamp was broken u would have to buy a new PAIR, as unit parts weren't sold as nnewi trader came to popularised.

Now, imagine the fortune and potential that presented to Anambra as a state. Imagine how rich Anambra could have been ?
Why wasn't this fortune sustained ?
What dissipated this fortune?
Why did the people allow such opportunity slip away?
Or, could it be igbos leader are inherently incompetent in sustaining development?
Or could it be a federal govt economic sabotage ?
Abi, are yorubas also the cause?

To be continued shortly .  .  . . .

Bros, this is one area where I constantly regret that Soludo did not win the 2010 guber elections in Anambra.

I must admit I was among those who supported Obi.
Peter Obi is doing well, but Soludo would have provided that scale of development which can harness the potentials of Onitsha and Nnewi.
As for Aba, I think that Gov Orji has failed woefully. In fact, this is one of the reasons why I believe that the SE needs one economic plan, because Aba would have emerged another industrial town just like Nnewi is trying to do.

One vision for the East would achieve this aim.

I hope that Okorocha in Imo would galvanize such vision and work with the rest of our governors to bring it to past.

this thread is going to be a promising thread

op contiune, i would actually like to see the blue print

Good write up, sad Aba and onitsa are now the headquater of Kidnapping and Fake drugs respectively

The answer to those is simply , NOs. The one singular catalyst that is chiefly responsible for the  devastation in  these area has been lack of .  .  .  . . not keeping up with trend.

Nkwo nnewi was built in .  .  .  God knows when, was initially a collection of shoddy market stalls , then it graduate to lock-up stalls, then finally it came to rest as  market shops.

This scenario plays itself out in every market in the east including portharcourt and ikot ekpene.
From Ariara to upper iweka,
From Onitsha main market to Eke ukwu.
From pound street to st Micheal.

Every one of these markets has stalled in growth, and now on the decline. millions are being lost daily, investments are going belle-up, profit margin is as low as ever and worst of all, even the outlook is as grime as an Aboki's excrement. 

Of course its easy to put the blames squarely on the federal Government or the state government, however as Nigerian who know their govt and her antecedent , to keep blaming her or waiting on her to spun growth in these area is  shear silliness.

outcome

As society opens up,  a middle class emerges then expands, people's taste and swagger steps up,
The  banker or MTN staff decides to stop entertaining okada (unless its emergency).
The shell and chervon staff decides to step up from Aba tailored to TM lewin.
The new special advisers steps up from plasma to 1080I 120,000:1 contrast ratio Hd ready TV.

Now, no doubt these markets has always kept at pace with people's demands and sure enuff, every single material thing one can aspire or desire is sure bound to be in these markets. But the problem is, as people step up, so do their tolerance bar go up as well, as such,  these people - whom previously shopped in these markets, will no longer want to walk into these "filth" called Arieara or Onitsha Main market to shop.


Persons wanting to buy a generator of upto N100,000 now are prefering to spend N10,000 more to go to lagos and shop there than buy same generator in Arieara. not minding the hassle and risk. same replicates itsef for anything expensive ; music band set to home theater, kitchen utensils to even clothing.

This emerging trend is really really bad for the East because soon the big businesses would grow tired of marginal profit and what next ? THEY WILL RELOCATE, of course to Lagos or Abuja. This Relocate means moving away jobs, taxable revenue, and actual liquidity.
when he moves, that's another BIG man out of a housing area, soon, the housing price for the area falls as "small" boys become the new occupant.
peoples investment in housing gets wiped out.
standard of living symbiotically drops. poverty expands. crime rises. death become eminent .




what is the remedy ?.  . .  . to be continued shortly.

The remedy is why I support Rochas Okorochas plan for free education and entrepreneurship program. At least someone understands it

[b]Education[/b]: The market trend is changing and more so illiteracy is affecting the outcomes of our businesses today. But this might change with the higher educational rates but then we need to still help folks go to school and become entreprenuers rather than join banks or civil service

Succession Plans: This is an African problem mostly due to polygamy and our culture. It affects Igbos since we are mostly in business. We lack adequate succession plans.

Technology: See education, how do we use technology to access and expand foreign markets?

Town Planning: Does Onitsha and Aba markets have a growth cap? When they are crowded how do we open up secondary channels? This is why the issue of refuse dumping and waste is a problem.

Leaders Am not a huge fan of Igbo leaders. As Peter Obi mentioned, we must stop negotiating for political offices and negotiate for what impacts us, Onitsha/Owerri road, railway, 2nd Niger bridge and Enugu Intl Airport to name a few