OCP Africa set to invest in Enugu, says state is peaceful and secure for investment

http://easternreporter.com/2018/05/05/ocp-africa-set-to-invest-in-enugu-says-state-is-peaceful-and-secure-for-investment/

OCP Africa set to invest in Enugu, says state is peaceful and secure for investment

http://easternreporter.com/2018/05/05/ocp-africa-set-to-invest-in-enugu-says-state-is-peaceful-and-secure-for-investment/

http://easternreporter.com/2018/05/05/ocp-africa-set-to-invest-in-enugu-says-state-is-peaceful-and-secure-for-investment/

OyiboUgbo04:
OCP Africa set to invest in Enugu, says state is peaceful and secure for investment

http://easternreporter.com/2018/05/05/ocp-africa-set-to-invest-in-enugu-says-state-is-peaceful-and-secure-for-investment/

http://easternreporter.com/2018/05/05/ocp-africa-set-to-invest-in-enugu-says-state-is-peaceful-and-secure-for-investment/

Had to blink in disbelief and read again.....thought it was OPC that was investing!

Ofuzo:


Ok, so, the reason you don't want to give land to real estate developers is because they'll cut corners and use inferior materials? That's actually not a good reason. There are about 100 big cities in the US that are ten times better than Lagos, and they were all constructed by real estate developers. All the buildings in these 100 cities were constructed with BRICKS AND TILES, as opposed to BLOCK and CEMENT whose paints start to peel off after five years. Same goes for all the major cities in the world. There are no cities in civilized countries where individuals are allowed to buy a plot of land to build anything. There are no selling and buying land in developed countries like you have in igboland. That is 100% why our cities look like shitholes. You guys are fond of posting all these humongous imposing mansions with giant pillars in igboland, but that's all crap because the houses have absolutely no infrastructure. Block and cement houses with no running water, no gas piped through a central system, some of them have no roads and are surrounded by opotopoto, no electricity, most of them surrounded by high walls that make them look like prison, human waste dispossessed off in the backyard. All that is RUBBISH. Also, when you go to any country in the world and ask them to show you the skyline of their cities, they don't show you imposing Mansions were people live, but rather the skyline of the commercial business districts. So, all that huge mansions you guys show off here all the time is not what counts when the yardstick of any city is measured.

/


You are stating the obvious but you failed to tackle the problem I mentioned--corruption. Have you ever tried getting a building permit in US? By the way, there are millions of houses not built by real estate developers in US. Let's get that one out of the way. The only requirement is that the builder must be "licensed". And to be a licensed builder, there are requirements and prerequisites. This is how the cities exert control over its landscape. There are cities' codes that builders must abide by. There are inspectors that come to the sites at different stages of construction to make sure the builder is adhering to the specifications outlined.

In Nigeria, let's use Awka as an example. It started off as a sleepy town in Anambra state. Then it became elevated to the capital city of the new state. Should the whole city be razed and reduced to rubble in order to create a perfect city that you envision? Human beings will always be humans. Laws and regulations are put in place to check the excesses of humans. In a society like Nigeria where the gatekeepers can easily be compromised without repercussions, one gets the chaos that is the skylines that we have. Therein lies the problem.

/

InvertedHammer:

/


You are stating the obvious but you failed to tackle the problem I mentioned--corruption. Have you ever tried getting a building permit in US? By the way, there are millions of houses not built by real estate developers in US. Let's get that one out of the way. The only requirement is that the builder must be "licensed". And to be a licensed builder, there are requirements and prerequisites. This is how the cities exert control over its landscape. There are cities' codes that builders must abide by. There are inspectors that come to the sites at different stages of construction to make sure the builder is adhering to the specifications outlined.

In Nigeria, let's use Awka as an example. It started off as a sleepy town in Anambra state. Then it became elevated to the capital city of the new state. Should the whole city be razed and reduced to rubble in order to create a perfect city that you envision? Human beings will always be humans. Laws and regulations are put in place to check the excesses of humans. In a society like Nigeria where the gatekeepers can easily be compromised without repercussions, one gets the chaos that is the skylines that we have. Therein lies the problem.

/

Tackling corruption is the job of elected politicians. Electing politicians is the job of citizens. Citizens should elect those that can only do their bidding. If citizens vote in politicians who refuse to do their biddings, then citizens should continuously vote them out until they find the ones that can.
Now, you're right that there are millions of homes in the US built by private citizens, but you're wrong about prerequisite to build. The US is slightly bigger than west africa with thousands of rural districts. So, just like we have villages in nigeria, they also have villages in the US, even if they don't call it that. Most of the people that live in these rural part of the US are farmers that are farming on large hectares of land. Yes, these rural farmers and the small businesses that support these rural towns do build their own houses and their own shops. They can build whatever they like, even shacks, and don't need to be licensed as you suggested.
Well, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the more than 100 BIG CITIES IN THE US AND THEIR SUBURBS where 90% of americans live. Those cities and their suburbs were exclusively built by REAL ESTATE COMPANIES. Private individuals don't buy land anywhere near these places to build anything at all. If you lived in some of these developed countries, you'll know this, because when you come to an area of their town and suburbs, you'll notice the uniformity of everything like every single houses looking the same. The front yard covered with green houses all looking the same. The sidewalks that traverse the neighborhood all looking the same. The trees that lined the streets all planted in unison, that it looks like a tree was planted at every ten foot intervals. In short, everything is built SO WELL in such an ORGANIZED way that you'll know that one real estate company built it. Now, multiply this scenario I just described thousands of times in hundreds of their cities and tens of thousands of their neighborhood to imagine what I'm really talking about.
Unfortunately for us in nigeria, we never followed any best practices of anything. TRUST ME ON THIS, you nigerians do practically everything the wrong way. I just told someone about the exultations to people not to REINVENT THE WHEEL. Most things in the world, have already been invented that you can't be jumping up and down for reinventing the same thing that others have already invented. Somebody from say, enugu, cannot be shouting for joy because he was able build a car in his garage because that's have already been done more than 100 years ago. But, it's ok to copy. For best practices, visit places that have already done things to know how they are done. You can improve upon their inventions if you want to make further advances.
So yes, you have to uproot most of JUNK we built when we didn't have the knowledge and resources to do things the right way. If not, your towns and cities will be looking like shitholes forever. That's EXACTLY why I'm jumping for joy with okorocha's URBAN RENEWAL PROJECTS IN OWERRI. You don't seem to think that it's doable, but it is. The chinese have already accomplished this FEAT, and like I said, that's what Okorocha is doing in owerri. Okorocha's own, MIGHT be mediocre but at least he's doing, better than doing absolutely nothing, hoping against hope for something to happen. Nothing will happen. The government of every state/country have to have the imagination to make BOLD changes, dragging his people screaming and kicking in the process. They might curse and abuse him for not paying compensation, or disrupting people's livelihood, but in the end, they will appreciate him for lifting their CIVILIZATION AND SENSE OF WORTH/PRIDE to high level.
If you are an american, and went to school with igbos, you'll think that they must be the most intelligent people in the world. If the same Americans were to board a flight to the heart of igboland, Enugu, when they disembark and enter the terminal, they will go huuuuh. By the time they drive through abakpa nike with thousands of hawkers, with thousands of street traders, people selling things in the median strip and shoulders of our roads, they will begin to doubt their judgement on igbos. By the time the same Americans reach aba, they will run for their lives.

Ofuzo:


Tackling corruption is the job of elected politicians. Electing politicians is the job of citizens. Citizens should elect those that can only do their bidding. If citizens vote in politicians who refuse to do their biddings, then citizens should continuously vote them out until they find the ones that can.
Now, you're right that there are millions of homes in the US built by private citizens, but you're wrong about prerequisite to build. The US is slightly bigger than west africa with thousands of rural districts. So, just like we have villages in nigeria, they also have villages in the US, even if they don't call it that. Most of the people that live in these rural part of the US are farmers that are farming on large hectares of land. Yes, these rural farmers and the small businesses that support these rural towns do build their own houses and their own shops. They can build whatever they like, even shacks, and don't need to be licensed as you suggested.
Well, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the more than 100 BIG CITIES IN THE US AND THEIR SUBURBS where 90% of americans live. Those cities and their suburbs were exclusively built by REAL ESTATE COMPANIES. Private individuals don't buy land anywhere near these places to build anything at all. If you lived in some of these developed countries, you'll know this, because when you come to an area of their town and suburbs, you'll notice the uniformity of everything like every single houses looking the same. The front yard covered with green houses all looking the same. The sidewalks that traverse the neighborhood all looking the same. The trees that lined the streets all planted in unison, that it looks like a tree was planted at every ten foot intervals. In short, everything is built SO WELL in such an ORGANIZED way that you'll know that one real estate company built it. Now, multiply this scenario I just described thousands of times in hundreds of their cities and tens of thousands of their neighborhood to imagine what I'm really talking about.
Unfortunately for us in nigeria, we never followed any best practices of anything. TRUST ME ON THIS, you nigerians do practically everything the wrong way. I just told someone about the exultations to people not to REINVENT THE WHEEL. Most things in the world, have already been invented that you can't be jumping up and down for reinventing the same thing that others have already invented. Somebody from say, enugu, cannot be shouting for joy because he was able build a car in his garage because that's have already been done more than 100 years ago. But, it's ok to copy. For best practices, visit places that have already done things to know how they are done. You can improve upon their inventions if you want to make further advances.
So yes, you have to uproot most of JUNK we built when we didn't have the knowledge and resources to do things the right way. If not, your towns and cities will be looking like shitholes forever. That's EXACTLY why I'm jumping for joy with okorocha's URBAN RENEWAL PROJECTS IN OWERRI. You don't seem to think that it's doable, but it is. The chinese have already accomplished this FEAT, and like I said, that's what Okorocha is doing in owerri. Okorocha's own, MIGHT be mediocre but at least he's doing, better than doing absolutely nothing, hoping against hope for something to happen. Nothing will happen. The government of every state/country have to have the imagination to make BOLD changes, dragging his people screaming and kicking in the process. They might curse and abuse him for not paying compensation, or disrupting people's livelihood, but in the end, they will appreciate him for lifting their CIVILIZATION AND SENSE OF WORTH/PRIDE to high level.
If you are an american, and went to school with igbos, you'll think that they must be the most intelligent people in the world. If the same Americans were to board a flight to the heart of igboland, Enugu, when they disembark and enter the terminal, they will go huuuuh. By the time they drive through abakpa nike with thousands of hawkers, with thousands of street traders, people selling things in the median strip and shoulders of our roads, they will begin to doubt their judgement on igbos. By the time the same Americans reach aba, they will run for their lives.

/
A little nudge and you are beginning to make exceptions and clarifications unlike your previous post where you said real estate developers built all developed nations.

I talked about cities not farms in USA.

No! All the houses do not look the same.

You need to move around different cities in USA to know.

I am using So.Cal as an example with emphasis in Los Angeles area.

There are lands for sale. But people don't follow that route because 1). It is expensive 2). They don't understand the process 3). The stress of dealing with city inspectors, etc.
4). They don't have the money to build (no kobokobo project).

Most houses are financed by mortgage lenders and they push borrowers towards finished houses because they are easily recoverable.
/

/

spyder880:


What do you want us to talk about?

How do you like these delicious slices of Enugu ?

hmm nice

Xander85:
It's very frustrating that gov'ts can't seem to keep up with the pace of development in our state capitals. This is the case in varying degrees in ALL our state capitals and major cities. Just look at the latest pics Spyder posted....but for the overhead water tanks and terrible roads, they could pass for a prosperous city in Europe.

The solution is for gov'ts to ensure there are no leaks in their IGR collections, as presently they collect only a fraction of what they should. When there is enough funds, gov't can then dedicate a percentage of what's collected in a city to improve its infrastructure..and also publicise what it's doing so tax payers would be encouraged to pay as and when due. There are some cities in the South East you can think of and you'd struggle to point at what the state gov't has built there in the past three years to justify asking people to pay their tax.

Also, i think the state capitals should have Mayors who would be voted for every four years. These Mayors sole responsibility would be to build infrastructure with the IGR raised and their share of any allocation available. They can also be mandated to enter into PPP arrangements with banks and foreign/local investors. Their remit would also be to sell their city to the world like we see being done in London and New York where their Mayors are the cities major ambassadors.

The situation now where the state Governor oversees all this is not tenable, and it's distracting for them when they should be more concerned with the overall economic development of the state.

[b][/b]Enugu already has an FCT minister, although I haven't really seen any much impact he has made.
The buildings he was ordered to demolish close to Enugu airport runway, are still standing there.
Everything fails in this country.

InvertedHammer:

/
A little nudge and you are beginning to make exceptions and clarifications unlike your previous post where you said real estate developers built all developed nations.

I talked about cities not farms in USA.

No! All the houses do not look the same.

You need to move around different cities in USA to know.

I am using So.Cal as an example with emphasis in Los Angeles area.

There are lands for sale. But people don't follow that route because 1). It is expensive 2). They don't understand the process 3). The stress of dealing with city inspectors, etc.
4). They don't have the money to build (no kobokobo project).

Most houses are financed by mortgage lenders and they push borrowers towards finished houses because they are easily recoverable.
/

/

YES. When you come to new Carrollton MD, all the houses you see there was built by one REAL ESTATE company which is why they all look the same. There might be some small variations, but even a dummy will know that everything looks the same. When you go to northeast Washington DC, YES, almost all the houses you see in certain neighborhoods look exactly the same. THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO LAND FOR SALE IN ANY AMERICAN CITIES AND SUBURBS. I've lived for more than thirty years, both on the east coast and west coast, so I know what I'm talking about. Now, when you see a sign saying land for sale, it's not for sale to INDIVIDUALS, but to REAL ESTATE COMPANIES. REAL ESTATE companies build the houses and then sale to individuals. There are NO single plot of land selling going on in the US and most developed countries. This is not even supposed to be in doubt because they did EXACTLY the same thing in abuja. Abuja from all practical purposes was and is still being built by REAL ESTATE companies. The igbos don't even have to COPY what the developed countries are doing. Let them just copy what they are doing in abuja. WE SHOULD ALWAYS ASPIRE TO DO THINGS THE RIGHT WAY. RIGHT NOW, WE ARE PRACTICALLY DOING THINGS, ALMOST EVERY SINGLE THING THE WRONG WAY IN IGBOLAND.

Ofuzo:


YES. When you come to new Carrollton MD, all the houses you see there was built by one REAL ESTATE company which is why they all look the same. There might be some small variations, but even a dummy will know that everything looks the same. When you go to northeast Washington DC, YES, almost all the houses you see in certain neighborhoods look exactly the same. THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO LAND FOR SALE IN ANY AMERICAN CITIES AND SUBURBS. I've lived for more than thirty years, both on the east coast and west coast, so I know what I'm talking about. Now, when you see a sign saying land for sale, it's not for sale to INDIVIDUALS, but to REAL ESTATE COMPANIES. REAL ESTATE companies build the houses and then sale to individuals. [b]There are NO single plot of land selling going on in the US and most developed countries. [/b]This is not even supposed to be in doubt because they did EXACTLY the same thing in abuja. Abuja from all practical purposes was and is still being built by REAL ESTATE companies. The igbos don't even have to COPY what the developed countries are doing. Let them just copy what they are doing in abuja. WE SHOULD ALWAYS ASPIRE TO DO THINGS THE RIGHT WAY. RIGHT NOW, WE ARE PRACTICALLY DOING THINGS, ALMOST EVERY SINGLE THING THE WRONG WAY IN IGBOLAND.

/
No land(s) for sale in US?

You are a joke. I don't see the relationship between how many years you live in US and misinformation.

Go to https://www.zillow.com/ca/land/ and choose land/lot for sale.

Eg. The one plot at 1 W Garrett Ave, Fresno, CA 93706 is for sale by the owner for $47k == N17m
(less than some plots of land in Nigeria). I have seen a few empty secured plots in some cities for sale
with local numbers to call for interested buyers.

It is not a law that only real estate companies can buy land(s). Many individuals cannot because of
the factors I outlined earlier.

They have many listings.

One can live in US and still be grossly ignorant.

No! Abuja is being built by real estate developers and private contractors including DIYers.
Real estate developing companies and private builders have always and will always work in developing cities.

Keep living in your fantasy world

*/

Ofuzo:


YES. When you come to new Carrollton MD, all the houses you see there was built by one REAL ESTATE company which is why they all look the same. There might be some small variations, but even a dummy will know that everything looks the same. When you go to northeast Washington DC, YES, almost all the houses you see in certain neighborhoods look exactly the same. THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO LAND FOR SALE IN ANY AMERICAN CITIES AND SUBURBS. I've lived for more than thirty years, both on the east coast and west coast, so I know what I'm talking about. Now, when you see a sign saying land for sale, it's not for sale to INDIVIDUALS, but to REAL ESTATE COMPANIES. REAL ESTATE companies build the houses and then sale to individuals. There are NO single plot of land selling going on in the US and most developed countries. This is not even supposed to be in doubt because they did EXACTLY the same thing in abuja. Abuja from all practical purposes was and is still being built by REAL ESTATE companies. The igbos don't even have to COPY what the developed countries are doing. Let them just copy what they are doing in abuja. WE SHOULD ALWAYS ASPIRE TO DO THINGS THE RIGHT WAY. RIGHT NOW, WE ARE PRACTICALLY DOING THINGS, ALMOST EVERY SINGLE THING THE WRONG WAY IN IGBOLAND.

Joor, stop this over generalizations! What do you mean by lands are sold off to only Real Estate Developers in cities and suburbs?

Hear this out: here in Ohio, lands are sold off to companies (real estate developers or otherwise) as well as private individuals. An individual can actually buy off a scrap building, raze it down and builds what he likes, as long as he has the permit from the city. A close relative, a pharmacist, recently bought an old house from a built-up city in Cincinnati. His known intent is to tear down this building and erect a building of his choice, upon confirmation from the City government. And yes, he is not a Developer but a private individual. So, E’Jor, stop this your 30yrs living in America over generalizations of situational issues.

InvertedHammer:

/
No land(s) for sale in US?

You are a joke. I don't see the relationship between how many years you live in US and misinformation.

Go to https://www.zillow.com/ca/land/ and choose land/lot for sale.

Eg. The one plot at 1 W Garrett Ave, Fresno, CA 93706 is for sale by the owner for $47k == N17m
(less than some plots of land in Nigeria). I have seen a few empty secured plots in some cities for sale
with local numbers to call for interested buyers.

It is not a law that only real estate companies can buy land(s). Many individuals cannot because of
the factors I outlined earlier.

They have many listings.

One can live in US and still be grossly ignorant.

No! Abuja is being built by real estate developers and private contractors including DIYers.
Real estate developing companies and private builders have always and will always work in developing cities.

Keep living in your fantasy world

*/

Shut the Bleep up you DUMB SUCKER. You cannot educatel me about cities I've lived for years. I've lived in the bay area for about 6 years, and in the DC area for about 30 years. Some of you people live on googling stuff to find information, but I'm a live witness. What your DUMB ASS probably did was to google land for sale, and then come here to talk rubbish.
I know for a fact that you are a complete DUMMY, when you said that houses in american neighborhoods don't look the same. DON'T ARGUE WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW. Also, don't argue by wikepedia and google alone, because they have a tendency to mislead. THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO INDIVIDUALS SELLING PLOTS OF LAND TO INDIVIDUALS IN THE US. RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES IN THE US ARE BUILT BY REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS . You think you know the meaning of ignorance because you can spell it, trying to educate me on cities I know practically every street and every neighborhood. ONE OF THESE DAYS, I'M GOING TO TAKE MY CAMERA AND DRIVE AROUND US CITIES, TAKE PICTURES AND POST THEM DAILY ON NAIRALAND. When you watch the videos you will completely SHUT your mouth forever and some of you people will hide your heads in shame.

No need for unnecessary insults. To prove you are in US. Now open your window and take pictures from there and show us. Then write your username *ofuzo* on a paper then place it on your window or come outside and snap it capturing the paper and environment. That way you can start proving your location.

For now invertedhammer is winning with great points until you can prove you are in America.

AKswift:


Joor, stop this over generalizations! What do you mean by lands are sold off to only Real Estate Developers in cities and suburbs?

Hear this out: here in Ohio, lands are sold off to companies (real estate developers or otherwise) as well as private individuals. An individual can actually buy off a scrap building, raze it down and builds what he likes, as long as he has the permit from the city. A close relative, a pharmacist, recently bought an old house from a built-up city in Cincinnati. His known intent is to tear down this building and erect a building of his choice, upon confirmation from the City government. And yes, he is not a Developer but a private individual. So, E’Jor, stop this your 30yrs living in America over generalizations of situational issues.

Since you are in Ohio, why don't you drive around the state and show us ALL THOSE LANDS FOR SALE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT and post them on nairaland. Please do that for all to see. If and when you do that, the SHAME is on me. Of course, sometimes your house can catch fire and burn down. You can take insurance money and buy another house instead of rebuilding. You can then decide to sell the burnt house to somebody else to rebuild. OR your house might be so blighted by neglect and abandonment that the building code inspectors give you an ultimatum to either sell, remodel or be confiscated by the city. There are literally hundreds of thousands of such houses in American big cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore etc. The ones in Detroit was sold for scrap to real estate developers and individuals alike to develop as they see fit.
But this is not what we are talking about. WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT AND THE REASON I BROUGHT IT UP, BECAUSE THAT HAS TO STOP IN IGBOLAND, IS THE SELLING AND BUYING OF PLOTS OF LAND FROM INDIVIDUALS TO INDIVIDUALS. This is exactly how all our cities was built and this is why they particularly all look like shitholes. This is not BEST PRACTICE in developed countries, states and cities of the world like OHIO where you claim that you live.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, which is what I'm trying to impress on our people back in igboland who really don't know any better.

Ekweremadu to rehabilitate Storm-Ravaged School, others in Awgu, Enugu state

http://easternreporter.com/2018/05/07/ekweremadu-to-rehabilitate-storm-ravaged-school-others-in-awgu-enugu-state/

I think I quite agree with ofuzo, selling plots of lands to individuals is not the best practice, the houses they build end up becoming an eyesore.
It is better to sale the lands to real estate developers or impose strict rules on how individuals should build their house.

While we all await pictures of Amelika This is a part of Enugu, who knows this spot?

spyder880:
While we all await pictures of Amelika This is a part of Enugu, who knows this spot?

That's got to be either UNEC or the golf course! My money is on UNEC!

Xander85:


That's got to be either UNEC or the golf course! My money is on UNEC!

I don chop your money if na bet o

spyder880:
While we all await pictures of Amelika This is a part of Enugu, who knows this spot?

Enugu Golf course at GRA, back of Chester filling station. Photo was taken from new market end.

Nightshift:
Enugu Golf course at GRA, back of Chester filling station. Photo was taken from new market end.

Sure nwanne, you are nwa coal city.

melodyogonna:
I think I quite agree with ofuzo, selling plots of lands to individuals is not the best practice, the houses they build end up becoming an eyesore.
It is better to sale the lands to real estate developers or impose strict rules on how individuals should build their house.

You can still sell plots of land to individuals and still ensure they keep to the rules. But the way i see it, the problem isn't so much the private developers as it is gov't. It's when gov't doesn't do its work properly by ensuring strict compliance to building regulations that individuals get away with all manner of contraventions. Also, it's very easy to bribe those whose responsibility it is to ensure the rules are kept. That's how those officials survive....and not by the nonsense salary they're lucky to get every month!

We should have state parks that look like that golf course. See how nice it looks!

spyder880:


Sure nwanne, you are nwa coal city.

Spyder ekene mu gu! Onweho obodo ozo anyi nweru(nkanu dialect). Love for Coal City is infinity!! 042 bu obodo ndi oma!

Xander85:


That's got to be either UNEC or the golf course! My money is on UNEC!

This picture of enugu is what I mean when I talk about LUSH green grass vegetation that covers much of the open land in developed countries. The only difference with what you see in developed countries is the block and cement PLASTARD fence whose paint will start peeling off after about five years. If it was in one corner of London, that fence will probably be either red brick or brown brick.
Unfortunately, the entire city of enugu does not look as clean or green as this. THIS, my friends, is EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

Xander85:


That's got to be either UNEC or the golf course! My money is on UNEC!

Lol.
This is Golf although the entrance to UNEC block of buildings have such lush foliage settings.
They are usually lovely

Xander85:
It's very frustrating that gov'ts can't seem to keep up with the pace of development in our state capitals. This is the case in varying degrees in ALL our state capitals and major cities. Just look at the latest pics Spyder posted....but for the overhead water tanks and terrible roads, they could pass for a prosperous city in Europe.

The solution is for gov'ts to ensure there are no leaks in their IGR collections, as presently they collect only a fraction of what they should. When there is enough funds, gov't can then dedicate a percentage of what's collected in a city to improve its infrastructure..and also publicise what it's doing so tax payers would be encouraged to pay as and when due. There are some cities in the South East you can think of and you'd struggle to point at what the state gov't has built there in the past three years to justify asking people to pay their tax.

Also, i think the state capitals should have Mayors who would be voted for every four years. These Mayors sole responsibility would be to build infrastructure with the IGR raised and their share of any allocation available. They can also be mandated to enter into PPP arrangements with banks and foreign/local investors. Their remit would also be to sell their city to the world like we see being done in London and New York where their Mayors are the cities major ambassadors.

The situation now where the state Governor oversees all this is not tenable, and it's distracting for them when they should be more concerned with the overall economic development of the state.

For the past few days, I've been talking about land scaping/land management, erosion catastrophe, urban renewal projects, buying and selling land by individuals, building gutters and calling it drainage. I also talked about water and waste treatment plants on the imo state thread. Let me pivot to a different subject, something I briefly mentioned which you brought up in this post, when you said that state capitals should have MAYORS.
Well, not just state capitals, but also major cities and small towns. Like I have repeatedly said, we practically do everything the wrong way in nigeria. The practice in developed countries, is to have administrators in all localities. In nigeria, after a state, you have local government areas. In the US, it's called COUNTIES. In these counties, you have towns and cities, major and minor. The prerequisites for having a locality tagged as a city is the population. Once a locality reaches that population milestone, the state awards them city status. There are certain advantages that accrues to a locality with city designation because it empowers them to do certain things like collecting TAXES, electing their own MAYORS, having their own police department etc.
So, in the US, all the cities and towns collect their own taxes, of which REAL ESTATE taxes is the most important. But, they are saddled with responsibilities of which they MUST be able to fulfill and satisfy. Cities are essentially responsible for PAYING TEACHERS SALARIES, COLLECTING GARBAGE/THRASH, BUILDING AND MAINTAINING CITY ROADS, MAINTAINING LAW AND ORDER with their police department. And most importantly above all others, they are responsible for ENFORCING city ordinances, or rules and REGULATIONS.
SO YES, this is how it's done in the US, unlike how it's done in nigeria. The same we are clamouring for decentralization from Abuja for powers to devolve to the states, we should also be fighting for state powers to devolve all the way to our VILLAGE COUNCILS. This set up where nigerian state governors are micro managing most things like GARBAGE COLLECTION in the entire state is a JOKE OF MONUMENTAL PROPORTION.

No doubt enugu is a beautiful city

OyiboUgbo04:
Ekweremadu to rehabilitate Storm-Ravaged School, others in Awgu, Enugu state

http://easternreporter.com/2018/05/07/ekweremadu-to-rehabilitate-storm-ravaged-school-others-in-awgu-enugu-state/

nice move

spyder880:
While we all await pictures of Amelika This is a part of Enugu, who knows this spot?

somewhere in enugu

Ofuzo:



For the past few days, I've been talking about land scaping/land management, erosion catastrophe, urban renewal projects, buying and selling land by individuals, building gutters and calling it drainage. I also talked about water and waste treatment plants on the imo state thread. Let me pivot to a different subject, something I briefly mentioned which you brought up in this post, when you said that state capitals should have MAYORS.
Well, not just state capitals, but also major cities and small towns. Like I have repeatedly said, we practically do everything the wrong way in nigeria. The practice in developed countries, is to have administrators in all localities. In nigeria, after a state, you have local government areas. In the US, it's called COUNTIES. In these counties, you have towns and cities, major and minor. The prerequisites for having a locality tagged as a city is the population. Once a locality reaches that population milestone, the state awards them city status. There are certain advantages that accrues to a locality with city designation because it empowers them to do certain things like collecting TAXES, electing their own MAYORS, having their own police department etc.
So, in the US, all the cities and towns collect their own taxes, of which REAL ESTATE taxes is the most important. But, they are saddled with responsibilities of which they MUST be able to fulfill and satisfy. Cities are essentially responsible for PAYING TEACHERS SALARIES, COLLECTING GARBAGE/THRASH, BUILDING AND MAINTAINING CITY ROADS, MAINTAINING LAW AND ORDER with their police department. And most importantly above all others, they are responsible for ENFORCING city ordinances, or rules and REGULATIONS.
SO YES, this is how it's done in the US, unlike how it's done in nigeria. The same we are clamouring for decentralization from Abuja for powers to devolve to the states, we should also be fighting for state powers to devolve all the way to our VILLAGE COUNCILS. This set up where nigerian state governors are micro managing most things like GARBAGE COLLECTION in the entire state is a JOKE OF MONUMENTAL PROPORTION.

I have to say that the USA is a very peculiar country, even to Europeans. What I would like is to see what we can learn from Europeans or developed asian countries.

Our Capital!!!