I think all denigrating comments should be ignored. Let's face the topic.

Outdoor shopping does not have to be a brutish experience. Let our markets serve as great cultural, social, artistic and developmental centers where people will naturally love to spend their time. This will make the marketers richer and the customers happy. Look at how outdoor shopping is done elsewhere.










All of the structures and environments above actually cost less money to build than Onitsha main markets. for example instead of using expensive cement walls, why not or something thinner (and don't say sheet metal). We build houses and markets as if we're preparing to be bombed. There's no need for heavy concrete walls that are cumbersome, expensive and hard to mark quality architectural works with.

Pave the floor, allocate the plots and allow people to build and sell shop using cloth, glass, wire and other cheap but aesthetically pleasing materials.

Abagworo:


In this sort of discussion all Igbos are the same and hence singling out Abia or Anambra changes nothing. An Igbo man from Nnewi living in Aba is not part of our discussion. We are rather talking of Nsukka man living in Potiskum.

Majority of Igbos outside Igboland are from a circle which covers mostly Northern Imo and Southern Anambra State. Hence most Igbos you are likely to meet trading in Maiduguri or Zungeru are likely from there. The reason is that the population density of that area is so high that the migration must occur for survival. 2ndly that area was deliberately undercounted and underfunded since the inception of Nigeria thereby leaving little resources for large population to live on. They have red infertile and yet scarce land resources facing erosion menace.

hey great ideas buddy!

ibedun:


You people are getting yourself mixed up badly.

Lagos is part and parcel of the Yoruba ancestry even your much touted Nigerian constitution recognises so......that is why there is no Obi or Emir anywhere near Lagos.

The Hausas, the Binis, the tapas, middle belters even the Ijaws recognise this.

The delusional trouble making loud Igbos are deliberately and hopelessly wishing away this point?

This highly toxically provocative stand is eventually going to lead to war! Less provocative stuff has lead to war in other climes.

I am a Yoruba man and I live in Lagos a part and parcel of Yoruba Land. There is no Igbo history or relationship in that heritage. Nigeria may give you the right to live in Lagos but you are not Lagosians or Yoruba people.

^^^Enyi!....Stop exposing your crass stupidity and bigotry!

The way you claim Lagos is part of Yorubaland and hence any Yoruba is entitled to live there (no questions asked); this is the same way an Igbo brother can claim that Lagos is part of 'one Nigeria' and is its foremost commercial/industrial capital (achieved partly due to clandestine policies over the past 4 decades), and hence he's entitled to live and work there without suffering the likes of bitter hateful xenophobes like you!

^^^And if you feel the 'pesky Igbos' are flooding too much into your precious Lagos, i'm afraid you'll just have to grin and bear it until such a time when this country disintegrates; this is the end result of you being too-clever-by-half and concentrating all economic drivers/enablers in your region and the north while others were made to siddon dey look like lucozade!

Ignore the yoruba guy biko. I feel like only me and Buddah are the ones contributing

Ikengawo:
Outdoor shopping does not have to be a brutish experience. Let our markets serve as great cultural, social, artistic and developmental centers where people will naturally love to spend their time. This will make the marketers richer and the customers happy. Look at how outdoor shopping is done elsewhere.










All of the structures and environments above actually cost less money to build than Onitsha main markets. for example instead of using expensive cement walls, why not or something thinner (and don't say sheet metal). We build houses and markets as if we're preparing to be bombed. There's no need for heavy concrete walls that are cumbersome, expensive and hard to mark quality architectural works with.

Pave the floor, allocate the plots and allow people to build and sell shop using cloth, glass, wire and other cheap but aesthetically pleasing materials.

I love these settings. I will build these types of market one day. and it will be in my village

ikengawo, do you know you can build these kinds of market with little or no capital? I thank God for the gift of business ingenuity Chukwu Abiama blessed me with. I see opportunities where others don't see non. watch out for this name "Engr Gozie from orumba". Chukwu Bu Ikem

Anything beyond pooling large funds to carry out strategic sustainable projects is a waste of time

I was in Enugu some few months back and from afar I saw the beauty of that city sitting on a hill with all her green environment in her splendid beauty and I was like 'wow' this is where I would love to live.

When you behold Enugu from afar you can't help it but fall in love with that city.Unfortunately where I come from we don't travel ,we are stuck in phc

Truckpusher:
I was in Enugu some few months back and from afar I saw the beauty of that city sitting on a hill with all her green environment in her splendid beauty and I was like 'wow' this is where I would love to live.

When you behold Enugu from afar you can't help it but fall in love with that city.Unfortunately where I come from we don't travel ,we are stuck in phc

Are u from Rivers?

Do you know that Smile Broadband is owned by Obijackson, the company is here in Lagos fighting for tiny opportunity but if he had relocated the coy to East he will be enjoying the monopoly because Rainbownet is no longer working.

Do you know that the Asaba side of the Niger and Onicha side can host a five stars hotels where people will come and surf on the river with speedboats.

Do you know that Ogwuta Lake is yet to be utilize, what about Azumini Blue River they are there lying idle but Igbo bigmen will go outside building mansions.

They don't ask themselves, how many of these people are reciprocating our gestures in our land?

nigerdeltaa:
I love these settings. I will build these types of market one day. and it will be in my village

Building these kind of markets in a tropical rainforest is usually capital intensive due to the harsh weather that wears out the strength of these materials forcing you to change them every now and then.Though I believe that there are some materials that can be engineered basically for tropical rainforest and achieve the same beauty.

Unemadu:


Are u from Rivers?

Yeah.

nigerdeltaa:
ikengawo, do you know you can build these kinds of market with little or no capital? I thank God for the gift of business ingenuity Chukwu Abiama blessed me with. I see opportunities where others don't see non. watch out for this name "Engr Gozie from orumba". Chukwu Bu Ikem

you're 100% right. All you really have to do is pave the floors and set up the blueprint and foundation then allow people to set up show under your regulations. Line it with trees plants, fountains, seating, and relaxation/entertainment spaces and the people will do the rest. We do a lot of things in a very expensive and cumbersome way in Nigeria and mistake our lack of a process for a process.

I've even said that if we made the average building block the size of a standard western brick, we would build 4-5 story mansions with the price we're using to build 2 story ones.

This is without considering using glass more often (which idk if it's cheaper or more expensive than brick).

My borther poolling large money won't work because some people will embezzle while others will be acting to smart to pool. The best thing is for a movement called Igbo Renaissance, they need to get these runaway bigmen and talk sense into them, crime is no more in East yet they don't want to come back, infact I don't even know why we don't believe in ours

Unemadu:
Anything beyond pooling large funds to carry out strategic sustainable projects is a waste of time

BuddahMonk:
Do you know that Smile Broadband is owned by Obijackson, the company is here in Lagos fighting for tiny opportunity but if he had relocated the coy to East he will be enjoying the monopoly because Rainbownet is no longer working.

Do you know that the Asaba side of the Niger and Onicha side can host a five stars hotels where people will come and surf on the river with speedboats.

Do you know that Ogwuta Lake is yet to be utilize, what about Azumini Blue River they are there lying idle but Igbo bigmen will go outside building mansions.

They don't ask themselves, how many of these people are reciprocating our gestures in our land?

I think you should be proud of them.

Truckpusher:
Building these kind of markets in a tropical rainforest is usually capital intensive due to the harsh weather that wears out the strength of these materials forcing you to change them every now and then.Though I believe that there are some materials that can be engineered basically for tropical rainforest and achieve the same beauty.

That's not true. We're just stuck on the idea of brick. Waterproof or plastic infused tarps are cheap. Look at this market in Singapore that's just as tropical as Nigeria

BuddahMonk:
My borther poolling large money won't work because some people will embezzle while others will be acting to smart to pool. The best thing is for a movement called Igbo Renaissance, they need to get these runaway bigmen and talk sense into them, crime is no more in East yet they don't want to come back, infact I don't even know why we don't believe in ours

Individuality will make the process too slow

Remeber that these so called bigmen are just businessmen

Sometimes u need to stimulate the economy to grow

Example is if u have like 4 coal power plants of 1000 mw each, do u know the kind of Skilled to unskilled labour it will attract?

Or if u have a large steel complex.... Only govt can do that to stimulate the economy

My two cents: To make eastern cities livable we must first do the basic and easy things

1)Start by having a city masterplan. An eastern city in 2015 that doesn't have a 21st century city masterplan is a joke.

2) Every city must have a strict zonning law. I am tired of seeing shops and factories right next to residential areas.

3) All major cities must have pipe born water, and water treatment facility. It time to stop digging borehole. Its very wasteful and inefficient.

4) All city must have a law that building should be repainted every 7 years. Also landlord must replace all rusted zinc roof to the modern roofs

5)All roads must have a closed gutter and a side walk for commuters

6) Have manicured parks for the public to hangout with families and friend. Its about time we are treated like human beings.

These are just basics......More coming

I wish i could have a conversation with people like Michael Okpara, Dee Sam Mbakwe and other selfless visionary Leaders of old

ibedun:


Start by being there first! and stop the fixation with Yoruba land!

Vote in serious government (Not the Kalu type)

Developments starts with the people.

Igbo unruly, uncouth behaviour will never attract investment.

Friendly brotherly advice.

top marks 007.
for your 1st 2 posts here.

BuddahMonk:
My borther poolling large money won't work because some people will embezzle while others will be acting to smart to pool. The best thing is for a movement called Igbo Renaissance, they need to get these runaway bigmen and talk sense into them, crime is no more in East yet they don't want to come back, infact I don't even know why we don't believe in ours

Igbos desire a quality of life that's greater than what Nigeria has to offer. Even Lagos is seen as a stepping stone into Obodo Oyibo. The only way to cap the hunger is to bring 'obodo oyibo' to Igbo land.

People need to be able to go to Awka, Owerri, Aba etc and see glass skyscrapers, well-paved and delineated streets, well demarcated and comfortable walk ways.

The 'old' portion of cities need ordinanace.

1. Must repaint every 2 years for cement structures
2. strict size, material, and location regulations for signs
3. commercial buildings must have regulation suited signs
3. strict regulation of fence size and standardization of fence style
4. regulation of all building extensions (patio) into the walkway and street
5. Build plazas and parks en masse
6. Demarcate parts of the older parts of the city where only glass towers and commercial or apartment residential complexes are allowed, demolish current structures, move residents and building owners to compensation builds built around the new markets to boost their business and the markets business. Sell to commercial developers. The 'new owerris' and 'centenary cities' are nice but they're always on the outskirts and allow the older parts to rot and get uglier and harder to live in.
7. after demolition you can rebuild the city centers with modern amenities like water, proper and modern power systems, well planned access to daily necessities,
8. Implement zoning laws geared to keep traffic minimal, safety a priority, organization, health, and access in best condition.



If government only worries about enforcement and demolition while private hands do the building buying and selling; it's do able.

Unemadu:


Individuality will make the process too slow

Remeber that these so called bigmen are just businessmen

Sometimes u need to stimulate the economy to grow

Example is if u have like 4 coal power plants of 1000 mw each, do u know the kind of Skilled to unskilled labour it will attract?

Or if u have a large steel complex.... Only govt can do that to stimulate the economy

To build the towers i'm speaking us we need to be making steel, iron, copper, and glass, at industrial capacity. If you build the quality these business men and most igbos demand, they will come. they all want to develop their homeland it's just not always the most profitable place to be and we have to meet then half way.

Good one from Ikenga and Bhuda, I like your passion for development and industrialisation of Igbo land. We need to continue preaching it to our people, I feel uneasy the kind of money our people are using to buy swamps and sandfilling it here in lagos, couple of weeks back I was discussing with my older bro, he told me he wants to buy land in lagos, I over rule it and ask him to buy it in Enugu and start developing it and he agreed. We should owe it as a responsibility to replicate our success in Igbo land, That's why I love the investment driven governor (Obiano) with the little space of time he has attracted more than 1billion dollars investment to Anambra, I pray for Allex Otti to win Abia so that he can tow the same line, untill ndi Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi elect people that are investment driven, coys won't be established, all they will be doing is improving the aesthetic nature of their state.

Ikengawo:


To build the towers i'm speaking us we need to be making steel, iron, copper, and glass, at industrial capacity. If you build the quality these business men and most igbos demand, they will come. they all want to develop their homeland it's just not always the most profitable place to be and we have to meet then half way.

Yes and thats why i said they are business men because they will invest where is most profitable thats why they need stimulus.

Even igbo owned banks are headquartered in freaking Lagos WTF.

I am tired of people treating Lagos as if its bread and butter. Lagos advantage is the result infrastructures built by federal government. That advantage has served it well. I am not against investing outside igboland but a smart igbo man will never put their eggs in one basket. They will always remember home. Case closed.

Ikengawo please study the Inland city of Chongqing, china. It is a city by the river just like onitsha. I am sure many people have never heard of it but it is the biggest city In china. Just like river niger passes the city, the Yangtze river passes the city. Another mindblowing fact is that It is the detroit of china with heavy industry and auto manufacturing. This is what onitsha can/will become once infrastructure and electricity is in place.

development of the east will come after we privatize everything


Schools
Hospitals
Sanitation
Security
Road Maintenance
and leave government responsible for enforcement or regulations only.
We could even privatize courts if we're willing to think creatively.



I say this because once you find a way to make it profitable, it booms in the east.


Private Schools: Peter Obi has the right idea about handing the schools back to missionaries and churches that they were taken from originally. Private schools in Nigeria are 10x the quality of public schools. We can privatize them by doing the following.
- Put them all for sale, make them for profit
- Allow poor families to register for tuition assistance were the government will pay a percentage of their children's fees automatically, or all if performance warrants is (first class etc).
- Tax properties in the neighborhood but have their portion of tax go directly to the school (not government) in their district like they do in the United States.
- Create parent teacher organizations that are responsible for stocking the schools with free equipment through fund raising drives.
- Government will pay schools an allocation based on quality of their teachers (% of teachers with Bachelors degrees, or teaching cert, or doctorates etc).
for example there can by 4 classes of school based on the quality of teacher.
First class schools will have a 90%-61% of teachers with masters degrees.
Second class a 60%-31% Third Class a 30%-11% and
Fourth a 10% or less.

Two teachers with a bachelors will count at 1 masters (but that already puts your percentage at 50%), three teachers with 2 year certifications counts at 1 masters (putting you in the 30s)

This will make schools compete for the best talent and weed out the least trained so that secondary and primary school teachers are paided like University lecturers and schools are stocked with the best of the best.

Private hospitals: This is only possible if all people are required to have health insurance. There will be an affordable government option that may charge N1000 a month or N12,000 per annum per person. and more competitive private plans. To keep traffic going to the hospitals and keep them profitable there has to be mandatory annual check-ups to keep your government health insurance.

Then privatize all of the hospitals. Allow people to run them like businesses. If 6 million people (a state) need a hospital service once a year minimum (mandatory check up), plus the people that need it regularly and out of state traffic, we'll create a competitive commercial market that's free from needing the government outside of insuring the poorest of the poor.

Umunne ekene m
I am impressed with the postulations and submissions here

Before we go on let us know that average eastern city is 40yrs plus yes even enugu . Why did I say this ...after bombardment we started rebuilding and you see we might feel bad about the war but it was a blessing it gave us
New cities that we can rebuild
New orientation knowing we have allies and foes
New ressillience
New awareness
It gave us new form of economics known as group economics

The issue of outward movement of igbos ..I support it. If britian China and spain didn't venture out to take overseas economy tgey wont be wherr they are today including isreal whom we are fashioned after


We can repatriate these monies home


Now what i don't like is using pick up as patrol cars ...it for rangers . I think enugu is on point


Eastern cities are okay but we need to improve on rails and 8 lane free ways that will inter connect like autobahn

No I disagree capitalism is not the solution to all our problems because the poor amongst us will suffer. Remember we can still have crony capitalism that leads to less competition and monopoly. We still need public schools. I believe in a mixed economy in the form of public-private partnership.

If we were to privatize education in the east, my proposal will be to privatize only the city schools and leave the rural schools in the hands of government. By freeing the city schools from the hands of the government, the government will have more resources to invest in rural education. Poor families living in the city can receive stipends for uniforms, books, and part of the school fees.

NAIJASOM:
I am tired of people treating Lagos as if its bread and butter. Lagos advantage is the result infrastructures built by federal government. That advantage has served it well. I am not against investing outside igboland but a smart igbo man will never put their eggs in one basket. They will always remember home. Case closed.

Ikengawo please study the Inland city of Chongqing, china. It is a city by the river just like onitsha. I am sure many people have never heard of it but it is the biggest city In china. Just like river niger passes the city, the Yangtze river passes the city. Another mindblowing fact is that It is the detroit of china with heavy industry and auto manufacturing. This is what onitsha can/will become once infrastructure and electricity is in place.

Well Lagos is overheating so that won't be a problem for too long. It's becoming too expensive and laborious to operate in Lagos and the only think keeping people going there is that there's a lot of people there. While Lagos remains one of the fastest growing cities in the world and will be for a long time, other cities are catching the spill over of people looking elsewhere do to cost of living, cost of operation, multiple taxation and over-saturation.

UN rates Onitsha among world’s fastest growing cities

From Our reporter
Monday, August 02, 2010


Gov. Peter Obi
Photo: Sun News Publishing
More Stories on This Section
The United Nation,UN Habitat has rated the commercial city of Onitsha among the five fastest growing cities in the world. The photographs of the cities will be formerly displayed in Shangai, China in October during the world exbition to mark the UN-Habitat Day.

The UN-Habitat team led by a famous international photographer, Mr. Alessandro Scotti disclosed this during a courtesy call on Governor Peter Obi at the Government House, Awka.

According to Scotti, the other four cities are in Morocco, China, Malaysia and Brazil. He said Onitsha was chosen for the project because of its peculiar significance and noted that its display to the world will showcase its unique attributes.

Mr Scotti who thanked Governor Obi for establishing collaboration between Anambra State and UN-Habitat, noted that the project will further strengthen the partnership aimed at developing the city and the state.

Responding, Governor Obi said the choice of Onitsha for the project was a further sign of world’s recognition and interest in the state. He explained that the state’s partnership with UN-Habitat has restored hope that the state will be rebuilt in an organized manner and restated the commitment of his administration to rebuilding the cities in line with structural plans.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Lands, Mr. Peter Afuba said the recognition of Onitsha and Anambra State was a result of Governor Obi’s efforts and recorded achievements in town planning.


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/aug/02/national-02-08-2010-019.htm

So while Lagos is growing, cities in the east are growing as well and as Lagos matures the pressure on secondary cities to catch the influx of people that want more but not Lagos will be sharp. I can firmly say my own Awomama has gone from a village to a township in the past 20 years and will continue to grow.

NAIJASOM:
I am tired of people treating Lagos as if its bread and butter. Lagos advantage is the result infrastructures built by federal government. That advantage has served it well. I am not against investing outside igboland but a smart igbo man will never put their eggs in one basket. They will always remember home. Case closed.

Ikengawo please study the Inland city of Chongqing, china. It is a city by the river just like onitsha. I am sure many people have never heard of it but it is the biggest city In china. Just like river niger passes the city, the Yangtze river passes the city. Another mindblowing fact is that It is the detroit of china with heavy industry and auto manufacturing. This is what onitsha can/will become once infrastructure and electricity is in place.

You have just ignored one limiting factor "the FG"

South east governors forum is a waste of time