Blame Past And Present S/E Governors Not The
Oba Of Lagos By Jessica Obioma
My husband and I really relished the jokes that
flooded social media as a result of Oba Akiolu’s
threat to drown the Igbos living in Lagos in the
lagoon if they don’t vote for his candidate –
Akinwunmi Ambode. The one that takes the cake is
not Basket mouth’s discounted live jackets for the
Igbos. No, it’s the one that says Igbos living in
Lekki had refused to come out on the Election Day
to vote because they live next door to the lagoon. I
thought that was hilarious.
Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu
Now seriously speaking. That threat by the Oba
wasn’t funny at all. However, nothing about those
crude, mean comments from the Oba surprised
me because this particular Oba has always come
across as one of the few less accommodating
Yoruba men I have ever seen. Royalty is not about
brute force or hooliganism. But let me move on.
It’s about time my brothers and sisters from
Igboland sat back and took stock of how and
why things have turned out so hopelessly and
helplessly for them. The civil war ended many
decades ago. How did they sit back and allow a
few mean greedy and little-minded
kleptomaniacs from their own tribe reduce
them to a charity case in other lands. Why
have they allowed past and present South East
Governors to rob them of not only their means
of livelihood but also their right to live and
work in their home land? Once the enabling
environment is not there for you to thrive and
blossom you are forced to seek solace
elsewhere. And that’s what the systematic
looting of state resources by past and present
South East government have done to sons and
daughters of Igboland. Why won’t the likes of
Akiolu denigrate them when their own so
called leaders have devalued, diminished and
degraded them?
Some years back, a man called Sam Mbakwe as
Governor of Imo state showed selfless leadership
by making the welfare of the citizens a priority. He
was ready to suffer mockery in the hands of the
Shagari government, and was labelled the
“weeping Governor” because he was bent on
making sure his people were not denied their
entitlements. He spent the state resources on
developing the people and their communities.
Even the blind saw it and the deaf felt it. He did not
need to appoint any PR consultant or Lying Press
secretaries to peddle lies in the media about
invisible legacy projects.
Dee Sam Mbakwe, as he was fondly called by all,
provided good roads, clean drinkable water
everywhere and affordable quality medical care.
Even though the state capital was Owerri, he
constructed good roads with deep drainages in
major cities like Aba and Umuahia. He set a
standard which subsequent Governors refused to
emulate due to sheer greed and wickedness. And
he did not have the kind of billions these
Governors have been swimming in. Mbakwe gave
all Imo state University students bursary awards,
and Jim Nwobodo did same in Anambra. Workers
received their salaries promptly. Parents were
able to take charge in their homes. Business
boomed in Aba and Onitsha. People came from all
over Nigeria to buy goods from these markets. But
today Onitsha and Aba look like war zones with
horrific odours everywhere.
Since I999, the South East have been
bedevilled by heartless, blood thirsty, and the
worst breed of greedy Governors. They have
been ruling with high handedness, roguery,
and lies. It’s been a case of Me-my-mother-son
and family plc. You dare not raise your voice or
you pay with your own blood.
So, our helpless and almost castrated Igbo
men, who cannot challenge their Governors, go
about chanting things like “OBJ hates us, even
though his government paraded so many
ministers from Igboland, Hausas don’t like us
that’s why they killed us during the civil war,
oh, Yorubas loathe us, in fact they are all
tribalistic.” So what about your own blood,
your kith and kin in leadership positions? One
of you was Vice President Ekwueme, then
came your so called President Ebele Jonathan,
another is the SSG Anyim, Ngozi has been in
charge of the nation’s coffers for years yet
most of you have not been paid salaries in the
states since December, the Aviation Minister
until lately was Stella your own sister, what
has come out of all these?
They just served their pockets and not the
interest of the Igbos. Awolowo gave his tribe
free education and Fashola is doing the same
in Lagos. Now Igbo young men and women
have left their homes to come and work in
Lagos as house helps so that they could enjoy
free education. Abia state Governor sacked all
the civil servants and teachers in Abia who are
not Abia indigenes even though some are
married to husbands who live and trade in the
state. If it were a Yoruba Governor that did that
Igbo hypocrites, who dare not talk in their states,
would chant to high heavens about tribalism. Go
to that slum called computer village in Lagos and
you will see handsome but haggard-looking
unkempt young Igbo boys hanging around dirty
shops in the name of apprenticeship. They can
hardly finish a correct sentence in English.
The same Igboland that was reputed for thriving in
education no longer cares about it. You now have
to be a thug to a rogue politician, a Malaysian-
based drug pusher, or a 419ner with a base in
South Africa to make it as an Igboman. Courtesy of
our Governors. God will certainly reward these
thieving Governors. When you look at the map of
Nigeria and see the small area called South East
you can see that it would not cost much to develop
it. If only these Governors could use up to 50 per
cent of the allocations they collect monthly from
the federal government there would not be so
much poverty and deaths in Igboland. The biggest
industry in Igboland now is burials. People are
just dying of malaria and high blood pressure
because they cannot afford medical treatment and
they can’t afford even a meal a day. They all look
so malnourished and traumatised even though
they are not in a civil war.
The South East especially Abia state have
paraded the worst set of Governors in the
country since 1999 because these Governors
make a living out of rigging elections and
subverting the will of the people. Any state
INEC chief that comes is easily bought over
with hundreds of millions of the people’s fund
that’s how they keep perpetuating their
stooges in power after they have looted the
state treasury for eight years. They continue to
use their anointed and rigged-in stooges to
milk the state coffers. The South East have
never enjoyed democracy so their people keep
running and seeking a better life elsewhere in
Nigeria. So, why won’t the Oba of Lagos trample
upon them when their own blood are humiliating
and crushing them daily without blinking an eye?
Jessica Obioma, a multi media journalist, author,
publisher, TV and Radio host, is President of
Teenage Life Mission.

.

Issorite

Another igbo advise thread why do people like taking panadol for our headache

Another foolish talk!. How much has the APC in Lagos state paid you. Any blind person will see through all this sudden boom in the social media about ibos this and ibos thwt.
just because they wanted to win at all cost and had to even use treat to compel bpeople to vote for them. They are now using some jobless "ofe nmanu" that have a phone and internet but without brains to cause hate in the state and in Nigeria as a whole.
"All purposeless party" let peace rain in Nigeria! Leave the ibos along and give ur your promise of 1 dollar= 1 naira.
everyone is watching

Igbos need help seriously.

ozoigbondu:
Another igbo advise thread why do people like taking panadol for our headache

bros abeg no vex, u be yahoo boy? Becus e be like say u nor get any other work wey u dey do apart from surfing the net

philosopy:
Another foolish talk!. How much has the APC in Lagos state paid you. Any blind person will see through all this sudden boom in the social media about ibos this and ibos thwt.
just because they wanted to win at all cost and had to even use treat to compel bpeople to vote for them. They are now using some jobless "ofe nmanu" that have a phone and internet but without brains to cause hate in the state and in Nigeria as a whole.
"All purposeless party" let peace rain in Nigeria! Leave the ibos along and give ur your promise of 1 dollar= 1 naira.
everyone is watching

See your life....instead of attacking what she said ,you wasting your time on APC,

Attack the message, prove her wrong, tell her she is lying ...before we start think that you are the ofe nmanu

Disame igbo boiz will still cum hia and bash d op for saying the truth abt this unfortunate people call igbos..tell dem to go school dem no gree d bizness self dem dey join am wit rubbery and rituals sum na perfect 419ners...may God save Nigeria from igbos..no wonder dey call it Biafra

IGBO politics right from the beginning of time is straight foward it is open to any who so merits not the mago mago demicrazy you see in Nigeria today where you see stooges and godsons everywhere take for example anambara state Before now anambara was left to vagabonds to rule ie mbadinuju who is now in apc then came another vagabond nguge but we realized our mistakes and had to ti force him out and we put by ourselves P. Obi and now W.obianor is building on the foundations laid by his predecessor and now even if every other state is propsing salary cuts which Osun has not paid for six months we are acutally propsing salary increase
Nigerian politics and igbo politics can never be reconciled it is either you merit the office or you do not and no two ways about it no mago mago

mark my word, they won't disapprove the message but would rain insult on the OP

Texcoco:
Igbos don't need advice from a yoruba man especially APC yoruba for that matter...thanx but no thanx.

Did you not read her name....bro biko try and go to school.....she is igbo and she did not mention her party.....chinekeeeee...dis my pipple ennnnn

cocoduck:

IGBO politics right from the beginning of time is straight foward it is open to any who so merits not the mago mago demicrazy you see in Nigeria today where you see stooges and godsons everywhere take for example anambara state Before now anambara was left to vagabonds to rule ie mbadinuju who is now in apc then came another vagabond nguge but we realized our mistakes and had to ti force him out and we put by ourselves P. Obi and now W.obianor is building on the foundations laid by his predecessor and now even if every other state is propsing salary cuts which Osun has not paid for six months we are acutally propsing salary increase
Nigerian politics and igbo politics can never be reconciled it is either you merit the office or you do not and no two ways about it no mago mago

See lie lie boy...
So obiano is not obi's boy
Or theordor was not kalu's boy before he betrayed him( some people will still call yorubas betrayal ooo). ..see the mago mago wey dey for abia (inconclusive election) it is good to decieve yourself but don't try to do it to others

I did not know SE was as backward as described by the OP

ozoigbondu:
Another igbo advise thread why do people like taking panadol for our headache

Are you more igbotic than the author?

Quit this destination addiction. Read and think before making childish judgements.

You lots are more interested in what happens in Osun than in Abakaleke.

Can somebody in the house tell me any meaningful development she has done in her father's place.

Kai! People una see watin I de ......

But you know. .....

These educated illiterates should go and learn from Chimamanda Adichie.

jmoore:
These educated illiterates should go and learn from Chimamanda Adichie.

Meaning.... Just wondering

Jessica Obioma is educated yet so shortsighted and lacking in wisdom. The money spent on her education is wasted.

Her article is too voluminous and full of shyte, but I will just pick out a few of her vomitus and address.

pazienza:
Jessica Obioma is educated yet so shortsighted and lacking in wisdom. The money spent on her education is wasted.

Her article is too voluminous and full of shyte, but I will just pick out a few of her vomitus and address.

I love jare....attack the issue not the person

"The civil war ended many
decades ago. How did they sit back and allow a
few mean greedy and little-minded
kleptomaniacs from their own tribe reduce
them to a charity case in other lands"

Bad leadership and kleptomaniacs are symptoms of the disease called "one Nigeria", it has been ever present since the birth of "one Nigeria" in 1970, it is not an Igbo thing, it is a contagious disease that came to Igboland, no thanks to Igboland being part of "one Nigeria".

Tinubu, Obj, Ibori, Igbinedion, Alameisaigha, Atiku, Alao Akala, Ladoke etc. All these men have on thing in common, and they are not Igbo men.

Obioma is silly to make it seem like it's only Igboland that is plagued with bad leadership, like the rest of the country all have angels leading them.

What exactly does Obioma mean by Igbos being reduced to charity case in other lands?
Are Igbos in non Igbolands being fed by their hosts? are they being housed for free? Or given free education?

What exactly is that airhead of a woman talking about, or she just want to please her Yoruba boyfriends?

"South East
Governors to rob them of not only their means
of livelihood but also their right to live and
work in their home land? Once the enabling
environment is not there for you to thrive and
blossom you are forced to seek solace
elsewhere"

How exactly did SE east governors Rob Ndiigbo of our means of livelihood?

The East was ravaged and bombed into ruins by the civil war, and there after forced to now look unto Lagos for capital projects, as the government had been centralized by the civil war victors.

No special effort was made to rebuild the east, instead more and more money was being pumped into Lagos and North, as if the war took place there, no Federal institutions of note that could bring employment to the people was built in the East, everything was in Lagos and North.

In order to get to the cashflow, Ndiigbo were forced to move en mass to those areas the government was investing in, ie the North and Lagos, this was even taking place during the Mbakwe and Jim era. We were usually adventurous, but the aftermath of the civil war forced us to be even more adventurous.

And we were never charity case to anybody, we went to those places to conquer, make money and remit home, it's a model that has been working for us, until Nigeria is restructured.

"Some years back, a man called Sam Mbakwe as
Governor of Imo state showed selfless leadership
by making the welfare of the citizens a priority. He
was ready to suffer mockery in the hands of the
Shagari government, and was labelled the
“weeping Governor” because he was bent on
making sure his people were not denied their
entitlements. He spent the state resources on
developing the people and their communities.
Even the blind saw it and the deaf felt it. He did not
need to appoint any PR consultant or Lying Press
secretaries to peddle lies in the media about
invisible legacy projects.
Dee Sam Mbakwe, as he was fondly called by all,
provided good roads, clean drinkable water
everywhere and affordable quality medical care.
Even though the state capital was Owerri, he
constructed good roads with deep drainages in
major cities like Aba and Umuahia. He set a
standard which subsequent Governors refused to
emulate due to sheer greed and wickedness. And
he did not have the kind of billions these
Governors have been swimming in. Mbakwe gave
all Imo state University students bursary awards,
and Jim Nwobodo did same in Anambra. Workers
received their salaries promptly. Parents were
able to take charge in their homes. Business
boomed in Aba and Onitsha. People came from all
over Nigeria to buy goods from these markets. But
today Onitsha and Aba look like war zones with
horrific odours everywhere".


This woman is an airhead.
Even in the days of Mbakwe, Ndiigbo were migrating to all parts of Nigeria, there simply wasn't enough job back home for all us, the FG didn't make any effort to bring any real development to the region, and the coal industry was allowed to die.

Have this woman even been to Onitsha and Aba? I get the feeling that she is part of the Igbo Lagosians that hardly visit home, she is doing all she can to please her Yoruba friends on the social media.

Well, Onitsha and Aba are big commercial centres, and business over there is still booming, Aba is not as dirty as people portray it as. Onitsha is a neat town.

Aba is not the capital city of Abia state, Umuahia is, and Umuahia is a neat town with tarred roads and well swept streets, no city or town in the SW is neater than Umuahia and no SW state has a second town as big and developed as Aba, Aba is spread over five LGAs.
So, people can stop talking about Aba, like it's the seat of Abia state government, cos it isn't.


Where exactly, Obioma got the gist that Aba and Onitsha look like war zones with filth everywhere, only she knows. I have lived in Aba and I know Aba as a nice town, the government can do more for Aba, we all agree on that.

pazienza:
"South East
Governors to rob them of not only their means
of livelihood but also their right to live and
work in their home land? Once the enabling
environment is not there for you to thrive and
blossom you are forced to seek solace
elsewhere"

How exactly did SE east governors Rob Ndiigbo of our means of livelihood?

The East was ravaged and bombed into ruins by the civil war, and there after forced to now look unto Lagos for capital projects, as the government had been centralized by the civil war victors.

No special effort was made to rebuild the east, instead more and more money was being pumped into Lagos and North, as if the war took place there, no Federal institutions of note that could bring employment to the people was built in the East, everything was in Lagos and North.

In order to get to the cashflow, Ndiigbo was forced to move en mass to those areas the government was investing in, ie the North and Lagos, this was even taking place during the Mbakwe and Zik era. We were usually adventurous, but the aftermath of the civil war forced us to be even more adventurous.

And we were never charity case to anybody, we went to those places to conquer, make money and remit home, it's a model that has been working for us, until Nigeria is restructured.

If you guys like don't forge ahead, continue living in the 1960s. Una government no dey receive money from fg? Mstcheww

Since I999, the South East have been
bedevilled by heartless, blood thirsty, and the
worst breed of greedy Governors. They have
been ruling with high handedness, roguery,
and lies. It’s been a case of Me-my-mother-son
and family plc. You dare not raise your voice or
you pay with your own blood.
So, our helpless and almost castrated Igbo
men, who cannot challenge their Governors, go
about chanting things like “OBJ hates us, even
though his government paraded so many
ministers from Igboland, Hausas don’t like us
that’s why they killed us during the civil war,
oh, Yorubas loathe us, in fact they are all
tribalistic.”


This woman is silly, I mean she is severely mentally retarded.

I never knew that Tinubu with her senator wife, Godson Governors are all Igbos, I never knew that the Sarakis are all Igbos.

pazienza:
"The civil war ended many
decades ago. How did they sit back and allow a
few mean greedy and little-minded
kleptomaniacs from their own tribe reduce
them to a charity case in other lands"

Bad leadership and kleptomaniacs are symptoms of the disease called "one Nigeria", it has been ever present since the birth of "one Nigeria" in 1970, it is not an Igbo thing, it is a contagious disease that came to Igboland, no thanks to Igboland being part of "one Nigeria".

Tinubu, Obj, Ibori, Igbinedion, Alameisaigha, Atiku, Alao Akala, Ladoke etc. All these men have on thing in common, and they are not Igbo men.

Obioma is silly to make it seem like it's only Igboland that is plagued with bad leadership, like the rest of the country all have angels leading them.

What exactly does Obioma mean by Igbos being reduced to charity case in other lands?
Are Igbos in non Igbolands being fed by their hosts? are they being housed for free? Or given free education?

What exactly is that airhead of a woman talking about, or she just want to please her Yoruba boyfriends?

Tinubu is a bad leader yet he is taking Lagos to greater height.

"So what about your own blood,
your kith and kin in leadership positions? One
of you was Vice President Ekwueme, then
came your so called President Ebele Jonathan,
another is the SSG Anyim, Ngozi has been in
charge of the nation’s coffers for years yet
most of you have not been paid salaries in the
states since December, the Aviation Minister
until lately was Stella your own sister, what
has come out of all these?
They just served their pockets and not the
interest of the Igbos".

But you failed to tell us why the North and west hold on one Nigeria presidency and other juicy positions, have failed to liberate their people from hunger and extreme poverty that breeds almajiri, you failed to tell us how it has made their towns better than Ndiigbo towns, you failed to tell us how it has improved their literacy level or the living standards of their people or their life expectancy.

I guess your mentally retarded goat brain cells failed to realize that they, the people you are trying so hard to worship, are more guilty of neglecting their people and pursing , selfish agendas than Ndiigbo.

Buhari daughters are schooling in a UK university, how many of such universities did Buhari and his other silly one Nigeria leaders build for their people?

Nwanyi Iberibe ka ibu.

"Awolowo gave his tribe
free education and Fashola is doing the same
in Lagos. Now Igbo young men and women
have left their homes to come and work in
Lagos as house helps so that they could enjoy
free education".


Now I know that this woman truly needs a brain transplant surgery, even a turkey brain will be better than the one she currently has.

Awo and Zik pursued different education models, both have their pros and cons. But one thing is sure, Ndiigbo had never been behind Yorubas in education in Nigeria, not in the present, not in the past. And since the end justifies the means, I will say that Zik's model paid off.


Haha! So, Igbos left Igboland for Lagos just for the sake of free education? Is this Obioma of a woman even aware that Enugu primary and junior secondary school students have been on free education for more than five years now?

Even our neighbors Akwa Ibom have been on free education for a long time now, if an Igbo was going to migrate just for the sake of free education, wouldn't a clean aesthetic, less congested, beautiful and near Akwa ibom be a better destination to Lagos?

And mind you, Imo has been on free education even up to university level for sometime now.

Finally, I feel like I have wasted minutes of my life, replying a mentally retarded woman, but it's ok.

solapex:
Tinubu is a bad leader yet he is taking Lagos to greater height.

Lagos, by the virtue of the benefits and pecks she got as the commercial and political capital of Nigeria, is always going to be a centre of excellence, it has nothing to do with Tinubu who is by the way, busy lining his pocket with the Lagos treasury, Ibadan is managed by Tinubus anointed God son, but it is not a better city than Enugu, under the able leadership of Sullivan Chime, an independent leader.

ADAMUdaCOWBOY:

If you guys like don't forge ahead, continue living in the 1960s. Una government no dey receive money from fg? Mstcheww

And who said we are not forging ahead?

There is a thread about the beauty of Enugu on NL, search for it, and see for yourself the magnificent beauty of the Igbo capital city.