Before the discovery of oil Nigeria depended on non-oil mineral resources. The economy was good and the citizens were generally happy. But in the 1970s oil came to replace the other mineral resources and the consequent abandonment of the others to the detriment of Nigerians who were engaged in the various sectors utilizing natural resources. One of such negative effects of dependence on oil
was the neglect of coal mining, which dealt a
devastating blow on the Nigerian Coal Corporation
(NCC). In Enugu where coal deposits were in abundance
and served as money-spinner for the Government,
the neglect is today evident as the vast coal mine
now lies waste.

continue reading.
--------------------http://sunnewsonline.com/new/coal-mining-fg-destroyed-enugu-money-spinning-empire/

If this coal were to be in kaduna or lagos by now it would have been developed.
Had it been that this coal can be gasified we would have sold it to the countries who are in need of it to power their plants,china,malaysia,indonesia e.t.c are all looking for countries ready to sell coal to them.

it was deliberately abandoned to make sure the east do not experience any form of massive development.

even threads on coal does not make front page and are easily taken off from first page of politics section

bonechamberlain:
it was deliberately abandoned to make sure the east do not experience any form of massive development.

It would do a lot of good if Igbos stop all these kind of paranoid reasoning. Is the coal in SE the only natural resource that was abandoned by govt after crude oil was discovered? .... Is coal in Enugu the only mineral resource in Nigeria? .... If your answer is NO, so tell me which other resource has not also been abandoned?.... Why must we always have to make it look like a problem suffered by ONLY Igbos?... This keeps getting more and more irritating.

This sort of senseless paranoid reasoning that everyone is just out to hurt the Igbos is not only backwards, it is also very counterproductive. We need to stop this!

obailala:
It would do a lot of good if Igbos stop all these kind of paranoid reasoning. Is the coal in SE the only natural resource that was abandoned by govt after crude oil was discovered? .... Is coal in Enugu the only mineral resource in Nigeria? .... If your answer is NO, so tell me which other resource has not also been abandoned?.... Why must we always have to make it look like a problem suffered by ONLY Igbos?... This keeps getting more and more irritating.

This sort of senseless paranoid reasoning that everyone is just out to hurt the Igbos is not only backwards, it is also very counterproductive. We need to stop this!

oga there is a deliberate attempt to undermine any massive development in the south east by every successive fed govt.. can u list any fed gov developmental establishment in the south east. even the Akanu ibiam airport was built by a joint fed and state govt contributions, which up till now it isn't complete, so I see the abandoned coal as one of the grand scheme.

bonechamberlain:


oga there is a deliberate attempt to undermine any massive development in the south east by every successive fed govt.. can u list any fed gov developmental establishment in the south east. even the Akanu ibiam airport was built by a joint fed and state govt contributions, which up till now it isn't complete, so I see the abandoned coal as one of the grand scheme.

Bro, let me correct your statement... "There is a deliberate attempt to undermine any massive development in ALL THE ZONES OF NIGERIA by every successive fed govt."

Can you kindly list any major fed gov developmental establishment in the SS or SW or NC or any other zone at all?.... You complain of Akanu Ibiam airport, but this inbuilt bias and myopia will never let you see that the only 2 reasonable airports in Nigeria are the Abuja and Lagos airports (and the reasons are obvious).... When will Igbos ever be able to open their eyes, put aside the paranoia and persecution complex and see that this injustice is equally suffered by every other zone?....

The north has been ruling Nigeria for ages yet their zones still remain the most backwards; OBJ ruled for over 8 years but that did not in any way affect the general fortunes of his region. When would the generality of Igbos open their eyes and see that the problem is purely a problem of bad leadership (rich vs poor) and never has it been a case of zone A vs zone B?... and of course, minus the position of president, is there any other position Igbos have not occupied?.... Any discerning mind can see that the problem is a problem of successive bad leadership and Igbos are not in any way exempted from this blame.

Growing up as an Igbo child, I was raised to believe this great misconception that the rest of Nigeria is ganging up against Igbos but growing up and asking the right questions, I realised that that is just a convenient excuse from Igbo leaders for their ineptitude and greed.

For any single FG establishment which has collapsed in the SE, can you kindly point out to a similar FG establishment in ANY OTHER ZONE which is functional?... Who does not know that Nigerian leaders have been successively bad and who does not know that FG establishments (all zones) have all crumbled due to bad leadership?.... Why do we keep deceiving ourselves that this is strictly a SE problem?

... How the Igbos in their wisdom cannot see through this age long simple lie (about FG targeting only the SE) is something that completely baffles me.

obailala:
Bro, let me correct your statement... "There is a deliberate attempt to undermine any massive development in ALL THE ZONES OF NIGERIA by every successive fed govt."

Can you kindly list any major fed gov developmental establishment in the SS or SW or NC or any other zone at all?.... You complain of Akanu Ibiam airport, but this inbuilt bias and myopia will never let you see that the only 2 reasonable airports in Nigeria are the Abuja and Lagos airports (and the reasons are obvious).... When will Igbos ever be able to open their eyes, put aside the paranoia and persecution complex and see that this injustice is equally suffered by every other zone?....

The north has been ruling Nigeria for ages yet their zones still remain the most backwards; OBJ ruled for over 8 years but that did not in any way affect the general fortunes of his region. When would the generality of Igbos open their eyes and see that the problem is purely a problem of bad leadership (rich vs poor) and never has it been a case of zone A vs zone B?... and of course, minus the position of president, is there any other position Igbos have not occupied?.... Any discerning mind can see that the problem is a problem of successive bad leadership and Igbos are not in any way exempted from this blame.

Growing up as an Igbo child, I was raised to believe this great misconception that the rest of Nigeria is ganging up against Igbos but growing up and asking the right questions, I realised that that is just a convenient excuse from Igbo leaders for their ineptitude and greed.

For any single FG establishment which has collapsed in the SE, can you kindly point out to a similar FG establishment in ANY OTHER ZONE which is functional?... Who does not know that Nigerian leaders have been successively bad and who does not know that FG establishments (all zones) have all crumbled due to bad leadership?.... Why do we keep deceiving ourselves that this is strictly a SE problem?

... How the Igbos in their wisdom cannot see through this age long simple lie (about FG targeting only the SE) is something that completely baffles me.

let me ask you why we have only two reasonable airport in the north and west, non in the east and the so called south south.

if u have been to the north before u would think that bad roads were meant for the east. haven't you heard that 80% of northerners control oil wells in this godforsaken country, where do those money go to, it goes back to the north. they use the wealth to build industries in the north remember the northerners are agrarian in nature hence their major products are agriculture which they use very effectively, almost serving the whole Nigeria. as they get the largest share of fertilizer being distributed by the fed govt yearly.

have u ever wondered why most rich easterners prefer their business abroad, cause if they tried setting it up in the east its either one govt comes and kills the business or license would be given to another person to import that same product.

the easterners are good in technology and business, now tell me why u don't find any meaningful invention from the east, even if you find the govt would close their eyes and ears and pretend it doesn't exist. even the business is as result of resilience and hardworking nature of the easterners that they manage to succeed.

the west are good in commerce, and they are doing very fine in it, that's why all easterners are rushing there, you should know better..

the south south as u know has almost all the big players in the oil industry in their region.

north - 80% of food you and I eat are produced there, as a result of continuous pumping of funds by the fg to buy fertilizers and support farmers which they benefit largely.
south south- the oil zone. no virus explanation

west - center of commerce , two sea ports, two airports, home to the HQ of all major companies in Nigeria, large presence of industries and other fg assisted projects,

east - trading and business.

u can see for urself.

note : I only listed what these regions enjoy the most as a result of fg assistance. if I start listing all fg projects in each region I might develop headache .

finniblinks:
Before the discovery of oil Nigeria depended on non-oil mineral resources. The economy was good and the citizens were generally happy. But in the 1970s oil came to replace the other mineral resources and the consequent abandonment of the others to the detriment of Nigerians who were engaged in the various sectors utilizing natural resources. One of such negative effects of dependence on oil
was the neglect of coal mining, which dealt a
devastating blow on the Nigerian Coal Corporation
(NCC). In Enugu where coal deposits were in abundance
and served as money-spinner for the Government,
the neglect is today evident as the vast coal mine
now lies waste.

In the end, their wickedness only served to preserve the coal for use in the independent state of Biafra and also provided a reference point to the wickedness of Nigeria against its owned supposed citizens.

bonechamberlain:


let me ask you why we have only two reasonable airport in the north and west, non in the east and the so called south south.

The answer to this is very simple, Abuja is the FCT and Lagos was the former FCT. Lagos is also the economic capital of Nigeria and I can assure you that with or without the FG, the airport in Lagos will still function as a matter of necessity. The ineptitude of successive federal governments is the reason the other airports in Nigeria are dead, it's not because of any regional witch hunting as a lot of we Igbos have been raised/deceived to believe.

bonechamberlain:

if u have been to the north before u would think that bad roads were meant for the east.

There is no argument that the SE roads have been neglected greatly by successive administrations. But something you need to have in mind is the dry climate of the north vs the wet south; roads built in the north are bound to last much much longer than roads in the south, this is simple engineering.

Another thing you need to ask is what south eastern leaders have been doing regarding the roads in the SE. You may want to argue with me on this but I can assure you that south eastern leaders have a very large part of the blame for the bad nature of the roads in the zone. It is not once that we've heard of contractors abandoning projects and I can assure you that an hausa contractor cannot abandon a road project in the SE without the ACTIVE connivance with SE leaders. Now I'm sure you must have heard of a 'massive' man called Iwuanyanwu and his Hardel and Enic construction company?... I wouldn't want to start giving you gory tales of what that single man and his companies have done in terms of abandoned and substandard road projects in the SE. One of such examples is the Obinze-Ihiagwa-Naze federal road, I schooled in FUTO so this road was one road that mattered to my life for over 6 years; I really wouldn't want to go into details. Are you also aware that Iwuanyanwu was the chairman of FERMA for several years?.... What exactly did he use his position to achieve for the SE zone if not for enriching himself?... The last time I checked, Chief Iwuanyanwu is not a Yoruba or Hausa man.

Another factor I would like to point out still borders on the ineptitude of Igbo leaders. A systematic way in which states have attracted federal road projects to their states is by constructing FG roads with state funds and then getting a refund from the FG. Some of the last payments made by the past government of GEj just before May 29th was a refund to states for FG roads constructed with state funds. Do you know something depressing?... There was not a single SE government that built a federal road, hence the SE could not benefit from this systematic approach. A particular road which was dear to my heart is the PH-Owerri road; the only good stretch of this road is the Rivers state axis which was built by Amaechi and guess what?.. even though Amaechi had a running battle with GEJ, GEj made sure he refunded that money spent to the RVSG. Now tell me, is it the hausas or yorubas that stopped imo stage government from fixing the Imo axis?..... Is it the hausas or yorubas that stopped other Igbo governors from building more federal roads?..... Recently, Buhari has been invited by the Cross Rivers state govt to kickstart the construction of the Calabar - Katsina Ala (Benue) 260km federal road. Very soon that road wwill be completed and the state will be refunded and there would be another lamentaion that the FG is avoiding thhe fixing of federal roads in the SE. Are our leaders in the SE imbeciles?... If only NNamdi Kanu and his ipob can chanel their charismatic movement to knock eastern governors (irrespective of party) to order, that would have been beneficial and I would have supported IPOB wholeheartedly, but instead, they choose to place the blame on yoruba and hausa leaders (who are obviously fighting for their own people's welfare).

bonechamberlain:


haven't you heard that 80% of northerners control oil wells in this godforsaken country, where do those money go to, it goes back to the north. they use the wealth to build industries in the north remember the northerners are agrarian in nature hence their major products are agriculture which they use very effectively, almost serving the whole Nigeria. as they get the largest share of fertilizer being distributed by the fed govt yearly.

The story of northerners owning 80% of oil wells in Nigeria is trash, a lie from the pit of hell which has been disproved severally on this forum, the list of owners is in circulation, google is your friend. The ownership of oil wells is spread across the different tribes and zones, especially the 3 main big tribes. As a matter of fact, the only group which is 'a bit' cheated in the ownership of oil wells is the SS which owns the oil. Enough of peddling this lie/propaganda to incite hatred.

As for fertilizer distribution, it is a known fact, the northerners are more into farming than any other regions in Nigeria. Do you expect fertilisers to be shared based on federal character or state quota too?... This is common sense.

bonechamberlain:

have u ever wondered why most rich easterners prefer their business abroad, cause if they tried setting it up in the east its either one govt comes and kills the business or license would be given to another person to import that same product.

the easterners are good in technology and business, now tell me why u don't find any meaningful invention from the east, even if you find the govt would close their eyes and ears and pretend it doesn't exist. even the business is as result of resilience and hardworking nature of the easterners that they manage to succeed.

There is a reason why south easterners are referred to as Jews, it is in our culture to travel and we will always travel for business. Igbos have been travelling far and wide and making foreign lands their homes long before 1960. So please are you also attributing the travelling of Igbos to economic oppresion of successive hausa/yoruba governments against the SE?... Please this is exactly why I say we must emancipate ourselves from this mental slavery; oh yeas, the captivity we suffer from is only in the mind and until we emancipate ourselves, we will not be free from such paranoid 'persecution complex' reasonings.

bonechamberlain:

note : I only listed what these regions enjoy the most as a result of fg assistance. if I start listing all fg projects in each region I might develop headache .

Please list a few of the completed major federal government projects in these other zones that are not in the SE.... and please do not include Lagos or Abuja in your list, those cities are not your regular regional cities.

In summary, my comment was only meant to address the general belief that the enugu coal mines were allowed to collapse because the FG wanted to frustrate the south eastern economy, all I have to say is that this is one lie too many, this is one lie that I have lived with all my life and this is one lie that any discerning person who can break himself free from the mental slavery would be able to sniff out easily cos it is very clear.

obailala:

The answer to this is very simple, Abuja is the FCT and Lagos was the former FCT. Lagos is also the economic capital of Nigeria and I can assure you that with or without the FG, the airport in Lagos will still function as a matter of necessity. The ineptitude of successive federal governments is the reason the other airports in Nigeria are dead, it's not because of any regional witch hunting as a lot of we Igbos have been raised/deceived to believe.


There is no argument that the SE roads have been neglected greatly by successive administrations. But something you need to have in mind is the dry climate of the north vs the wet south; roads built in the north are bound to last much much longer than roads in the south, this is simple engineering.

Another thing you need to ask is what south eastern leaders have been doing regarding the roads in the SE. You may want to argue with me on this but I can assure you that south eastern leaders have a very large part of the blame for the bad nature of the roads in the zone. It is not once that we've heard of contractors abandoning projects and I can assure you that an hausa contractor cannot abandon a road project in the SE without the ACTIVE connivance with SE leaders. Now I'm sure you must have heard of a 'massive' man called Iwuanyanwu and his Hardel and Enic construction company?... I wouldn't want to start giving you gory tales of what that single man and his companies have done in terms of abandoned and substandard road projects in the SE. One of such examples is the Obinze-Ihiagwa-Naze federal road, I schooled in FUTO so this road was one road that mattered to my life for over 6 years; I really wouldn't want to go into details. Are you also aware that Iwuanyanwu was the chairman of FERMA for several years?.... What exactly did he use his position to achieve for the SE zone if not for enriching himself?... The last time I checked, Chief Iwuanyanwu is not a Yoruba or Hausa man.

Another factor I would like to point out still borders on the ineptitude of Igbo leaders. A systematic way in which states have attracted federal road projects to their states is by constructing FG roads with state funds and then getting a refund from the FG. Some of the last payments made by the past government of GEj just before May 29th was a refund to states for FG roads constructed with state funds. Do you know something depressing?... There was not a single SE government that built a federal road, hence the SE could not benefit from this systematic approach. A particular road which was dear to my heart is the PH-Owerri road; the only good stretch of this road is the Rivers state axis which was built by Amaechi and guess what?.. even though Amaechi had a running battle with GEJ, GEj made sure he refunded that money spent to the RVSG. Now tell me, is it the hausas or yorubas that stopped imo stage government from fixing the Imo axis?..... Is it the hausas or yorubas that stopped other Igbo governors from building more federal roads?..... Recently, Buhari has been invited by the Cross Rivers state govt to kickstart the construction of the Calabar - Katsina Ala (Benue) 260km federal road. Very soon that road wwill be completed and the state will be refunded and there would be another lamentaion that the FG is avoiding thhe fixing of federal roads in the SE. Are our leaders in the SE imbeciles?... If only NNamdi Kanu and his ipob can chanel their charismatic movement to knock eastern governors (irrespective of party) to order, that would have been beneficial and I would have supported IPOB wholeheartedly, but instead, they choose to place the blame on yoruba and hausa leaders (who are obviously fighting for their own people's welfare).


The story of northerners owning 80% of oil wells in Nigeria is trash, a lie from the pit of hell which has been disproved severally on this forum, the list of owners is in circulation, google is your friend. The ownership of oil wells is spread across the different tribes and zones, especially the 3 main big tribes. As a matter of fact, the only group which is 'a bit' cheated in the ownership of oil wells is the SS which owns the oil. Enough of peddling this lie/propaganda to incite hatred.

As for fertilizer distribution, it is a known fact, the northerners are more into farming than any other regions in Nigeria. Do you expect fertilisers to be shared based on federal character or state quota too?... This is common sense.


There is a reason why south easterners are referred to as Jews, it is in our culture to travel and we will always travel for business. Igbos have been travelling far and wide and making foreign lands their homes long before 1960. So please are you also attributing the travelling of Igbos to economic oppresion of successive hausa/yoruba governments against the SE?... Please this is exactly why I say we must emancipate ourselves from this mental slavery; oh yeas, the captivity we suffer from is only in the mind and until we emancipate ourselves, we will not be free from such paranoid 'persecution complex' reasonings.

Please list a few of the completed major federal government projects in these other zones that are not in the SE.... and please do not include Lagos or Abuja in your list, those cities are not your regular regional cities.

In summary, my comment was only meant to address the general belief that the enugu coal mines were allowed to collapse because the FG wanted to frustrate the south eastern economy, all I have to say is that this is one lie too many, this is one lie that I have lived with all my life and this is one lie that any discerning person who can break himself free from the mental slavery would be able to sniff out easily cos it is very clear.

Bro what a brilliant writeup I'll always tell my igbo brodas to stop this marginalisation myopia... Nigerians are marginalised by our elites which we must come together to fight against or demand good governance from them

Federal government should not dare touch Enugu coal. Do you want them to pollute Enugu land with nothing to show for it like Niger Delta? Only under Biafra will coal mining resume for our benefit only not with yorubas and hausas.

@Obailala you couldn't have said it better.
Our people are so myopic and always blame the hausa's and yoruba's for our misfortunes whilst our major problems is the greed of our fellow igbo leaders.
IPOB isn't the answer because these same set of greedy igbo leaders will still lead.
ALL our eastern governors are very greedy and do not really care about the people they lead.

I wonder how that Iwuanyanwu sleeps at night. I attended Futo too and everyday I pass that road for years I spent in school I curse that man and the successive Imo governors.