becomrich;:

Yes , this is how you measure development, if you have nothing , you hav are not developed, and the south west have nothing. Yorubas people are just been fool and some are been silly, because they have not been to oher part of nigeria. I have been to more than 24 states in nigeria. I have seen the other part of nigeria. Yorubas are far behind in developed. even satellite pictures shows it.

I think in the Nigerian context, there is a big difference between development and impoverishment.
The North relatively has more infrastructure but that didnt stop people from being impoverished.

yorubaland is the poorest in nigeria if you look at satellite pictures.

What you are looking for is good road, health care, airports and others.  This is how you measure development, and the north have more in good road, health care and airport than south or yorubaland. They are more developed. I would show you more pictures.

Yorubaland and the mid west is the worst in poverty in nigeria. The east is Ok from the satellite picture. They have better road than yorubaland and the Mid west.

Uche2nna for president !

Anecdotal evidences that Igbo in Lagos do not contribute to poverty in the SW:
1. Most Igbos in lagos are gainfully employed- industries, banks, fed govt employees, and hundreds of thousands self-employed. Alaba, Idumota, Balogun, ASPAMDA and Ladipo markets among others, are almost populated by Igbo traders
2. Few Igbos in Lagos are engaged in begging compared to the North and SW
3. Hundreds of thousands of Igbo in Lagos can afford to travel home during xmas. Only someone with some money in  his pocket can do so.

becomrich;:

.

What you are looking for is good road, health care, airports and others.  This is how you measure development, and the north have more in good road, health care and airport than south or yorubaland.

How about having a roof over your head, eating 3 square meals a day, provision of non-govt jobs, you know, standard of living ?

Becomerich, southerners have a higher standard of living than northerners. forget all these roads
and maps of yours.

[size=5pt]This is not to say there is no poverty in the south[/size]

One anecdotal evidence that lower poverty in Igboland is not a ruse:
Igbos abroad PROBABLY send more money home than others to the extent that a Yoruba Prof in the US recently announced that if the Biafra war had been fought 20 years later, Igbos in the US alone could have funded the war and it would have lasted longer than it did. These monies are sent to parents and relatives back home. I use myself as an example. I have a mom in the East and in this Xmas alone, I sent her 1000 USD; my other siblings all over the world do same too.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/dec/19/15.html
Nigerians in Diaspora remit $1.7bn home yearly
From Simeon Nwakaudu, Makurdi

NIGERIANS in the Diaspora remit over $1.7 billion yearly to family members and friends at home, an avenue of finance that can be exploited by the Federal Government for national development.



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This disclosure was made by Prof. Toyin Falola of the University of Texas, Austin, United States (U.S.), during a public lecture he delivered at the Benue State University, Makurdi on Thursday.

Speaking on the topic "Citizens at Home, Citizens Abroad and the Globalisation of Knowledge," Falola declared that Nigerians in the Diaspora make huge remittances that could be translated to the good of the nation annually.

Falola, who was invested with the Julius Nyerere Professorial Chair of Modern African History by the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Paul Akase Sorkaa, on the same day, disclosed that during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, he suggested the introduction of a Diaspora Tax for Nigerians abroad, especially in the West, as their contribution to national development.

However, he stated that such a tax might be impracticable because of the challenges of corruption and the application of resources that may accrue there from.

He said: "If the Nigerian Civil War had taken place 20 years after the time it took place, it would have lasted more than three years because the Igbo in United States alone can finance the entire civil war."

Falola noted that several countries of the world have taken advantage of their large Diaspora communities to finance development back home, saying that Nigeria should do the same.

He stated that the State of Israel came into being and was nurtured into the technological giant it is today through the financial contributions of its Diaspora community in the U.S.

Falola also cited the Philippines as a country where highly qualified nurses are trained and sent out to work in other countries and pay Diaspora taxes to their home country for its growth.

He regretted that in Africa, the situation is such that highly qualified professionals were trained only for them to migrate to other developed nations, due to harsh economic realities, where they contribute to strengthen the economies of their host countries.

The don stated that Africa lost 13 million of its citizens to the developed world through slavery, while the harsh economic realities of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) drove another 15 million to Western countries in the 1980s.

Falola said: "I am proposing the practical and academic integration of Africa with its Diaspora citizens in many ways that ideas, goods and people can freely circulate for the upliftment of all so that we can move to the centre of world history."

In his remarks, Prof. Sorkaa said the university was moving towards collaborating with the Nigerian intelligentsia in the Diaspora to develop a stronger academic environment that would help the nation.

Becomerich,

The UN estimated that Nigerians in the diaspora send $10 billion back home yearly.

Where do you think this money is going to - the North ?

maxell:

Uche2nna for president !

Maxell for VP    U go be my Jonathan  

becomrich;:

yorubaland is the poorest in nigeria if you look at satellite pictures.

What you are looking for is good road, health care, airports and others.  This is how you measure development, and the north have more in good road, health care and airport than south or yorubaland. They are more developed. I would show you more pictures.

I like ur Maps . They speak for volumes  
However, I believe that this thread is dealing with how "poor" the people of a region is rather than how may roads they have.
Going by infrastructure (Power, roads water) the North easily takes it for me in Nigeria as the most developed. However, the statistics of impoverishment tells a different story. There are more poor people living in the North than any other geographical region in Nigeria.

@sefago & co.the reason why puverty level seem to be low in southeast is because the wrong population census.inspite of the fact that southeasterners migrated enmasse you might not believe that population of southeast might still be the most dense in africa.the entire nigeria is almost evenly poor.

Abagworo:


the entire nigeria is almost evenly poor.

Haha. What a ridiculous statement to make.

That is not true. Northerner live better than southerner. The problem is southerner have never gone to the north. When I lived in the north, I did not want to return back to the south because what I got from the north, I cant find it in the south.
The roads are far better,
electricity is more stable.
Health care was free. Life in the north is better than the south 10 times. southerner live in poverty, mostly yoruba people. But the yorubas leader because of eguje cant speak out.


Now when you look at the satellite picture of Yorubaland in benin republic and nigeria. You would see yorubaland in Benin republic is better than Nigeria.

take example Abeokuta and one of the egba town in Benin republic.   Here is the road of this small egba town in benin republic, you would not find anywhere on satellite pictures in abeokuta . NOTHING EVEN ONE.


Second picture is sabe, you cant find any road in Oyo town or Saki or Iseyin  or ondo state that look like this. They dont have road,  most of the place I show you in the north are villages, you cant compare the north with yorubas.

yorubaland in benin republic

becomrich;:

The problem is southerner have never gone to the north.

Are U for real?  

Look at a small town in Igboland. You would never find sure a road in yorubaland because Yoruba leadership have fail to fight for thier people right.

Look Igbo send probiafra senators to abuja example senator Uche Chukwumerije ( head of the biafra propaganda machine. Look at the yoruba list, do you see anyone like senator Uche Chukwumerije on our list. Look at the igbo list of senators again. They did not go there with good looking senator and bleaching house of representative member. They send most ex biafra soldiers. go through thier list. Half of them are ex biafra soldier.  Ganiyu Adams should go to abuja in the next election.

I read  Ayodele Fayose is charge for murder or so, you send him to abuja. Those that can speak and you have to think twice before you cheat him , if he is been charge for murder. We look for the best people they can fear, not lady men and send them to abuja.

And the Yoruba list, On nairaland they show us the pictures , yorubas senators go there to sleep during senate meeting.

Look Igbo send probiafra senators to abuja example senator Uche Chukwumerije ( head of the biafra propaganda machine. Look at the yoruba list, do you see anyone like senator Uche Chukwumerije on our list. Look at the igbo list of senators again. They did not go there with good looking senator and bleaching house of representative member. They send most ex biafra soldiers. go through thier list. Half of them are ex biafra soldier. Ganiyu Adams should go to abuja in the next election.

hilarious

becomrich;:


Look Igbo send probiafra senators to abuja example senator Uche Chukwumerije ( head of the biafra propaganda machine. Look at the yoruba list, do you see anyone like senator Uche Chukwumerije on our list. Look at the igbo list of senators again. They did not go there with good looking senator and bleaching house of representative member. They send most ex biafra soldiers. go through thier list. Half of them are ex biafra soldier.  Ganiyu Adams should go to abuja in the next election.

I can see why u were u nominated for an award on NL
U see the funny side to everything

what is funny about that Ganiyu Adam  is better than those representing the yorubas in senate and house of representative.   Leadership is about speaking your people mind. Those in abuja representing yorubas have failed. And we need to replace them.  Ganiyu Adam went back to the university. So the Ganiyu Adams you know is different . You want someone who would fight for you. Not some contractor and fine face. And anybody would think tiwce when they look at Ganiyu adams.  That why the igbo send Uche Chukwumerije .  Ganiyu Adam has to represent Akoko area in the next election. We would do everything to make that possible.
While you send Asari Dokubo for the ijaw. And Asari Dokubo should also be ready to go to abuja. Ralph Uwazurike has to be there.

Look you , you dont send woman warper to abuja, you send real men to abuja.

Becomrich i'm sure you were sexually abused by your yoruba political science teacher in secondary school .did he use to tell you to find and catch his one eyed snake ?

edoyad:

Becomrich i'm sure you were sexually abused by your yoruba political science teacher in secondary school    .did he use to tell you to find and catch his one eyed snake  ? 

[size=18pt]*~*~MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE*~*~[/size]

edoyad:

Becomrich i'm sure you were sexually abused by your yoruba political science teacher in secondary school   .did he use to tell you to find and catch his one eyed snake  ?  

i think you meant social studies teacher. political science na varsity gramma  

Now compare yorubaland in Benin republic with Nigeria.

The first picture is oyo town, there is no tarred road , compare to a small yoruba town in Benin republic.  second picture.

sorry i meant government teacher. Stupid me, from his grammar and spelling you'll know he didn't pass JAMB

I have not presented any road from Abuja, and I do not want to show abuja in the pictures of the north. You cant find any sure road in yorubaland or the Mid west, There is nothing in yorubland and mid west.

More roads from the north

Other part of the north,

Other part of the north,

Other part of the north,

Other part of the north,

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=949296
Another set of data by other researchers: same result at least for the SE. Please download the PDF and read.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leadership (Abuja)

Nigeria:Northern Poverty - Whose Agenda?
Louis Achi
3 October 2009

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Abuja — With the 49th anniversary of Nigerian nationhood, one curious fact stands out like a sore thumb - the subsisting poverty of the northern region. This reality stands in sharp contrast to the fact that her sons have provided the leadership for the overwhelming majority of these 49 years. In terms of sheer landmass, Northern Nigeria equates Zimbabwe and South Africa combined. It has the agricultural capacity to feed West Africa. From mid last century, by its sheer size, weight, natural endowments and seeming astute brand of politics, it had dominated the rest of Nigeria. But without that mysterious chemistry of visionary leadership, the inherent promises, unfortunately for the region, are yet to be unlocked. - Successive observers have asked again; do the leaders of this land of promise have the interest of their people at heart? Various statistics have sharply dramatized the dismal lot of the north. In the past, political patronage had become almost the main source of wealth to the prominent players. But that era appears to have ended.

Can the North claim, or reclaim the 21st Century? Is this exotic patch of real estate, shadowed by Caliphal history, under a crisis of political thought or caged by the dilemma of a deformed leadership vision? The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the socio-political umbrella platform for articulation of Northern interests, is unlikely to concede that an atrophy of vision exists. Some theorists posit that some of the human crises, often contrived, tearing at the soul of many Northern geo-political zones have linkages to a loss of faith and increasing self-doubt. They may have a point here. The North Central zone with its political capital located in Plateau State has witnessed extra-ordinarily virulent break-down in human-communal relations. This has expressed itself in the unending blood-letting in the area. The bloody Boko Haram episode only shores up this theory. These internecine crises have translated to a extreme human underdevelopment and pervasive poverty, in themselves, a ticking time bomb which needs to be diffused.

At press time, much of the Northern landscape is a human canvass seething with poverty and multi-hued hued crises. In a few cases, candles have been lighted in the stark darkness of want and ignorance by a few progressive governors. But this pales into insignificance given the scope of intervention needed urgently. Calculations on Northern potentials show they can be exporting dairy products cereals and more. The groundnut pyramids are now text book history. Contrast this with the North of the 1960s. In terms of sheer agricultural production, it lacked a match in Nigeria. Subsequently, industries were a vibrant feature of the region. Of course add the assured grip on political power and the picture of power elite in total control is complete.

Just before former President Olusegun Obasanjo handed over power to Presidnt Umaru Yar'Adua about three years ago, almost the only project closest to the heart of the North was the re-taking of political power. The Machiavelian intrigues surrounding that mission then became the major industry embracing the waking dreams of Arewa land. An ironical question then was to what purpose was the North scheming to retake political power? This poser derived its legitimacy against the background of the fact that since Nigeria's political independence from Britain, the military, alternating with the civilian wing of the Northern political intelligentsia, had held power longest.

According to analysts, the tragedy of the scenario was that they have little to show for this political privilege. In terms of human development: industrially, educationally and in other key areas, Southern Nigeria simply out-paces the North. Is or was there a Northern elite conspiracy to subjugate its own people - to what end and for whose benefit? The compelling scenario was apparently clear: Northern Nigeria is nothing without political power. It could be recalled that former military supremo, General Ibrahim Babangida made some efforts to reclaim power before tactically standing down for Yar'Adua.

He has been there before and despite his creative administrative energy and economic strategies, his people are still hungry. Does he have any fresh blue-print to rescue his people, or Nigeria? General Muhhamadu Buhari, no doubt a principled politician, had been there before too, yet the North remains disadvantaged compared to the South. The other personalities who are eyeing political power include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who has made it clear he would run again come 2011. It also not clear what an Atiku presidency would achieve, particularly for the North.

There are also governors, many of who would have matured for the big job in 2011. Can they develop the North? A theory holds that in the case of Babangida, he wants to make good, for the sake of the judgment of history. In the case of Buhari, something of an outsider from the mainstream Northern political intelligentsia, his group belongs to the more radical Northern fringe. Many are tempted to believe this group could provide a different kind of progressive leadership. But these remain firmly in the realm of speculations.

With the ascendancy of Yar'Adua to the presidency, with the sole anointment of a southerner, Obasanjo, the big question is what next for the North? In his now famous 7-point agenda for Nigeria, is there a Marshall Plan-type bail-out for the North. This is unclear. But the few years ahead will clarify the foggy development future of the North.

In recent times, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has shifted blame for the cause of the poverty searing the soul of Northern Nigeria to the national leadership provided by southerners. Not to be outdone, chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State took a swipe at northern emirs as the forces that fuel poverty and corruption in the region. Beyond the unseemly buck-passing, LOUIS ACHI ex-rays the emerging controversy which has provided much heat but little light in leveraging the lot of the region

Just before President Umaru Yar'Adua jetted out to Saudi Arabia on 'a state function', there were indications of a resolution by leaders from Northern Nigeria to meet him on the need to address rising poverty in the area. Chairman, Northern Union (NU) and former Senate President, Dr. Olusola Saraki, who disclosed this in Ilorin, Kwara State, said the northern elites would have failed in their duty to the people if they do not cut down on poverty in the region.

According to the old political warhorse, "Our present concern in the Northern Union is how to address the high rate of poverty among our people in the North. The former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (Chukwuma) Soludo, said the population of those afflicted with poverty is mainly from the North. He said 79.3 per cent of the entire population of the less privileged Nigerians is from the North.

"In view of this, I think the awareness on education for the group, of persons, is very important. We are not talking of Ph.D. or being a doctor or a lawyer but we are taking of basic education. Today, all over the world, there is nothing you can achieve without education."

Saraki's homily sounds like a familiar mantra from the leading lights of the northern region. But there is more.

The Emerging Controversy

Recently, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) charged that the North was made poorer by Southern leaders even as some leaders in the South believe President Umar Yar'Adua is giving plum ministerial appointments to members at the expense of government. National Publicity Secretary of ACF, Anthony N.Z. Sani, told a national daily that the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo had an Economic Team that was dominated by Southerners.

In Sani's words: "It is worth repeating that but for the overwhelming politics of identity espoused by elbow-throwing grievance groups who toil day and night for government preferment, the North had always maintained that, in issues of leadership, it does not matter whether the cat is black and white, brown or spotted so long as it can catch the rats. That may explain why, except the late Wada Nas, the North said nothing when the last regime skewed the economic team and consigned all the named portfolios, save defence, to the South.

"Currently, Nigeria, particularly the North, carts home gold medals in misery indices and brings up the rear on the human development index. Which means to reverse the trend, the nation needs a new game plan under the watch of a capable, knowledgeable team, with the political will to make what is desirable possible and actual. This should not depend on where the team members come from as long as provisions of the Constitution have been adhered to. In any case, there is no wisdom in promoting the notion that all the ministries are equal but some are more equal than others."

Sani's tongue-in-cheek reference to the North carting "home gold medals in misery indices and bringing up the rear in human development index." represented an indictment of the 8-year presidency of the Obasanjo administration, a southerner. It is also a slap on the wrist for Yar'Adua almost 3-year allegedly lack-lustre administration. But a dissonance in Sani's position could be linked to the fact that out of the 49 years of post-independence Nigeria the north has held power for the majority of years, excluding Obasanjo's 8-year stint.

Notes Zayyad I. Muhammad, a public affairs analyst "The ironies of this phenomenon are that for the four and a half decades of the existence of present-day Nigeria, the north is proud of producing top class politicians, senior military and paramilitary officers, renowned scholars, respected traditional rulers and bourgeoisies. These coupled with thirty-six year access to national resources and political power, vast and most fertile agricultural land of Nigeria, having enormous population; economically-wide-spread water resources and patient commoners, but the region is economically and educationally left behind and indeed greater majority of northerners cannot today compete with others in a plain playing field in Nigeria, not even talking of the fast changing world, which Nigeria herself is a mere spectator."

There are still other dimensions to the controversy generated by the debate on North's poverty. It was the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Chukwuma Soludo, stated clearly that the "high and persisting level of poverty in the country is a northern phenomenon." Soludo who spoke at the Arewa Inspirational Leadership Forum, organized by the Northern Development Initiative [NDI] in Kaduna, argued that the poverty gap between the south and the north seems to be widening.

The CBN boss then put the blame for the problem squarely on the northern elite who he said were not doing much to improve their environment. According to him, for Nigeria to become a world leader in 2020, every part of the country must be developed simultaneously in accordance with the resources accruing to such area.

Deploying his verve for empirical evidence, Soludo said that there is no state in the north with less than 60 per cent poverty level even as the North-West geopolitical zone has some states with 90 per cent poverty level. According to him, both the north-central and the north-east geo-political zones are better than the north-west in terms of poverty level.

Educationally, he said that the north was seriously lagging behind the south as students who seek admission from Imo state in one year for example, are higher in number than 16 states in the north put together.

The CBN boss had noted that about 100, 000 students sought admission to universities through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board [JAMB] while 16 states in the north excluding Benue, Kogi and Kwara, had about 73, 000 candidates even as Kano state, with a very high population, had less than 10 per cent of candidates from Imo.

His words, "There is probably no better time for us to declare, if you like, I don't want to call it an emergency, but to say that we really need to focus attention on the northern economy. "I say this because if you look at the entire country, by the last census, if you put the entire north together, it constitutes over 50 per cent or thereabout, a higher percentage of people because development is about people.

"But if you look at all the indications of development, what constitutes today the North seems to be lagging far behind that the gaps seem to have even widened.

"And therefore, I must say that this is the time for us all to think together that while we are planning for the national economy and working to reduce poverty and to make sure that Nigeria becomes one of the fastest growing and one of the 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020, we must also pay attention to one major thing and that is that we must not leave a significant proportion of the population behind".

Soludo's alarming assessment of poverty in Nigeria further revealed that 'very high level of poverty is essentially a northern phenomenon' and the results showed that Jigawa state top the list with 95% high incidence of poverty, followed by Kebbi with 89.7%, Kogi 88.6%, Bauchi 86.3%, Kwara 85.2%, Yobe 83.3% Zamfara 80.9 % Gombe 77%, Sokoto 76.8% and Adamawa 71.7%, the truth is, this gloomy picture has indeed portrayed the leadership in the north in a bad light.

Concluded the CBN boss, "Poverty is unacceptable in Nigeria, but a high and persisting level of poverty in Nigeria happens to be essentially a northern phenomenon. In the North, there is no state with a poverty level less than 60 per cent."

If Soludo thought he had finally pinned down the core cause of the poverty in the North, another increasingly important voice in the North weighed into the debate with perhaps the most controversial accusation. Firing a curious salvo, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, also chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF) pointedly accused the northern emirs as the causes of the region's economic backwardness and abject poverty.

Addressing a one-day symposium on Poverty Eradication in Northern States, organised by the Niger State Community of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Gov Aliyu, who put the average poverty rate in the region at 71 percent, noted that traditional rulers in the country, particularly in Northern region, are corrupt, support corruption and have lost the respect and moral authority to correct their subjects.

The governor insisted that the respect and reverence "hitherto enjoyed by the traditional institution in the region have been lost as the elders who are supposed to be custodians of wisdom and moral values have jettisoned their responsibilities respecting only materialism.

His words: "Indeed, we can extrapolate this to include the traditional institutions that many of us have grown to respect and which have unfortunately turned into acquisition of wealth, respecting and honouring thieves and armed robbers, conferring titles on those who should be discredited, thus casting a shadow on the integrity and moral authority of the traditional institutions."

A clearly angry chairman of Northern Governor's Forum lamented that "It is sad to note that our royal fathers who used to be highly respected and above board, who could summon their subjects to explain their sources of wealth no longer have the moral authority to do so.

"In fact, a traditional ruler is not supposed to be afraid of his subjects and it is part of his responsibility to ensure that any of his subjects whose source of sudden wealth is questionable is sanctioned and declared pariah so that everybody begins to respect hard work, dignity of labour and respect for constituted authority." Arguing that the abject poverty suffered in the region was due to poor leadership, he held that with good and purposeful leadership and accountability, the North would be free from the shackles of poverty.

Although Governor Aliyu, at the height of the controversy generated by his missile attempted to back-track, his point had been pungently made
But from the ranks of the sedate northern traditional establishment came a stern rebuttal of Governor Aliyu's claim. According to scion of Sokoto Caliphate and Sarkin Sudan of Wurno, Alhaji Shehu Malami, many northern governors deserved to be crucified. After a brief comparison between the resources at the disposal of the two leadership groups - governors and traditional institutions, Alhaji Shehu Malami concluded that a lot of the governors "deserve to be crucified." He further argued that it is "those governors who have had so much public money in their care that have nothing to show for their care of the North. Babangida will in due course get appropriate responses from those who care for and appreciate then role of the traditional institutions."

From the arguments so far, it is clear the unfolding debate is unlikely to die out anytime soon. But all the camps can benefit from the insight of the stoic philosopher, Epictetus that "man is adequate cause of his own destiny." So is Northern Nigeria!.

That is non sense written, The cry about poverty in the north is nonsense. When you look and been to the north it is propaganda.

Here are more pictures of the north

I would not show a 1 picture of abuja, the north is the most develop part of Nigeria.