shervydman:

if u carefully read the post....it is stated that majority of the spectators are ibomites, most of them don't need to lodge in a hotel. only the opponent team will be lodged. unless Nigeria is hosting a competition, it is not generating anything compared to the amount spent on the stadium.

it is not even an ultra modern sport complex....WTF!

Pure lies. Which ibomites are you talking about? The spectors are drawn from abia, Anambra, enugu, porthartcourt, cross river, IMO state and from other parts of the country.

Stadium are built to stand the taste of time, you wont expect immediate ROI because they are capital intensive, the Governor has to play the right kind of politics that is obtained in Nigeria before this Grade A matches can be brought down to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
You cant say that there is no economic benefit because I know what was obtained in Calabar whenever Super Eagles were in town.
How did you get your stats correctly to know that the vast majority of spectators were residents of the State.
Let me analyse a bit for you, Supporters Club from both side, NFF Technical Committee, CAF Officials, FIFA Technical Team, Referee and Match officials, State FA officials from other State of the federation, Club-side Coaches, Professional footballers, ex-International players.
Die hard football fan all the Country. How about those guys that sales branded Items outside the stadium, how about the exposure, can you pay for such massive publicity on TV and media?
lets try to look at the good side of thing not only negative criticism.

Blue3k:


Source: http://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2017/09/02/the-opportunity-cost-of-the-godswill-akpabio-international-stadium-by-inibehe-effiong/

Front Page: Lalasticlala

That stadium is doing a lot of good PR for naija. Just like the English premiership does a lot of PR for the U.K. .

All the previous military governments prior to attah and akapbio did nothing but steal and loot d state.

At least it's a step in the right direction since it's for public consumption.

If u go London Dubai u will see dat they r always building and rebuilding just to beautify there town .

Beautifying a town always bring more investments

UfuomaUN:


That is their way my bro. Before Akpabio no one travelled to Uyo for anything except oil work, now Uyo is always in the forefront when ever Nigeria hosts any football game. Had it been Ambode did the same thing ( No offence intended. He's still one of Nigeria's best leaders) nairaland front page would have been full with praise singing. The stadium is paying off. It has given the people of the state a sense of pride among other things

you Dey mind dem ? They throw street parties to celebrate planting of flowers or construction of pedestrian bridges all at inflated prices yet they want to kill us for building infrastructure that will gradually become heavily utilized. Akpabio did very very well in Akwa Ibom, those who don't like it should shoot themselves

yaki84:

bros first n foremost u r intellectuallly unfit, no pun intended. How much is official of dollar to naira by cbn? It is 306 to a dollar. The govr is not mandated to give them 40k in dolls, he can aswell give them the money in naira which is less than 13million naira.
Secondly how many civil servants, pensioneers n retired but death workers do we hv in akwaibom? Will 13million settle thier issues?

U said the stadium isnt contributing anything to d state, am sorry to tell u this but u r a joker.
So the hotel the camerounians lodge they didnt pay abi, everybody that went to d stadium to watch d match entered freely, d ticketers didnt sell d tickets but gave it out freely too?
Those nff n others that came from outside the states flew from their bedrooms to d stadium n back to the rooms without passing or patronisng outlets in d state abi?

Blue k try n use ur brain. Abi na black mater dey ur brain?

Don't mind the blue3k. very myopic reasoning. They can't see the multiplier effect of the stadium. when I saw that the author of the article was Inibehe, I knew it will be total thrash.

Y some people dae reason like dis Y some people dae reason like dis

let us set the record straight... there is no part of the world where a government builds a stadium to make profit... I am waiting to be proved wrong....
secondly, it's never wrong to motivate someone to do his job.... I earn my salary yet my organization pays me PERFORMANCE RELATED BONUSES... it's not rocket science...
lastly, we can keep debating if the contract was inflated or not... but show me where such projects are built without inflation in any part of the world...

[quote author=Blue3k post=60154042]

Sigh now we're playing ask me 20 stupid questions. Dude I don't want to derail my thread with mumu nonsense that anyone with common sense should know.
Please make this your last set of daft questions about pensioners.

If civil servants don't deserve to be employed don't hire them, let them work til retirement and consume huge chunk of budget. Nope my father never worked for government.

U r just ranting without direction, neither here nor there.
U criticise the govr concerning the 10k dolls he pledged to eaguls for every goal they score which latter amount to 40k which to every commonsense individual know its just a paltry sum of 12million and 300thousand. Most of u think at the mention of dolls billions of naira is the result. U guys reason like an average nigerian prostitutes that will forgo a man that gives 20k in naira but run after someone singing dollar n brandishing adollar bill to her.
When udom came in he cleared 10yrs backlog of pensioners salaries precisely from 1992 to 2002 considering the economic downturn they r in. The money paid so far amounts to billions. That aside what percentage constitute the number of civil servants in the state? Less than 5percent.

Ermacc:
Don't mind the blue3k. very myopic reasoning. They can't see the multiplier effect of the stadium. when I saw that the author of the article was Inibehe, I knew it will be total thrash.

leave those people, they r trying to be relevant at all cost.
He calls himself human right lawyer but u hardly see him defend the downtrodden ones.
Shebi na for lagos wey chinese man use kungfu cripple akwaibomite, where was inibehe effiong the human right lawyer?
2015 some policemen shot n killed a kekeman coming back from church with his family at ogun state, the man lost his wife n 2kids, the bullet affected him, did inibehe rose to the occasion? No. His human right na for politicians head. After collecting huge money, he will rent boys dem begin hit street just to justify the pay.

fratermathy:
@Op:

Akpabio stole money. That is correct! Even Udom is stealing money. Both are stealing like every other politician in Nigeria.

However, I would rather have Akpabio as the looter of my State's funds than Emmanuel Uduaghan! I would rather have Udom as my State's looter than Ifeanyi Okowa!

I don't support corruption by any means but in a nation where everything is oozing with corruption, let us appreciate the little things we have. Akpabio may have stolen like other politicians but he left a LEGACY in Akwa Ibom! Can we see the same for the average Nigerian thieving politician?

...we are not doing comparative analysis.Considering the plight of retirees, workers, abject poverty, abysmal bad roads in the hitterland, poor health system in the state, do you think that the cost of that stadium could have been put to a better usage? That's the meat of the thread.

Newmanluckyman:
...we are not doing comparative analysis.Considering the plight of retirees, workers, abject poverty, abysmal bad roads in the hitterland, poor health system in the state, do you think that the cost of that stadium could have been put to a better usage? That's the meat of the thread.

the writer also said monies used in building the stadium would hv been used in buildng industries in the state, abeg where in the world do govt build industries? If akwaibom billionaires cant invest in the state who will? We hv billionaires in this state, those who stole govt money starting fro attah, what investment do they hv in akwa abasi ibom state? NoNe. You dont just build industry for the sake of building it.
Industries that the past admin built, is it not the same people that killed it cause of chop i chop.

yaki84:

[s]U r just ranting without direction, neither here nor there.
U criticise the govr concerning the 10k dolls he pledged to eaguls for every goal they score which latter amount to 40k which to every commonsense individual know its just a paltry sum of 12million and 300thousand. Most of u think at the mention of dolls billions of naira is the result. U guys reason like an average nigerian prostitutes that will forgo a man that gives 20k in naira but run after someone singing dollar n brandishing adollar bill to her.
When udom came in he cleared 10yrs backlog of pensioners salaries precisely from 1992 to 2002 considering the economic downturn they r in. The money paid so far amounts to billions. That aside what percentage constitute the number of civil servants in the state? Less than 5percent.[/s]

More nonsense this what you've come to. Why are you handing out money to players not in your pay role when you owe money to pensioners and your own players. Remember he promised Akwa United players stuff aswell. The fact is the state promised them the money and they nees to pay up. Most of your post is irrelevant details that take away their responsibility. Stop this long winded display of idioticy.

Newmanluckyman:
...we are not doing comparative analysis.Considering the plight of retirees, workers, abject poverty, abysmal bad roads in the hitterland, poor health system in the state, do you think that the cost of that stadium could have been put to a better usage? That's the meat of the thread.

You seem to be exaggerating the poor standards of living and infrastructure in Akwa Ibom. Are you telling me that there exists a State in Nigeria, save for Lagos and the FCT that has better road networks than Akwa Ibom? Or that Akwa Ibom is comparatively worse in standards of living than any other Nigerian state?

RZArecta:
Whatever, thank God the stadium is there. If you don't like it, make a rope useful to your neck. Teslim Balogun stadium is just across the road from the National stadium in surulere yet nobody brought out four figure tables to calculate anything. It's been usually people from Ogbomosho and ijebu who have been complaining about this stadium, they even complained about why Bayelsa needed over head bridge but no effort on infrastructural development is questioned in their region even when a governor used over 78 million to set up a website abi na how many million to dig ordinary borehole. They even complained about maritime university in Delta state, why should I complain about what contributed in putting my own region on the world map ?

bros most of these people criticising udom, put them there they wont even know their left from right. Where is engr ita awak? Where is umana o umana? Can someone tell me what they hv achieved sofar in theri respective agencies they r heading?

yaki84:

the writer also said monies used in building the stadium would hv been used in buildng industries in the state, abeg where in the world do govt build industries? If akwaibom billionaires cant invest in the state who will? We hv billionaires in this state, those who stole govt money starting fro attah, what investment do they hv in akwa abasi ibom state? NoNe. You dont just build industry for the sake of building it.
Industries that the past admin built, is it not the same people that killed it cause of chop i chop.

...yes I got your point. Though govt is expected to create an enabling environment for private investments but govt is still saddled with the responsibility to build cottage industries,health facilities, etc. The money used to build that white elephant stadium project could have been put to other economic usage that could have benefited the masses.

In the then regional system in Nigeria, Awolowo built TV station, Michael Opara established Golden Guinea breweries. Yes govt can build and develop industries. It's all about the POLITICAL WILL.

yaki84:

the writer also said monies used in building the stadium would hv been used in buildng industries in the state, abeg where in the world do govt build industries? If akwaibom billionaires cant invest in the state who will? We hv billionaires in this state, those who stole govt money starting fro attah, what investment do they hv in akwa abasi ibom state? NoNe. You dont just build industry for the sake of building it.
Industries that the past admin built, is it not the same people that killed it cause of chop i chop.

...yes I got your point. Though govt is expected to create an enabling environment for private investments but govt is still saddled with the responsibility to build cottage industries,health facilities, etc. The money used to build that white elephant stadium project could have been put to other economic usage that could have benefited the masses.

In the then regional system in Nigeria, Awolowo build TV station, Michael Opara established Golden Guinea breweries. Yes govt can build and develop industries. It's all about the POLITICAL WILL.

Blue3k:


More nonsense this what you've come to. Why are you handing out money to players not in your pay role when you owe money to pensioners and your own players. Remember he promised Akwa United players stuff aswell. The fact is the state promised them the money and they nees to pay up. Most of your post is irrelevant details that take away their responsibility. Stop this long winded display of idioticy.

he promised them akwa utd players monies n he hasnt paid says who? R u akwa utd player? I hv a civil servant in my street that likes complaining that udom is owing them salaries every time, but when they pay u wont hear him speak. He attacks more than commend. I guess most of these fools here are like him.
I citicise people positively. I criticise udom when he err, just like i dont support the project he is embarking in lagos state..
Am not a sycophant n will never be a follower of a mentally deranged fool who wants to be relevant at all cost.

Newmanluckyman:
...yes I got your point. Though govt is expected to create an enabling environment for private investments but govt is still saddled with the responsibility to build cottage industries,health facilities, etc. The money used to build that white elephant stadium project could have been put to other economic usage that could have benefited the masses.

In the then regional system in Nigeria, Awolowo build TV station, Michael Opara established Golden Guinea breweries. Yes govt can build and develop industries. It's all about the POLITICAL WILL.

that means we shud crucify obj for buildng that abuja stadium, i dont think nigeria needs rail or roads infractructure considering the number of deaths recorded by these sector.
Why shud d govt build health care facilities when they dont patronise it, even the poor ones r still practising archaic childbirth delivery system.
I dont think nigeria needs anything development for now.

Newmanluckyman:
...yes I got your point. Though govt is expected to create an enabling environment for private investments but govt is still saddled with the responsibility to build cottage industries,health facilities, etc. The money used to build that white elephant stadium project could have been put to other economic usage that could have benefited the masses.

In the then regional system in Nigeria, Awolowo build TV station, Michael Opara established Golden Guinea breweries. Yes govt can build and develop industries. It's all about the POLITICAL WILL.

the golden guines breweries do they export their products? Can their products be found in states like kano, kaduna, sokoto, katsina, bauchi etc?
The stadium has it hosted states like kano, katsina, bauchi, plateau before?

fratermathy:


You seem to be exaggerating the poor standards of living and infrastructure in Akwa Ibom. Are you telling me that there exists a State in Nigeria, save for Lagos and the FCT that has better road networks than Akwa Ibom? Or that Akwa Ibom is comparatively worse in standards of living than any other Nigerian state?

...which better road network are in Lagos? Mate, I am much concerned about the hitterlands. The interior local areas.These areas have little or no presence of meaningful development.Inhabitants of all the states in Nigeria are living below poverty level. Maybe you have only travelled to Uyo the state capital.

Newmanluckyman:
...which better road network are in Lagos? Mate, I am much concerned about the hitterlands. The interior local areas.These areas have little or no presence of meaningful development.Inhabitants of all the states in Nigeria are living below poverty level. Maybe you have only travelled to Uyo the state capital.

I have been to almost every nook and cranny of AKS. Yes, there are some bad roads but so too are there hundreds of good roads.

Citizens living below the poverty margin is not peculiar to AKS. Virtually every state in Nigeria has citizens living under similar conditions.

The point being that we should give honour to whom honour is due. Akpabio deserves the honour he gets. Yes, he may be corrupt and all that but he genuinely tried for the people of AKS. And I am saying this as someone from a similarly rich state with almost nothing to write good about.

yaki84:

the golden guines breweries do they export their products? Can their products be found in states like kano, kaduna, sokoto, katsina, bauchi etc?
The stadium has it hosted states like kano, katsina, bauchi, plateau before?

...you are talking another thing entirely. Yes I have answered you that govt can build industries.

yaki84:

he promised them akwa utd players monies n he hasnt paid says who? R u akwa utd player? I hv a civil servant in my street that likes complaining that udom is owing them salaries every time, but when they pay u wont hear him speak. [s]He attacks more than commend. I guess most of these fools here are like him.
I citicise people positively. I criticise udom when he err, just like i dont support the project he is embarking in lagos state..
Am not a sycophant n will never be a follower of a mentally deranged fool who wants to be relevant at all cost.[/s]

Lol speak on topic you know boy it was reported by thisdaylive and naji. Dude you are sycophant look at how your doing you're grabbing your ankles for him. Do I need to be Akwa united player to know. The argument works both ways. I'm guessing you aren't a player.

Lol why shouldn't your friend complain about not being paid on time. Why should he praise his worker for doing the basic duty of paying him? That's like your parents praising you for not having a dirty room or not coming home with bad grades. You reason like dumb child.

Blue3k:
Seriously how much revenue does the stadium generate? People celebrate this project without considering economic benefits derived from this project. That's why they are so ready for another stadium to be built in Eket.

Bro, the last time I went to watch a match, we were asked to pay #1000 for the tickets, assuming the stadium is filled to the brim anytime Nigeria plays the amount generated will be in excess of #30,000,000.
30000*1000 =#30,000,000.
Which is by the way a good development though the amount used for the project was inflated, now assuming it hosted 30 Nigeria matches in a year.

30,000,000 * 30= #900,000,000.00
Talk more of 10 years to come.

To the economic importance of the project to the people, over 30,000 people will be at Uyo that day/before, within and outside Akwa-ibom State, some will lodge in hotel, they have to buy food and the transportation to and fro from the stadium to their homes will generate funds for Ibomites.

Don't view it from one perspective, engage some Ibomites that have benefitted form the project and they will continue to, same with the government.

fratermathy:


I have been to almost every nook and cranny of AKS. Yes, there are a bad roads but so too are there a hundreds of good roads.

Citizens living below the poverty margin is not peculiar to AKS. Virtually every state in Nigeria has citizens living under similar conditions.

...the topic is not about comparing other states with each other. That's the line you're towing. Do you think that the cost of that stadium could have been put to other economic usage that could have benefited the masses? Fraty,answer the question with a dispatch view. Thank you.

Integrator1:


Bro, the last time I went to watch a match, we were asked to pay #1000 for the tickets, assuming the stadium is filled to the brim anytime Nigeria plays the amount generated will be in excess of #30,000,000.
30000*1000 =#30,000,000.
Which is by the way a good development though the amount used for the project was inflated, now assuming it hosted 30 Nigeria matches in a year.

30,000,000 * 300= #900,000,000.00
Talk more of 10 years to come.

To the economic importance of the project to the people, over 30,000 people will be at Uyo that day/before, within and outside Akwa-ibom State, some will lodge in hotel, they have to buy food and the transportation to and fro from the stadium to their homes will generate funds for Ibomites.

Don't view it from one perspective, engage some Ibomites that have benefitted form the project and they will continue to, same with the government.

I'm here to look at perspectives. I'm only asking since we would have to know the revenue split with team, lobbying cost and other factors. Determining it's profitability is dependent on those facts.

yaki84:

bros most of these people criticising udom, put them there they wont even know their left from right. Where is engr ita awak? Where is umana o umana? Can someone tell me what they hv achieved sofar in theri respective agencies they r heading?

you Dey mind the enemies of progress ?

Newmanluckyman:
...the topic is not about comparing other states with each other. That's the line you're towing. Do you think that the cost of that stadium could have been put to other economic usage that could have benefited the masses? Fraty,answer the question with a dispatch view. Thank you.

Of course it could but I was not the one who made the decision. Akpabio had a lot of advisors before he made that decision for whatever reason and today, it has immortalised him.

Let's not forget that the current governor has established industries across the state including a paint production firm, pencil production, textile mill, among others. And many more have been earmarked.

Government is a continuum. A governor picks off from where one stopped. Akpabio was more focused on making AKS attractive for tourism than industrialising the state. The current governor is focused more on industrialisation than tourism. Another governor may focus more on education than any other thing.

One man cannot solve all the problems in a state. That's simply not possible. The money may have been put to better use as you said but he ended up using it to build a stadium in his own wisdom and I believe he didn't do wrong.

After all, he could have syphoned the entiriety of that money and NOTHING would happen. Or is this not Nigeria again?

yaki84:

that means we shud crucify obj for buildng that abuja stadium, i dont think nigeria needs rail or roads infractructure considering the number of deaths recorded by these sector.
Why shud d govt build health care facilities when they dont patronise it, even the poor ones r still practising archaic childbirth delivery system.
I dont think nigeria needs anything development for now.

...you're so funny my man. What's the present status of that Abuja stadium? Many people equally criticized the cost of building that stadium as at then citing the opportunity cost of using the funds to execute people oriented projects. Guess what? The critics were right! Today, Abuja stadium is a shadow of itself. Lush grasses have taken over, herdsmen and their herds are now the operational managers.

The bottom line is this. Let's allocate or use our scarce resources into projects that will uplift the masses both economically, health-wise.

fratermathy:


Of course it could but I was not the one who made the decision. Akpabio had a lot of advisors before he made that decision for whatever reason and today, it has immortalised him.

Let's not forget that the current governor has established industries across the state including a paint production firm, pencil production, textile mill, among others. And many more have been earmarked.

Government is a continuum. A governor picks off from where one stopped. Akpabio was more focused on making AKS attractive for tourism than industrialising the state. The current governor is focused more on industrialisation than tourism. Another governor may focus more on education than any other thing.

One man cannot solve all the problems in a state. That's simply not possible. The money may have been put to better use as you said but he ended up using it to build a stadium in his own wisdom and I believe he didn't do wrong.

After all, he could have syphoned the entiriety of that money and NOTHING would happen. Or is this not Nigeria again?

Mate, I really understand your points. Only if you know how these politicians think then we won't be making alibi for them. The same thing was hyped about Donald Duck. Do you know the status of the acclaimed TINAPA resorts right now? It's just lying fallow. Politicians want to make names for themselves. They don't care about the masses.

The bottom line is this. Let's allocate our scarce resources into projects that will uplift the masses both economically, financially and health-wise.

Blue3k:


I'm not here to look at perspectives. I'm only asking since we would have to know the revenue split with team, lobbying cost and other factors. Determining it's profitability is dependent on those facts.

That I wouldn't know both Federal and state government in Nigeria ain't transparent and accountable enough to publish such facts. I think the area of interest should be how it has benefitted Ibomites now and future wise.
Publishing those facts will be a great deal to access if the enormous amount engaged in such project is justifiable, I agree though you and I know the amount involved was inflated. But in the long run its a good investment for Ibomites and State government all things being equal. It's an asset not a liability, 100 years to come it will still be there if properly maintained.

There are things called essential services which the government provides for the general public without direct profit motive.The project has many benefits. These include social, economy, human and political. To me, it is a life touching project, many of us go there to watch matches and we all get refreshed. This has a significant effect on our health and well-being. In addition, more money can be generated from government owned facilities such as le meridian, airport and Ibom tropicana entertainment center during match weeks and events at the stadium. Local transporters and business owners equally benefit.

More so, many Akwabomites were employed during the construction and they were paid salaries from the said money. Further more, the coming in of football stars from the nooks and crannies of the the world can make youth have contact with role models and get inspiration to become footballers that will be bought billions of dollars in the near future . Having one MESSI in the State worth more than that project. The presence of the stadium has put Akwa Ibom State in the world map and that has a lot of implications for socio-economic development of the State.

Few days ago, Awka ibom state was ranked 2nd among the five states in Nigeria that were able to attract fresh foreign investment in the last six months. This was only made possible with the presence of infrastructural facilities. You can't expect investors to come to a state where there are no facilities.

Every government spending must not be geared strictly towards profit making, even at personal level, one buys TV, foam, fridge and others not for profit but for comfort. How much more such could be expected of government ? Even in advanced countries more expensive Stadia are built. You can criticize the cost if you have fact but not through hear say as a non-expert in construction projects.

On the issue of the donation, I think that is not too much, after all as individuals we may have offered people above 10k on different occasions. How much more that would be expected of a governor who is presenting over 4million people? Don't forget even US and British governments spend billions on Nigeria as aids and grants without complains from citizens not to talk of spending on fellow Nigerians. I urge people to be open-minded and be objective in criticism as intellectuals. NOTE: I'm a Deltan.