Newmanluckyman:
...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.

bobo its not project that will free us nigerians from poverty, it is we nigerians. We hv ajaokuta, abeg what is happening thr?
Obasanjo sold alscon to two diffrnt firms, today they r fighting up n down on who owns it.
In akwaibom state own companies like sunshine battery, oku iboku paper mill were all grounded not by foreigners but our own akwaibom sons n daughters.
The only thing i want the state govt to do now is ibaka, but oron people who decamped to apc, the likes of ita awak, ita toyo wants the state govr to come play chess with them before they team up n make it realisable.
That is the fact. We r all born with that greed mentality and at the end we end up achieving nothing.this same people sold the state to mobil, mobil has exclusive minning right over akwaibom resources all because of esuene's greed. No competition unlike other niger delta states. So to all of u critiking akpabio n his signature project, that is not the problem of akwaibom state.

Moral of the story is u can't satisfy everyone. I wish I had a governor like Akpabio in my state. A man who turned a predominantly rural State to what it is today. OP are u not aware of investment Akwa have been attracting cause of Akpabios infrastructural development.

Blue3k:


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.

the question is r they working?

Lets disect each sector one after the other.
Agric sector..why r we still relying on cross river state for commodities like garri?
What r they doing in that ministry? Just collecting salaries abi..
Eductaion...at the last count we hv more private secondary, nursery n primary schools lately that produces far better result than the public counterpart. R the teachers doing their job? No. Most of them hv children in these private schools.
R they being justify their pay? No.

fratermathy:


@Boldened: Are you sure you are referring to Akwa Ibom State or some other State?

That's how they sit in Lagos and make comments about places they have never visited and know almost nothing about

ayagha:
OP are u not aware of investment Akwa have been attracting cause of Akpabios infrastructural development.

I'm aware but is that supposed to distract me from these issues. I repost interesting topics about Akwa Ibom all the time. He's not above any criticism

Integrator1:

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.

I can agree on this.

Suppose our company build and maintain world class stadiums and we consider building one in Akwa ibom, Nigeria. the aim of our company is to maximise shareholders(public) wealth.. Using the Porter's Diamond model- I read a comment that the road network is Akwa ibom is very poor. if the roads are poor, how are people gonna get to the stadiums. How are people going get to the stadium? Can people from other states get to the stadium and how efficient(cost) will it be to get there. we won't make money if they don't get to the stadium.
level of domestic rivalry - There are two or more big stadiums already hosting competitive matches.
Nigerians(buyer)- Are Nigerians likely to come to the stadium to watch football matches and be able to pay for the fees. Has the government paid staffs salaries..
there
there are related and supporting industries. they have hotels, banks etc
Conclusion- Spending $250m to build a stadium in a state where there is no good road network in and with other states. Imagine a man from Borno- state going to Akwa ibom to watch competitive matches.

Jonathan thought he was 'punishing' Amaechi when he gave Rivers Oil Wells to AKS
Excess money was d result
Leading to an irrelevant stadium, money blown on Ini Edo and other bitches, monies stashed in St Kitts island, Dubai et.
Quote me and get ebola

yaki84:

the question is r they working?

[s]Lets disect each sector one after the other.
Agric sector..why r we still relying on cross river state for commodities like garri?
What r they doing in that ministry? Just collecting salaries abi..
Eductaion...at the last count we hv more private secondary, nursery n primary schools lately that produces far better result than the public counterpart. R the teachers doing their job? No. Most of them hv children in these private schools.
R they being justify their pay? No.[/s]

He's the chief executive of the state. This is the governors and cabinets responsibility to fix. By your logic nobody should be paid. If they are performing fire them. Don't keep employed so you can owe them. It's ludicrous to complain about performance after they retired. Only mentally inept people would reason like you're doing.

Since the Governor Udom is in charge of these ministries he shouldn't be paid because the aren't working. He picked the cabinet and failed as well in the aspects you brought up. If you weren't so busy drinking the man bathwater you would understand this.

Blue3k:


He's the chief executive of the state. This is the governors and cabinets responsibility to fix. By your logic nobody should be paid. If they are performing fire them. Don't keep employed so you can owe them. It's ludicrous to complain about performance after they retired. Only mentally inept people would reason like you're doing.

Since the Governor Udom is in charge of these ministries he shouldn't be paid because the aren't working. He picked the cabinet and failed as well. If you weren't so busy drinking the man bathwater you would understand this.

2019 pls do ur self n ur generation afavour, buy nomination form n contest. That is my final take on ur absurdity.
Have a terrible day following inibehe's post. Bye bye, tutu amah anie eti mkpo se atang, afo ankod.

Yem usung contest election ke local gofmen mfo.
Yak ikid nanga akeme eekpuhu mkpo ke obio mfo.
Yak itong uwem usong fien.

yaki84:

2019 pls do ur self n ur generation afavour, buy nomination form n contest. [s]That is my final take on ur absurdity.
Have a terrible day following inibehe's post. Bye bye, tutu amah anie eti mkpo se atang, afo ankod.

Yem usung contest election ke local gofmen mfo.
Yak ikid nanga akeme eekpuhu mkpo ke obio mfo.
Yak itong uwem usong fien.[/s]

I'm not old enough to run but I'll consider in later elections. I'm glad your done exposing your ineptitude. We officially know your a political prostitute. Please don't forget your lube when you go shopping this evening when the governor calls you.

Blue3k:


I'm not old enough to run but I'll consider in later elections. I'm glad your done exposing your ineptitude. We officially know your a political prostitute. Please don't forget your lube when you go shopping this evening when the governor calls you.

u wnt to be in d age of mister ghost before u can contest?
Shebi councillor na just primary school cert be minimum qualification??
Atleast am not in the league of inibehe effion ur mentor n godfada u follow around like uncircumcised zombie.
Write ur own article if u want to create a niche forurself politically. Dont hide under another fellow just to make some silly points. Lets know who u r not who u represent.

Get to know urself first so u can express it when the need arise.
Goodluck.

Once again am not a politician, what i hate is when people who has contributed nothing to alwaibom state but had gained somuch criticise someone.
Sorry lest i forget, what is ur name n where r u from?
Atleast u know am from akwaibom, am ibibio from the minority part of the state which is ikot ekpene sen. District.

yaki84:

bobo its not project that will free us nigerians from poverty, it is we nigerians. We hv ajaokuta, abeg what is happening thr?
Obasanjo sold alscon to two diffrnt firms, today they r fighting up n down on who owns it.
In akwaibom state own companies like sunshine battery, oku iboku paper mill were all grounded not by foreigners but our own akwaibom sons n daughters.
The only thing i want the state govt to do now is ibaka, but oron people who decamped to apc, the likes of ita awak, ita toyo wants the state govr to come play chess with them before they team up n make it realisable.
That is the fact. We r all born with that greed mentality and at the end we end up achieving nothing.this same people sold the state to mobil, mobil has exclusive minning right over akwaibom resources all because of esuene's greed. No competition unlike other niger delta states. So to all of u critiking akpabio n his signature project, that is not the problem of akwaibom state.

...i think you're looking at the whole scenario with a partisan spectacle. I looked at it as an independent citizen who wants the best for the people.

Mr Akpabio has done very well to the best of his knowledge no doubt about that but the cost of that stadium could have been put to alternative usages geared towards uplifting the masses from poverty and other developmental challenges bedeviling the state.

yaki84:

[s]u wnt to be in d age of mister ghost before u can contest?
Shebi councillor na just primary school cert be minimum qualification??
Atleast am not in the league of inibehe effion ur mentor n godfada u follow around like uncircumcised zombie.
Write ur own article if u want to create a niche forurself politically. Dont hide under another fellow just to make some silly points. Lets know who u r not who u represent.

Get to know urself first so u can express it when the need arise.
Goodluck.

Once again am not a politician, what i hate is when people who has contributed nothing to alwaibom state but had gained somuch criticise someone.[/s]

Yawn more butt hurt political prostitute nonsense. Go sit down and rest your throat for your master. Don't bother exposing your mental ineptitude any longer. Did ask about your irrelevant opinions stop telling about things I don't care about. You aren't important save your advice for lose in your peer group.

Blue3k:


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

Front Page: Lalasticlala

Is really unfortunate the way some people reason.
Apart from the stadium what about other infrastructural projects Mr Godswill has built and delivered it for the state. We should learn to appreciate good things cos there are not common.
What about those that didn't do anything for the state, what about some Gov that did nothing, some you're encouraging corruption.
Let me tell you Mr Godswill did very well and God will rewards him greatly.
I'm very grateful to God that Godswill was the Gov of my state at such a time, if we have people like that Akwa Ibom State will be enviable to other state.

Newmanluckyman:
...i think you're looking at the whole scenario with a partisan spectacle. I looked at it as an independent citizen who wants the best for the people.

Mr Akpabio has done very well to the best of his knowledge no doubt about that but the cost of that stadium could have been put to alternative usages geared towards uplifting the masses from poverty and other developmental challenges bedeviling the state.

since 1999 till date pls can u tell us how much our representatives n senators have recieved sofar for constituency projects?

Abeg have u seen any projects? U know why, its greed.
We r greedy, even if the govt release all the monies for youth empowerment, the same people entrusted with this responsible will still pocket it n sideline those that suppose to benefit from it.
A n average nigerian is affected by poverty mentality, they enter a place they will eat belleful, but allow another to enter n eat too, dem no gree. They will instead want to be dishing some food to u. Nothing works in this country not because it cant but because people who suppose to make it work fail to do it.

Blue3k:


Yawn more butt hurt political prostitute nonsense. Go sit down and rest your throat for your master. Don't bother exposing your mental ineptitude any longer. Did ask about your irrelevant opinions stop telling about things I don't care about. You aren't important save your advice for lose in your peer group.

isoryt......

Inibehe is APC and detest anything Akpabio/Udom, reason he will never rise up to condem anything even if we are dying unless in his thinking it will pull PDP down or like a true hustler he will make money from it. Now to the crux of the matter:

I was all joy when uyo was mentioned on BBC news over and over again, i guess people around the globe will start asking where is uyo. i was excited when the commentator said that the stadium is one of the best in Africa on DSTV, waoh! Now to other things: i live in uyo but has never visited the stadium except to drink beer on the nest of champion bar, if u have ever been to the stadium, i know u r smiling now because u must have shared a sit with me on that bar unknowingly. the owner of that bar is a millionaire as we speak courtesy of that stadium. Akwa ibomites that watch matches there are less than 50% of the crowd, on match eves just try to get hotels, everywhere is fully booked, if in doubt, try booking le meridian a month to any of those fixtures online. The writer of this piece is a claimed lawyer, i wonder why he brings his case to my court(nairaland) where I lack jurisdiction to prosecute Akpabio for the said fraud. I am an Akwa Ibomite, if the lawyer has all this evidence, he should please engage Akpabio in a court of law on my behalf and his own since he is also from AKS. I dont support and will never encourage evil, if Akpabio stole from us, thank God we now have almighty Barr Inibehe Effiong, please do the needful, initiate a process and lock him up for stealing, mbok ubokabasi. Now to the paltry 13million naira to a group of over 40 individuals that earn an average of 15k pounds weekly, its normal/proper for an elder/politician encouraging people to "LAND" in AKS maybe its alien to other states. (not all spoken words hit the ear drum except you "LAND" NOW AM TEACHING YOU OUR CULTURE! Also know that promise in NIgeria is cheap but redeeming is the koko. So my gov needed to LAND after the message. On salary, as at 31st of August 2017, all AKS civil servants got their Aug. salary, to verify this i went on my facebook page on the 31st of Aug. to enquire who missed out as bulk of my friends and critics of Udom are civil servants and to my suprise the gov paid and i can tell you that he is not owing salary but for few pension/gratuity which he inherited and he paid some batch last month and names where published on local papers, i almost forgot that he gave out employment letters to 1500 science teachers last month, who employs since buhari took over? As for the stadium, the "painment" might be small AKS taking over from the acclaim mighty cities, we are getting there. In summary, any 20m naira that will be bringing cash flow of over 100m naira within 3 days to AKS's economy is economically accepted under any books. The haters can advance in their "HATEROLOGICAL SCIENCE" we have made our choice and we will stick to Udom till he disappoint AKS which I doubt he will. (OBONG GOD AKPAN IS NOT A POLITICIAN)

[color=#006600][/color]

profudus:
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 attracted 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 to make life comfortable. 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. NOTE: I'm a Deltan.

After this any more comment is "wash". This comment is conclusive, sound, apt, and indisputable.

yaki84:

since 1999 till date pls can u tell us how much our representatives n senators have recieved sofar for constituency projects?

Abeg have u seen any projects? U know why, its greed.
We r greedy, even if the govt release all the monies for youth empowerment, the same people entrusted with this responsible will still pocket it n sideline those that suppose to benefit from it.
A n average nigerian is affected by poverty mentality, they enter a place they will eat belleful, but allow another to enter n eat too, dem no gree. They will instead want to be dishing some food to u. Nothing works in this country not because it cant but because people who suppose to make it work fail to do it.

...yes I agreed with you. That's the more reason we need strong institutions in place to enforce the rule of law and not STRONG MEN OR LEADERS. As a country we need a total overhauling both the leaders and the ones been led.

richidinho:



Bro! Save your strength, don't just mind them, a state that hardly welcome up to 500 visitors in a month before Akpabio's era, they have forgotten that there was a Governor before Akpabio

Inibeghe or whatever is his name shld get ready to contest as governor in 2019 let's see how popular he is, nonsense!

Udom has 8yrs to govern the state, we are not disappointed in him, he is doing very well

Bringing people to the state during matches in the stadium is a very good way to market the state and show to the world that we are peaceful people, that alone can attract Foreign direct investments to the state

That's not correct, there was a Governor before Akpabio, that conceived and built the Le Meridian, Airport (still uncompleted), invested in and brought Airtel (then Econet with a call center in Uyo), built a palm oil refinery in Ukanafun (which his successors shut down), etc.

There are companies in the state that should be revived like Peacock paint, Quality Ceramics, which are state owned, but no vain glory is better.

Which foreign investors are you talking about, when Gov Udom is planning on building a 21 storey edifice to host foreign investors in Lagos state?

Iniebeghe is on point on this one.

for me the opportunity for the ibomite to watch super eagle match life is enough return, plus the prestige the stadium brings to Nigeria,akwa united can also use that stadium as their home as for Governor contribution to super eagle is just a mere motivation, despite the money Leicester city and Chelseafc paid their players, they still reward them with car and watches gifts after winning the league, we shouldn't be complaining over every little thing,

menxer:

That's not correct, there was a Governor before Akpabio, that conceived and built the Le Meridian, Airport (still uncompleted), invested in and brought Airtel (then Econet with a call center in Uyo), built a palm oil refinery in Ukanafun (which his predecessors shut down), etc.

There are companies in the state that should be revived like Peacock paint, Quality Ceramics, which are state owned, but no vain glory is better.

Which foreign investors are you talking about, when Gov Udom is planning on building a 21 storey edifice to host foreign investors in Lagos state?

Iniebeghe is on point on this one.

So to lay foundation stone of 3 9inches block is Now "conceiving and building" abi?

U guys no get shame?

richidinho:


So to lay foundation stone of 3 9inches block is Now "conceiving and building" abi?

U guys no get shame?

Hahahahahahahahaha

It's like the Shame is on you for not knowing.

The Ibom tropicana center that Akpabio concieved and built why has Udom not completed it?

menxer:

Hahahahahahahahaha

It's like the Shame is on you for not knowing.

The Ibom tropicana center that Akpabio concieved and built why has Udom not completed it?

Akpabio is all we know in that state and there is absolutely nothing you can do about that

Both governor Ibori and governor Uduaghan received huge amount of money from the federation account as their monthly state allocation during their years of misrule and mal-administration but as huge as the money may sound in the ear they could not account for it nor have any evidence of how they spent the money.

Uduaghan that was rejoicing with Amaju Pinnick over the victory of the super eagle against cameroun in the 2018 world cup in russia is celebrating what others have laid down.

If Akpabio did not allocate money to build this stadium where will Uduaghan and his co-traveller have to host the eagle.

Ibori manage to build a local township station in warri known as the warri stadium. A stadium not too attractive for international matches.

richidinho:


Akpabio is all we know in that state and there is absolutely nothing you can do about that

You are absolutely correct, You know Akpabio but know nothing about the abandoned projects, but others Know Akpabio and the abandoned projects Udom is yet to do anything about.

The Stadium was built for $96 million and not $250 million. http://stadiumdb.com/competitions/stadium_of_the_year_2014 for confirmation. We should endeavor to tell the truth even when we disagree. The Stadium has put both Akwa Ibom And Nigeria on the Sports venue map.
Sports Venue are not profit making ventures it is meant to bring business to the city and improve the image of the city.

The writer of this opinion piece is entitled to his opinion, but i support the project totally.
I was one of the people who used to be very embarrassed that a football loving Nation like Nigeria had no befitting Stadium for its matches, thank God for this Stadium.

Op stop being myopic!!! Government own stadia over the don't have reasonable return on investment. The egg nest in China is no making any money such that the use was discouraged. The same for the ones SA government built for world cup 2010. So leave your long story. That is the only stadium this mumu country can boost off so kudos the Godwin.

The ops have definitely raised very salient points but certainly the stadium has the potentials of generating good money the problem is we Nigerians, we only make noise about loving sports, how many people goes to our stadia to watch sports apart from when the eagles are playing?, if not the stadium could be home to a club in the league,the stadium could be part of hosts for our own local grand Prix n diamond league series n other activities generating good money

positivetaught:
The ops have definitely raised very salient points but certainly the stadium has the potentials of generating good money the problem is we Nigerians, we only make noise about loving sports, how many people goes to our stadia to watch sports apart from when the eagles are playing?, if not the stadium could be home to a club in the league,the stadium could be part of hosts for our own local grand Prix n diamond league series n other activities generating good money

from the onset, its wasn't meant to create wealth but Akpabio clearly stated that he wants to grown Ronaldo and serena Williams from that stadium. we have a place we call plaza where we spent billions to plant flowers during Attah era, inibehe effiong is not asking how much plaza is generation and all other fly over flower courts abound in the state. Not everything brings direct money but if only he thinks it brings in secondary cash like the over 100m that just changed hands in uyo during the last game.

As an akwa ibomite and one who goes to that stadium frequently. I must commend the past government for building it. It has put us in the map.

Now that aside, let's be realistic, akwa ibom is a civil service state so the question is did we really need a world class stadium that will drain us before it will even put anything in our pockets.

Now the price: 250 is too much, even with other sporting facilities, no matter the materials, inflation etc that is used. Also the stadium is done as in Julius Berger don pack their machine and go so aside from the tartan tracks, the pitch and the single long jump patch. It has finished. So clearly we have been robbed blindly, but we don't want to see because we are busy showing off the fact that we are now on the map.

Still on the price.. wouldn't it have benefited us as a state more to just use a quarter of the money to create at least 10 - 12 quality industries that would have employed roughly about half of us walking on the streets with our rain-beaten cv's.

So the question is world class or not did we need a stadium. Hell no... (Though I'll gladly go and watch my beloved akwa united)

Secondly, how many sporting events are held there monthly to even give us hope that we'd recoup one tenth of it's over inflated cost.

Also... The stadium is already having maintenance issues...in other words it's deteriorating... If u go there at least twice a month you'll see. So when is it going to bring the money... After it has crumbled?

And for those glorifying corruption... SMH.

What we have in Uyo is a very nice unwanted project.


Oh before I signed off. We have good roads in Uyo kind of. But how many of us will buy cars to enjoy it when we don't even have the jobs. Talking of misplaced priorities.

Uyo is the only place with flyovers at where there is no traffic jam and we suffer at the rest of the places that actually needed it.

Uyo nnyin.

elnino3:
As an akwa ibomite and one who goes to that stadium frequently. I must commend the past government for building it. It has put us in the map.

Now that aside, let's be realistic, akwa ibom is a civil service state so the question is did we really need a world class stadium that will drain us before it will even put anything in our pockets.

Now the price: 250 is too much, even with other sporting facilities, no matter the materials, inflation etc that is used. Also the stadium is done as in Julius Berger don pack their machine and go so aside from the tartan tracks, the pitch and the single long jump patch. It has finished. So clearly we have been robbed blindly, but we don't want to see because we are busy showing off the fact that we are now on the map.

Still on the price.. wouldn't it have benefited us as a state more to just use a quarter of the money to create at least 10 - 12 quality industries that would have employed roughly about half of us walking on the streets with our rain-beaten cv's.

So the question is world class or not did we need a stadium. Hell no... (Though I'll gladly go and watch my beloved akwa united)

Secondly, how many sporting events are held there monthly to even give us hope that we'd recoup one tenth of it's over inflated cost.

Also... The stadium is already having maintenance issues...in other words it's deteriorating... If u go there at least twice a month you'll see. So when is it going to bring the money... After it has crumbled?

And for those glorifying corruption... SMH.

What we have in Uyo is a very nice unwanted project.


Oh before I signed off. We have good roads in Uyo kind of. But how many of us will buy cars to enjoy it when we don't even have the jobs. Talking of misplaced priorities.

Uyo is the only place with flyovers at where there is no traffic jam and we suffer at the rest of the places that actually needed it.

Uyo nnyin.

you r so on point. 250 million dollars (over 50 billion naira at 200 naira exchange rate as of 3 years ago) is capable of propelling a state into industralization. even if the state had built a refinery for its crude oil its produces. it will have massively generated revenue for the state govt, since they have petroleum.