₦airaland Forum

UMUAHIA1stson:
Biafra, Abia State and the Crisis of a Misdiagnosed Ailment

1. There is a reason so many of us are skeptical about and Independent Biafra and what awaits it should it be actualised in the nearest future.

2. Would Biafra be different from Nigeria if we have characters like Orji Uzor Kalu, Theodore Orji and Okezie Ikpeazu at the helm of affairs?

3. Let's state a few things that are not in doubt: If the Republic of Biafra is proclaimed today, Chinedu Orji, the son of Theodore Orji would have more money (in any currency) than Nnamdi Kanu or Uche Mefor.

4. Orji Uzor Kalu would have more people following him than the numbers behind "Emma Powerful" if an election is called in the Biafra Republic.

5. Okezie Ikpeazu's taste for expensive alcohol and other things of the flesh would not abate if he stumbles into an administrative position in our beloved new Republic.

6. So with Orji Uzor Kalu, Theodore Orji and Okezie Ikpeazu in vantage positions to win leadership positions in Biafra, the outcome would not be hard to predict.

7. Mountains of refuse would remain prominent in every street in Aba. Umuahia will remain in its pre-independence status with no public water supply, narrow roads and poorly built houses.

8. This now begs the question: if Biafra will be ruled (in part) by the very same men who wrecked Abia state in the last 21 years, why do we find millions of young men insisting that Biafra holds the key to our redemption?

9. Now this is not an argument in support of one Nigeria but if ever a case would be made against Biafra, Abia state should be the most striking.

10. What has happened in the last 21 years in Abia state in the name of governance is nothing short of tragic. The entire place was hijacked by criminals in 1999 and ever since, men with less than wholesome intents have dominated public offices.

11. Now there often is a side of the catastrophe playing out in the state that few hardly talk about: the active support of the citizenry to a blind rape of their collective destiny by barely masked criminals.

12. In 1999, Anambra also saw itself under the reign of a do-nothing governor (Chinweoke Mbadinuju) muscled by an overbearing godfather. But the people rose in one accord and said "never again." By 2003 they elected a certain Peter Obi who remains the best governor Nigeria has seen since 1999.

13. Even when Mr Obi's mandate was stolen by the same criminal elements that kept Anambra on its knees in the years preceding the election, the people never lost hope. They believed they were too big to be suffocated by a few money bags.

14. All the religious groups in the state, community leaders, heads of market unions, students and youths came together and rejected Chris Ngige, telling him to his face that he was a thief.

15. Not for once did we hear that an Idemili man or some traditional rulers mobilised youths and occult doctors to plant coffins at strategic locations in the state to warn those who rejected Ngige that they would die.

16. Even when it was obvious that the people view him with disdain, Chris Ngige continued working for the state, clearing Mbadinuju's mess and giving the people a reason to believe that the government can work for them.

17. Ngige spent almost three years in various courts as Peter Obi battled to recover his mandate. His long sourjourn in the court did not stop him from paying salaries as at when due or fixing roads.

18. Compare what obtained in Anambra during those turbulent years to what we find in Abia. If you compare the disposition of the Anambra elites and masses to leadership with what you find in Abia, you will agree with me that Abia's woes run beyond Okezie Ikpeazu's incompetence, Theodore Orji's mediocrity or Orji Kalu's criminality.

19. While Ndi Anambra battled for the soul of their state, the Abia masses simply cheered on and watched on as men who were mostly paupers before May 29 1999 turned their state to a private fiefdom and made no attempt to distinguish between government treasury and their back pockets.

20. Consider also that our religious leaders, community elders and youths have actively goaded the desecration of governance in Abia state and then you get a proper sense of the extent of the depth of the rot in the state.

21. Abia's problems are deep but not intractable. Sadly, few understand what the issues are. Okezie Ikpeazu and a tiny cabal from his clan can afford to steal the state blind because there is no one to challenge them, nobody ask questions and those who do keep quiet whence they are "settled."

22. Theodore Orji and his son are not perturbed about the hundreds of billions reportedly found in their bank accounts because they know that they have the state on lock. Nobody can challenge or question them. Remember that much of the funds in these accounts may have been pulled directly from the public treasury.

23. It is an indictment on all of us that in the whole of Igboland, Abia is the only state where no proper recruitment has been done in the last 21 years to employ teachers for rural schools. It is a shame that we go on acting as if we are ignorant of what happens in these schools and how our children "pass" their WAEC and NECO.

24. People shudder when they see images of the decay and rot in Aba. What they do not know is that Aba's problems are much more enormous than the heaps of refuse that liter the streets. The mindset of the average individual in that city has been so corrupted that many now accept dirts as being synonymous with development.

25. Abia in the estimation of many is a lost case. Hundreds of billions that accrued to the state in the last 21 years have ended up in the pockets of its leaders. Most people who express interest in leadership are only keen in what they can steal, not how they can serve.

26. Government in Abia state over the last five years has become nothing but organised crime. Sadly, it is not only the politicians in Umuahia that are involved in this racket. Abia elites in Lagos, Abuja and in several other parts of the world are involved in it. While the elders are fed on the blood tonic system, the youths have their names in various ghost worker schemes in ministries and agencies.

27. So how would Biafra be different amidst these moral crises in a major part of the would-be nation? Is Okezie Ikpeazu with a Ph. D different from a Muhammadu Buhari without secondary school certificate? So why would anyone choose the fury of the furnace over the heat of the oven?

29. Yes. The evil political system and mindset in Abia invite us to take a deeper reflection on our political leadership system in Igboland and how to extricate ourselves from what has become an intricate mess. How do we claim to be better than the almajiris of northern Nigeria if we share the same herd mentality? If the north have a Yahaya Bello and we have an Okezie Ikpeazu; doesn't that tell you that we may have exaggerated our superiority as a people?

30. Today is not one of celebration. We should reflect. Have we really done our best in the last 21 years in terms of promoting quality leadership and calling out portraits of incompetence like Okezie Ikpeazu?

31. Changing our destiny is in our hands. We must however seek a better understanding of the problem before throwing out half baked solutions. Biafra will not change our situation unless...,

32. Are you in doubts? Now pray; has power shift from Bende to Umuahia and now Obingwa changed the fortunes of Abia teachers, pensioners or traders?

Engage me in the comments section

Oh yes....yes....Anambra is a success and Abia is a failure right? Well you are condemned to swim in your own opinion.

Why?

A Biafra will never take in the politicians who didn't fight nor stood for the biafran cause, just as postwar igbos see Zik as an inconsequential "before-before" statesman.

Secondly, 80% of the drug criminals of Igbo descent are mainly from ANAMBRA, haven't you googled it? sure you won't. Anambarians are progressive Puritans right? Nonsense!

In all, NO EASTERN STATE IS "BETTER" THAN THE OTHER. There is nothing anambra has that abia lacks.

UMUAHIA1stson:
What's this one yapping about? I am from Abia state, lets discuss our cursed Abia state.

Abia state is the worst state in Nigeria. All the eastern states are by far better than the shithole Abia state.

Mention any state that is worse off than Abia state in Nigeria.

It's your village in Anambra that is cursed not abia

Go and discuss Evans, Invictus obi and the drug pushers littered all over the world spoiling Igbo people's name.

SonOfEl:
Abia state with all it's political setbacks is indeed the most underrated state in Nigeria.

Till today lazy observers still cite the deficits of the past without following up the current ongoings in infrastructure renewal in Abia state.

There are some that knows what is going on in Aba. But they choose to continue lieing

phoenix911:
Are you sure it is 2feet? or do you mean Inches, are they building a dam?

Lol....sorry. The entire foundation plus concrete........

superlightning:
I hope they finish it in record time. There is more to be done. Thank God we are making progress.

We are getting there

B2mario:
Bro is there any plan to tar sacred heart road beside Osusu road?

Sorry for the late reply. I was banned.
Currently for sacred heart, am not aware. No work has commenced there. The probably want to finish cemetery road so as to join both of them.
Below is cemetery road (I think) drainage kicked off....

UMUAHIA1stson:
I am from Abia state, to be candid Abia state is dead

You wish.......... You can never be an Abia indigene.
Your a disgrace for calling your state dead if your really from here......

Below is Ikot-ekpene road before waterside......

Umudike junction in the capital of the dead state

Umueme:
Sorry for the late reply. I was banned.
Currently for sacred heart, am not aware. No work has commenced there. The probably want to finish cemetery road so as to join both of them.
Below is cemetery road (I think) drainage kicked off....

I meant the other side of sacred heart that connects with faulks road.

Umueme:
You wish.......... You can never be an Abia indigene.
Your a disgrace for calling your state dead if your really from here......

Below is Ikot-ekpene road before waterside......

Are you sure the idiot even know road to Abia? None of these people parading themselves as Abians are truly Abians. None of them has gone to Abia before. Anybody who has truly been to Abia will be amazed.

Umueme:
There are some that knows what is going on in Aba. But they choose to continue lieing

At times I laughed at the display I see here on daily basis. I've travelled to all parts of Nigeria and can stand my ground and said that Abia is among the 1st ten best states in Nigeria. No matter the political blackmail, Abia is far better and more advanced than many states in the north, Southwest, and even southsouth and southeast.

There are many states in Nigeria you hardly see 5 to 7 storey buildings and dual carriage roads but uncountless in Abia. Most people on nairaland shouting Abia this and that have never travel beyond their state, they are acting based on what they read on media.

Umueme:
You wish.......... You can never be an Abia indigene.
Your a disgrace for calling your state dead if your really from here......

Below is Ikot-ekpene road before waterside......

Why are they not marking your roads

UMUAHIA1stson:
Abia state is long gone. I am from Abia

I'm not from Abia State but as an Igbo Man, I have a stake in Igbo land you may think by trying to derail the thread with old pictures you extract from the internet that you are shaming the Abia State people you are mistaking, your action is destroying the Igbo land. When was the last time you traveled to Abia State? Yes, we have to hold our leaders in the Southeast accountable in all ramifications but not the way you are doing it. Once upon a time, that was Abia State yes particularly Aba, was it like now no, are more to be done yes.