AS A BUSINESS MAN WITH A BRANCH IN ALABA INT'L, LAGOS, IT BAFFLES ME THAT ALABA DOES NOT HAVE A SINGLE HOSPITAL, NO SCHOOL, NO BOREHOLE, NO PUBLIC CONVENIENCE, NO STANDARD SECURITY OUTFIT, NO FIRE FIGHTING INSTALLATIONS, NO ORGANIZED LAWS ETC YET, THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET HAS LEADERS OF IBO EXTRACTION AND 99.99% OF THE TRADERS ARE IBOS. WORST OF ALL, YOU SEE DIFFERENT FORMS OF HARASSMENT, CORRUPTION, INTIMIDATION, OPPRESSION,TOUTING, ETC ALL PERPETUATED BY IBOS AGAINST IBOS. YOU NEED TO OWN A SHOP THERE FOR YOU TO KNOW THAT WE, THE IBOS, ARE THE MOST UN ORGANIZED TRIBE IN NIGERIA. AND THAT WE LACK POLITICAL SHREWDNESS OF ANY SORT.

NOW, COMPARE THE ANALOGY ABOVE TO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN NNEWI NAY THE IBO NATION AS A WHOLE.

kcjazz:

In all these, any idea what role the business people have played for an issue such as the roads. In all my life I have never seen so much okada bikes in one place than Nnewi, they even have nice Okada showrooms. I expect them to come together and help with the roads or lobby the government to help with those since good roads mean good business.

actually i dnt know of nnewi but let me take onitsha i had lived as an example>there is a road that leads people in our area out to the express but erosion(u know what erosion is like in SEAST) caused a havoc,pppl try calling upon govt but to no avail so they contributed money,control the erosion and construct a bridge (do you know how much it take to construct a bridge).If im to mention what the businessmen had done which is countless yet they pay taxes to govt right from lagos port to their shops(not to talk of police money in the high way) have you ever seen onitsha express road which has been abandon since Azikiwe left govt seat (but thank god for our new azikiwe and i pray he will succeed).So my brother the men are trying is just left for the govt to do what is right esp federal.

raycomray:

AS A BUSINESS MAN WITH A BRANCH IN ALABA INT'L, LAGOS, IT BAFFLES ME THAT ALABA DOES NOT HAVE A SINGLE HOSPITAL, NO SCHOOL, NO BOREHOLE, NO PUBLIC CONVENIENCE,  NO STANDARD SECURITY OUTFIT, NO FIRE FIGHTING INSTALLATIONS, NO ORGANIZED LAWS ETC  YET, THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET HAS LEADERS OF IBO EXTRACTION AND 99.99% OF THE TRADERS ARE IBOS. WORST OF ALL, YOU SEE DIFFERENT FORMS OF HARASSMENT, CORRUPTION,  INTIMIDATION, OPPRESSION,TOUTING,  ETC  ALL PERPETUATED BY IBOS AGAINST IBOS.  YOU NEED TO OWN A SHOP THERE FOR YOU TO KNOW THAT WE, THE IBOS,  ARE THE MOST UN ORGANIZED TRIBE IN NIGERIA. AND THAT WE LACK POLITICAL SHREWDNESS OF ANY SORT.

NOW, COMPARE THE ANALOGY ABOVE TO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN NNEWI NAY THE IBO NATION AS A WHOLE.

have you been to umuahia, owerri or enugu before?if not go and sit down.

@Kalu Akanu

Our governors do not represent the people. Remember that many of our so called "leaders" were foisted on us from people from other regions. T.A. Orji does not represent anyone in Abia State. Ohakim does not represent anyone in Imo State. And I do not know much about Martin Elechi to comment on him.

@Kalu Akanu

Are you not embarrassed or ashamed of the bolded?- that the clever, self determined, republican/democratic Igbo, are victims in their own 'home', >, WHY? What happened to the power of the people? or so called community spirit? Is it dead?

raycomray:

AS A BUSINESS MAN WITH A BRANCH IN ALABA INT'L, LAGOS, IT BAFFLES ME THAT ALABA DOES NOT HAVE A SINGLE HOSPITAL, NO SCHOOL, NO BOREHOLE, NO PUBLIC CONVENIENCE, NO STANDARD SECURITY OUTFIT, NO FIRE FIGHTING INSTALLATIONS, NO ORGANIZED LAWS ETC YET, THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET HAS LEADERS OF IBO EXTRACTION AND 99.99% OF THE TRADERS ARE IBOS. WORST OF ALL, YOU SEE DIFFERENT FORMS OF HARASSMENT, CORRUPTION, INTIMIDATION, OPPRESSION,TOUTING, ETC ALL PERPETUATED BY IBOS AGAINST IBOS. YOU NEED TO OWN A SHOP THERE FOR YOU TO KNOW THAT WE, THE IBOS, ARE THE MOST UN ORGANIZED TRIBE IN NIGERIA. AND THAT WE LACK POLITICAL SHREWDNESS OF ANY SORT.

NOW, COMPARE THE ANALOGY ABOVE TO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN NNEWI NAY THE IBO NATION AS A WHOLE.

i cant find meaning with ur post to our topic,

raycomray:

AS A BUSINESS MAN WITH A BRANCH IN ALABA INT'L, LAGOS, IT BAFFLES ME THAT ALABA DOES NOT HAVE A SINGLE HOSPITAL, NO SCHOOL, NO BOREHOLE, NO PUBLIC CONVENIENCE,  NO STANDARD SECURITY OUTFIT, NO FIRE FIGHTING INSTALLATIONS, NO ORGANIZED LAWS ETC  YET, THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET HAS LEADERS OF IBO EXTRACTION AND 99.99% OF THE TRADERS ARE IBOS. WORST OF ALL, YOU SEE DIFFERENT FORMS OF HARASSMENT, CORRUPTION,  INTIMIDATION, OPPRESSION,TOUTING,  ETC  ALL PERPETUATED BY IBOS AGAINST IBOS.  YOU NEED TO OWN A SHOP THERE FOR YOU TO KNOW THAT WE, THE IBOS,  ARE THE MOST UN ORGANIZED TRIBE IN NIGERIA. AND THAT WE LACK POLITICAL SHREWDNESS OF ANY SORT.

NOW, COMPARE THE ANALOGY ABOVE TO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN NNEWI NAY THE IBO NATION AS A WHOLE.

i cant find meaning with ur post to our topic,

Toaskarity:

actually i dnt know of nnewi but let me take onitsha i had lived as an example>there is a road that leads people in our area out to the express but erosion(u know what erosion is like in SEAST) caused a havoc,pppl try calling upon govt but to no avail so they contributed money,control the erosion and construct a bridge (do you know how much it take to construct a bridge).If im to mention what the businessmen had done which is countless yet they pay taxes to govt right from lagos port to their shops(not to talk of police money in the high way) have you ever seen onitsha express road which has been abandon since Azikiwe left govt seat (but thank god for our new azikiwe and i pray he will succeed).So my brother the men are trying is just left for the govt to do what is right esp federal.

I agree with Asha. Have you been to Enugu, Owerri or Umuahia? If not, you cannot speak for Igboland as a whole.

cheikh:

@Kalu Akanu


@Kalu Akanu

Are you not embarrassed or ashamed of the bolded?- that the clever, self determined, republican/democratic Igbo, are victims in their own 'home', >,  WHY? What happened to the power of the people? or so called community spirit? Is it dead?

This is what happens when you lose a war. To the victors, goes the spoils. But nothing last forever, so why should I be embarrassed or ashamed?

My people will see better days.

Wow. I'm impressed that my village is being discussed. Never knew it was this popular though. And I'm even more enlightened. Its truly surprising to see how far we've gone even without much government intervention.

zibe:

Wow. I'm impressed that my village is being discussed. Never knew it was this popular though. And I'm even more enlightened. Its truly surprising to see how far we've gone even without much government intervention.

bury ur head in shame

@chidyke77, why exactly should I do so, because I didn't grow up there? For crying out loud please grow up! I may not be in Nnewi but I'm learning more about it day by day and what more, I can still speak my language so please cut me some slack!

Kalu Akanu:


This is what happens when you lose a war. To the victors, goes the spoils. But nothing last forever, so why should I be embarrassed or ashamed?

My people will see better days.

sorry brother, what do you mean by the bolded part

alj harem:

sorry brother, what do you mean by the bolded part

Exactly what it means. It is self-explanatory my "friend."

Kalu Akanu,
Thank you for your articulate and very insightful contributions here. The discussion is about how to improve the infrastructure in Nnewi town that befits its commercial profile within the continent of Africa. While we look at all other relevant matters, let's not be distracted and take off on a tangent.

Nigeria is a physical giant but a mental dwarf, otherwise Nnewi would have been developed to rival Abuja in both architecture and function. Gov. Obi is head and shoulders above his Lagos State colleague given their accomplishments-to-revenues-available ratio. But planning Nnewi even going forward should be a local function (i.e. city and even LG authorities) but financing the infrastructure buildout should be a Fed govt priority. Let's hope GEJ will do the right thing soon. It will be revealing if GEJ can "move the mountains" that the petty mental midgets have not been able to do for over 40 years.

Odinma Nnewi!

Nwa Anaedo

Kalu Akanu:

Exactly what it means. It is self-explanatory my "friend."

sorry to bother you again brother, i really do not see any spoils of war here

Infact, igbos our all the major business in nieria also as you brother above said raycomray

"99% of shops in alaba are owned by igbos and controlled by them" although it is a south-westerner state

el-rufia said 75% of the lands in abuja are own by igbo

so i do not see any suffering or spoils of war here

Nwa Nnewi:

Kalu Akanu,
Thank you for your articulate and very insightful contributions here. The discussion is about how to improve the infrastructure in Nnewi town that befits its commercial profile within the continent of Africa. While we look at all other relevant matters, let's not be distracted and take off on a tangent.

Nigeria is a physical giant but a mental dwarf, otherwise Nnewi would have been developed to rival Abuja in both architecture and function. Gov. Obi is head and shoulders above his Lagos State colleague given their accomplishments-to-revenues-available ratio. But planning Nnewi even going forward should be a local function (i.e. city and even LG authorities) but financing the infrastructure buildout should be a Fed govt priority. Let's hope GEJ will do the right thing soon. It will be revealing if GEJ can "move the mountains" that the petty mental midgets have not been able to do for over 40 years.

Odinma Nnewi!

Nwa Anaedo

Why do you guys feel the need to always compare yourself to Yorubas?

Are you all that insecure?

zibe:

@chidyke77, why exactly should I do so, because I didn't grow up there? For crying out loud please grow up! I may not be in Nnewi but I'm learning more about it day by day and what more, I can still speak my language so please cut me some slack!

bt u shuld try to be visiting home at least once in a year so that matters that concern your home wld be familiar to you.

Nwa Nnewi:

Kalu Akanu,
Thank you for your articulate and very insightful contributions here. The discussion is about how to improve the infrastructure in Nnewi town that befits its commercial profile within the continent of Africa. While we look at all other relevant matters, let's not be distracted and take off on a tangent.

Nigeria is a physical giant but a mental dwarf, otherwise Nnewi would have been developed to rival Abuja in both architecture and function. Gov. Obi is head and shoulders above his Lagos State colleague given their accomplishments-to-revenues-available ratio. But planning Nnewi even going forward should be a local function (i.e. city and even LG authorities) but financing the infrastructure buildout should be a Fed govt priority. Let's hope GEJ will do the right thing soon. It will be revealing if GEJ can "move the mountains" that the petty mental midgets have not been able to do for over 40 years.

Odinma Nnewi!

Nwa Anaedo

let me tell you d truth; the problem wt nnewi are d indigenes. If Nnewi cn grow and be developed,then it must start frm d indigene themselves because they ar d major hinderance to the development of the place.

fstranger1:


Why do you guys feel the need to always compare yourself to Yorubas?

Are you all that insecure?

He is not comparing anything to Yorubas as a people. The gentleman is comparing states, in which he is comparing Anambra, Lagos and also the Federal Capital Territory . Learn to stay on task mumu and keep up with what he is saying.

It is not hard to comprehend.

chidyke77:

let me tell you d truth; the problem wt nnewi are d indigenes. If Nnewi cn grow and be developed,then it must start frm d indigene themselves because they ar d major hinderance to the development of the place.

explain?

also if i am not mistaken nnewi was not 'designed' to be a city per say.

@chidyke77, that's the problem though, but I'll certainly be doing that.

In order to stay focused on the topic, one must ignore those who are here to provoke and incite. It is not difficult to make them out. Those who put words in your mouth and those who make unsubstantiated inflammatory statements clearly belong in that bucket. Thx Kanu.

Nwa Nnewi:

Kalu Akanu,
Thank you for your articulate and very insightful contributions here. The discussion is about how to improve the infrastructure in Nnewi town that befits its commercial profile within the continent of Africa. While we look at all other relevant matters, let's not be distracted and take off on a tangent.

Nigeria is a physical giant but a mental dwarf, otherwise Nnewi would have been developed to rival Abuja in both architecture and function. Gov. Obi is head and shoulders above his Lagos State colleague given their accomplishments-to-revenues-available ratio. But planning Nnewi even going forward should be a local function (i.e. city and even LG authorities) but financing the infrastructure buildout should be a Fed govt priority. Let's hope GEJ will do the right thing soon. It will be revealing if GEJ can "move the mountains" that the petty mental midgets have not been able to do for over 40 years.

Odinma Nnewi!

Nwa Anaedo

I agree with everything you said my brother. Especially, your bolded statement. Nnewi is just one of many Eastern cities that has the ability to achieve greatness. That is why we should focus on improving those towns in infrastructure and economic investment.

asha 2:

explain?

also if i am not mistaken nnewi was not 'designed' to be a city per say.

Nnewi is a semi-urban but because of high rural population,many people mistaken it for a city.IMHO Nnewi is faring much better than its peers.I think more focus should be on Aba and Onitsha which are actually large towns.Owerri,Umuahia and Enugu are well planned but I still think they have a long way to go.Infact all the cities in Nigeria apart from Abuja and Calabar are below standard.

A good area you all have to look at is the level taxation on businesses in Igbo land. I don’t know of other states but tax and levies on business in Imo is just scary, unless you are crooked enough to bribe them. Along with 2 other brothers, I opened a fully fledged orthopaedic hospital at Ikenegbu layout in Owerri in the 80s during the time Uncle Sam Mbakwe was running the state.
His govt was great on business and investment through tax incentives and other things like land acquisition. I still remembered three of his commissioners then, Love-day Ememe and Wilfred Onyejiaka, Cosmas Egole (Are they still alive?)Were particularly very helpful towards what we brought to the state without asking any bribe, which was unusual. We borrowed heavily from U.K banks were two of us were based.

But once Mbakwe left, all hail breaks loose. First came Ike Nwachukwu, who first introduced a tax called “Survival Levy” and we were given a bill of 35 thousand Naira (This was 1985 when Naira was as strong as the Pounds sterling). Two of us had to work in the U.K endlessly to keep the non profit making hospital in Owerri running and one of us who relocated from Germany along with his wife were running it often without salaries.  During Alison Madueke’s govt, the hospital donated 50 thousand naira toward the present Sam Mbakwe airport Owerri building project as we are expected to, even though it was meant to be voluntary donation, despite having paid towards the same airport project through our individual community's efforts towards the project. However, it has always been the same with subsequent governments that in the mid 90s I decided to minimise my loses by selling up my part of the investment.

Many of us will like to come home and invest in Igbo land but issues like this nature, coupled with Nigerian ineptness with infrastructures are making it impossible. When I saw the Igbo born Consultant who came with a huge amount to invest in Abuja as he was giving evidence during the Nigerian senate investigation over the allocation of lands in Abuja crying about how much he lost trying to secure a land alone to build a first class Neorological Hospital in Abuja, I exactly knew where he is coming from.  Funny enough, the guy has take his investment to Ghana as we speak.

But from what I heard, Peter Obi is addressing this area of concern, probably because of his real business background, unlike others like Elechi (I knew during the Eastern region days) that are used to counting their salaries every month, what do they know about business?
But I still got my six bedroom duplex house in Aladinma Owerri, that cost as little as 35K pounds sterling to build from start to finish, excluding furnishing. Owerri is a very nice place to stay but Ohakim and his gang has made it an impossible place to stay.

Abagworo:

Nnewi is a semi-urban but because of high rural population,many people mistaken it for a city.IMHO Nnewi is faring much better than its peers. I think more focus should be on Aba and Onitsha which are actually large towns.Owerri,Umuahia and Enugu are well planned but I still think they have a long way to go.Infact all the cities in Nigeria apart from Abuja and Calabar are below standard.

The pertinent issue is not the size of the towns but the economic virility. I'm not sure that Umuahia, Aba or Owerri command the kind of attention that Nnewi does outside of the region and in other African countries. Nnewi with its auto supply market (among other things) can have a positive impact on the GDP of Nigeria. But Nigeria is swimming in petro dollars now and such concept just seems old fashioned. If the feds are attentive they would invest in developing areas that will attract foreign trade.

However, your point about planning is well taken. Nnewi was NOT PLANNED as an urban city. Another chance was missed right after the war. Nnewi downtown (Nkwo Main market environment) should have been planned simultaneously as Nkwo market was being developed. Even now, it is not too late to squeeze in some planning with infusion of federal money to motivte and compensate property owners to yield to adjustments that may be needed.

Eziachi:

A good area you all have to look at is the level taxation on businesses in Igbo land. I don’t know of other states but tax and levies on business in Imo is just scary, unless you are crooked enough to bribe them. Along with 2 other brothers, I opened a fully fledged orthopaedic hospital at Ikenegbu layout in Owerri in the 80s during the time Uncle Sam Mbakwe was running the state.
His govt was great on business and investment through tax incentives and other things like land acquisition. I still remembered three of his commissioners then, Love-day Ememe and Wilfred Onyejiaka, Cosmas Egole (Are they still alive?)Were particularly very helpful towards what we brought to the state without asking any bribe, which was unusual. We borrowed heavily from U.K banks were two of us were based.

But once Mbakwe left, all hail breaks loose. First came Ike Nwachukwu, who first introduced a tax called “Survival Levy” and we were given a bill of 35 thousand Naira (This was 1985 when Naira was as strong as the Pounds sterling). Two of us had to work in the U.K endlessly to keep the non profit making hospital in Owerri running and one of us who relocated from Germany along with his wife were running it often without salaries. During Alison Madueke’s govt, the hospital donated 50 thousand naira toward the present Sam Mbakwe airport Owerri building project as we are expected to, even though it was meant to be voluntary donation, despite having paid towards the same airport project through our individual community's efforts towards the project. However, it has always been the same with subsequent governments that in the mid 90s I decided to minimise my loses by selling up my part of the investment.

Many of us will like to come home and invest in Igbo land but issues like this nature, coupled with Nigerian ineptness with infrastructures are making it impossible. When I saw the Igbo born Consultant who came with a huge amount to invest in Abuja as he was giving evidence during the Nigerian senate investigation over the allocation of lands in Abuja crying about how much he lost trying to secure a land alone to build a first class Neorological Hospital in Abuja, I exactly knew where he is coming from. Funny enough, the guy has take his investment to Ghana as we speak.

But from what I heard, Peter Obi is addressing this area of concern, probably because of his real business background, unlike others like Elechi (I knew during the Eastern region days) that are used to counting their salaries every month, what do they know about business?
But I still got my six bedroom duplex house in Aladinma Owerri, that cost as little as 35K pounds sterling to build from start to finish, excluding furnishing. Owerri is a very nice place to stay but Ohakim and his gang has made it an impossible place to stay.

Nwanna,
Yours is a heartbreaking anecdote demonstrating the difference between the insightful leadership era of "Dee Sam" and the new "dog eat dog" era of kleptocracy. Udenwa was a huge disappointment and Ohakim is just a lost boy wasting a golden throne. Abia State should just be forgotten. My optimist spirit hopes that as the Peter Obis begin to raise the bar, other states will compel their leaders. I've heard of too many opportunities initially destined for Igboland that got diverted to other more business-friendly West African countries. A loss for Nigeria at the end of the day. Unfortunately, it's looking like Imo State is not going to get a break anytime soon with the cast of characters ined up for the governor's seat and how they are stacked barring divine intervention.

Nwa Nnewi:



Nigeria is a physical giant but a mental dwarf, otherwise Nnewi would have been developed to rival Abuja in both architecture and function.

Developed by who?

I hope you don't mean the federal government and are instead complaining about local government failure. There's absolutely no justifiable reason why the federal government would focus on that one city (Nnewi) over the multitude of others in the federation. It would be no different than when Abacha was using federal money to build up Kano (a historical capital city of hundreds of years) as though Kano had any precedence or priority over the others in the federation, or "deserved" to be built up more than every other city because it was/is a commercial center and hub of activity.

The only cities which will ever have any priority to the dirt-poor Nigerian governments (federal and local) are those that are capitals of the country (Lagos, previously, and now Abuja) simply to keep up appearances or capitals of a state (the government of a state usually spends disproportionately high amounts on the state capital.). The oil-poor (not "oil-rich" Nigerian federal government cannot possibly afford to truly build up and/or maintain every decently sized city in Nigeria, nor can the state governments of most states afford to build up every decent sized city within their state.

This Nnewi is not even a capital and yet people are lamenting over it in particular as though other non-capital cities are faring any better. If the infrastructure is rotting in that city, as in any many many other cities in Nigeria, it's up to the state government and concerned citizens to look for outside sources of funding for developmental projects. Blaming it on the federal government is just weak.

You guys that are beatifying Peter Obi should PLEASE stop it!

Some dont actually hear about but we LIVE in his administration and all its compound failures.
People were really patient for him and he is a total disappointment.

Posted by: PhysicsMHD

Developed by who?

I hope you don't mean the federal government and are instead complaining about local government failure. There's absolutely no justifiable reason why the federal government would focus on that one city (Nnewi) over the multitude of others in the federation. It would be no different than when Abacha was using federal money to build up Kano (a historical capital city of hundreds of years) as though Kano had any precedence or priority over the others in the federation, or "deserved" to be built up more than every other city because it was/is a commercial center and hub of activity.

The only cities which will ever have any priority to the dirt-poor Nigerian governments (federal and local) are those that are capitals of the country (Lagos, previously, and now Abuja) simply to keep up appearances or capitals of a state (the government of a state usually spends disproportionately high amounts on the state capital.). The oil-poor (not "oil-rich" Nigerian federal government cannot possibly afford to truly build up and/or maintain every decently sized city in Nigeria, nor can the state governments of most states afford to build up every decent sized city within their state.

This Nnewi is not even a capital and yet people are lamenting over it in particular as though other non-capital cities are faring any better. If the infrastructure is rotting in that city, as in any many many other cities in Nigeria, it's up to the state government and concerned citizens to look for outside sources of funding for developmental projects. Blaming it on the federal government is just weak.

If you read his statement fully, I don't think he is expecting the federal government to "develop" Nnewi.
Most Nnewi guys don't think like that.

But in developing something like electricity and infrastructure, you would agree that federal support could help.

The solution lies with implementation of the masterplan by the state government. Of course in a properly managed country, the federal government will provide incentives to strategic industries like auto-allied industries by building power plants, federal roads, etc.

Nnewi is not the only city in Nigeria, but you better believe that the town is more productive than most of the so called state capitals in Nigeria.

To recap my solution: Implement the city masterplan and design a regional masterplan to cover the entire eastern Nigeria.

The industries in Nnewi need easier import/export, transportation, access. Plowing back taxes and customs duties to the town/LGA will provide a longer term funding for infrastructure development.

Also, a clever business/Local government partnership will further expand local funding options.

Ok, perhaps I misread him.


I don't deny that the federal government has recorded abysmal failure in many areas, under both civilian and military rule, that would be crucial to aiding the growth and development

A good example is the massive amounts of natural gas in the southwest and the coal in the southeast not being used for energy/electricity despite being right in front of us. It makes no sense to me. Perhaps specialists know something that I don't about this, but I've thought about it for a while and haven't been able to figure out why nobody is doing anything with all those resources in front of them.

As per the roads and buildings, I still maintain that outside funding is needed to build and maintain all of that until such a time where taxes are enough to maintain them + build new ones, there's no way a (non-Abacha) federal government will just decide to focus on any one large city over hundreds of others if it can't also pay for improvements in the hundreds of others at the same time.

It's great that they even have a city/state/or regional master plan. That shows the kind of seriousness which is bound to produce results regardless of outside help. I doubt I could say the same for my own home city or state with regard to having a coherent, systematic plan.