The Nigerian-Biafran civil war was one of the most destructive wars fought on African soil. The level of destruction that happened to eastern cities specifically those of igbos was tremendous.

Yet despite this destruction, so many cities in Nigeria didn’t experience a single bullet. One would expect those cities to be far more developed today.

But traveling around Nigeria, it’s quite shocking to see some cities in this 21st century.

The First 2 pictures are From Rwanda and Namibia

The last 2 pictures are what Singapore looked like in the 60s and 70s.

The Igbos can be excused because of the hand that they have been dealt with BUT What is the excuse for those who never experienced war?

Igbo

Corruption and greed @Op

Well

1.OP you are comparing other cities capitals to your average Nigerian city..you should know that a capital is the showpiece.

2The reason why all Nigerian cities are underdeveloped is simple....we don't pay the taxes to make them developed. We are a resource dependent nation with a low GDP. Expecting us to be like Singapore with a GDP per capita of 60000 usd, while Nigeria is at 2400 usd. is like expecting miracles.

3.Instead of saying my city is better than yours, agitate for things like council taxes so that we can have better cities, and also vote in the right leaders.

Nigerian cities are all a mess, and we are doing nothing to make them better. All Nigerian cities.

4.Most Nigerians don't want to be like Singapore. You guys don't want to be industrial. You all want to fight over how money is shared at the center.

backbencher:
Well

1.OP you are comparing other cities capitals to your average Nigerian city..you should know that a capital is the showpiece.

2The reason why all Nigerian cities are underdeveloped is simple....we don't pay the taxes to make them developed. We are a resource dependent nation with a low GDP. Expecting us to be like Singapore

3.Instead of saying my city is better than yours, agitate for things like council taxes so that we can have better cities, and also vote in the right leaders.

Nigerian cities are all a mess, and we are doing nothing to make them better. All Nigerian cities.

So basically you are saying that lack of taxes and oil dependency is the reason why Nigerian cities that never experienced war are underdeveloped?

I am not sure that I am convinced by that reasoning

Nigeria had a period from about the late 80s to early 2000s about 30yrs of no growth,economic repression,things were stagnant,imagine no development for 30yrs,that's what caused the underdevelopment of Nigeria cities I think

dem don start

Deborah98:
Corruption and greed @Op

....Hate as well!

You can’t be this hateful, envious and resentful towards your neighbour, the way some of them are towards Ndigbo, and then expect good fortune, blessings and alabaruka (apologies to Patoranking) to follow you!

In trying to hold Igbos down (enthronement and sustaining the present evil political-economy and status-quo), they fail to realise they’re equally holding themselves down as well!

backbencher:
Well

1.OP you are comparing other cities capitals to your average Nigerian city..you should know that a capital is the showpiece.

2The reason why all Nigerian cities are underdeveloped is simple....we don't pay the taxes to make them developed. We are a resource dependent nation with a low GDP. Expecting us to be like Singapore with a GDP per capita of 60000 usd, while Nigeria is at 2400 usd. is like expecting miracles.

3.Instead of saying my city is better than yours, agitate for things like council taxes so that we can have better cities, and also vote in the right leaders.

Nigerian cities are all a mess, and we are doing nothing to make them better. All Nigerian cities.

4.Most Nigerians don't want to be like Singapore. You guys don't want to be industrial. You all want to fight over how money is shared at the center.

I just read your edit and your response is all over the place.

Your are referring to all Nigerian cities when I specifically asked about the Nigerian cities that NEVER experienced war or were destroyed by war.

babasolution:
Nigeria had a period from about the late 80s to early 2000s about 30yrs of no growth,economic repression,things were stagnant,imagine no development for 30yrs,that's what caused the underdevelopment of Nigeria cities I think

Lets us assume that I agree with your excuse,

Ok so what is holding them back since 2000? why are still underdeveloped.

horsepower102:


I just read your edit and your response is all over the place.

Your are referring to all Nigerian cities when I specifically asked about the Nigerian cities that NEVER experienced war or were destroyed by war.

It’s even more easier for places that experienced the war to be more developed because as at 1966, there are little Nigerian states that are that developed. Most of them are still of old age structures and underdeveloped at least.

If the war had happened in 2010 now it will be a different ball game.

An irony

Abuja and lagos is more develop than kigali and windhoek.. apart from their capitals, no other place is devwloped in the countries you posted

After looking at the present state of countries and city-states we were better than in 1960 (like South-Korea, Dubai and Singapore), any Nigerian (Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Itshekiri, Ijaw, Igala, etc) that isn’t filled with shame, anger and frustration at our lot in present day ‘one Nigeria’....something is definitely wrong with such a person!

horsepower102:


So basically you are saying that lack of taxes and oil dependency is the reason why Nigerian cities that never experienced war are underdeveloped?

I am not sure that I am convinced by that reasoning

1.You want good stuff, you pay for it. That's why private companies provide better service than government companies. (eg covenant university can provide decent accommodation facilities for its students compared to OAU ile Ife.).

UK cities are better than Nigerian cities because they pay something called council tax...which is a lot of money, but it is used for good city services.

2.Nigeria is an oil dependent country...meaning

a) We don't have enough money because oil prices jump up and down and are never at a level that can sustain us (and our very large population does not help matters too)

b) We use the money to import and import...we even import stuff that we make...and the value of imports are more than that of exports.

c) Industrial countries are able to set the prices of their industrial exports..meaning they can earn far more money than oil dependent countries.

d) The only oil dependent countries that do 'well' are countries that have very small populations.

e) Even if we go and tell the North and SW to 'do agriculture' the same arguments apply...that's why no African country is rich enough and most subsaharan African countries are just as debt ridden and poor as we are. The places where they set the prices for cocoa, iron, cotton, and so on is the same place they set the price for oil...London, Paris and New York.


Let's become industrial, and raise our tax to gdp ratio from 6.1% to higher...and then we can get somewhere.(Accountability and fighting corruption is importante)

Not this one where we are fighting over VAT money and oil money...meanwhile Bauchi and Rivers state are doing nothing about attracting industries or encoruaging domestic production of industrial goods for export.

horsepower102:


Lets us assume that I agree with your excuse,

Ok so what is holding them back since 2000? why are still underdeveloped.

There's been a lot of improvement in most cities during that period o from mid 2000s to now,compared to the state of cities in the 90s

horsepower102:


I just read your edit and your response is all over the place.

Your are referring to all Nigerian cities when I specifically asked about the Nigerian cities that NEVER experienced war or were destroyed by war.

Yes, because I know what you are up to...and I am not here to play Ibo vs Yoruba vs Hausa...especially when all our cities are equally BAD.

Tribal chest beating, whatever the tribe, does not solve our problems.

And you started off by comparing ordinary Nigerian cities to the capitals of other countries. Apples and oranges much?

trutharena:


It’s even more easier for places that experienced the war to be more developed because as at 1966, there are little Nigerian states that are that developed. Most of them are still of old age structures and underdeveloped at least.

If the war had happened in 2010 now it will be a different ball game.

But so many countries whose cities were on par with Nigerian cities in the 60s and 70s still found a way to modernize their cities. So many south east Asian countries had horrible levels of development in comparison to today.

horsepower102:


But so many countries whose cities were on par with Nigerian cities in the 60s and 70s still found a way to modernize their cities. So many south east Asian countries had horrible levels of development in comparison to today.

Because they changed their economies from 'resource dependency' to industrial dependency.

Which Nigeria, up till now, hasn't been able to do because we are fixated on the idea that to make money, we have to export raw materails and use the money to import and import.

That's why South Korea and China went from being behind us to being ahead of us by far.

LILTJAY:
igbos with delusions. . You guys hate other tribe but want love
Stupid and cursed people

Thanks!

Igbos don’t hate any tribe....not even the Fulani! You can’t hold a wife in a loveless marriage....abuse and disrespect her, yet get surprised when she curses you out!

If you like, we can have a discussion about who exactly is hating who....with concrete examples to help buttress our points!?

Rwanda amaka biko.

LILTJAY:
igbos with delusions. . You guys hate other tribe but want love
Stupid and cursed people

Afonja mods won't see this one to ban.

Na when we remind them of how unhuman they are they will start banning upandan.

backbencher:


Yes, because I know what you are up to...and I am not here to play Ibo vs Yoruba vs Hausa...especially when all our cities are equally BAD.

Tribal chest beating, whatever the tribe, does not solve our problems.

And you started off by comparing ordinary Nigerian cities to the capitals of other countries. Apples and oranges much?

Don't hide under tribalism card to delegitimize a common sense question. If a place never experienced war and yet remains underdeveloped for over 50 years, it is pertinent to ask why why it is that way.

AlfaSeltzer:
Rwanda amaka biko.

Biafra should be the most developed, we know that cities that witness direct warfare ie Tokyo, Berlin always come back stronger, don’t know what happened in Eastern Nigeria?

Igbo people caused it We killed them, they refused to die. We burry them, they germinated. Ogbomosho for be a mega city now but Nnamdi Kanu frustrated us

horsepower102:


Don't hide under tribalism card to delegitimize a common sense question. If a place never experienced war and yet remains underdeveloped for over 50 years, it is pertinent to ask why why it is that way.

Most cities that experience war are always the most developed, blame yourselves, you abandoned ship & ran to other states in Nigeria. You have no idea the amount of money The Federal Government spent in its RRR for reconstruction of Eastern Nigeria after the war.

horsepower102:


Don't hide under tribalism card to delegitimize a common sense question. If a place never experienced war and yet remains underdeveloped for over 50 years, it is pertinent to ask why why it is that way.

Well, Igbo land did do a good job developing after the war, I don't dispute that.

But the fact is, even then, all Nigerian cities, war torn or no, are still bad. They could do much better than what we have now, whether Ibo land or non-Ibo land. Whether they passed through the war or did not.

And the only way is simple...industrial development, and more income from taxes to make things better.Not fighting over oil money.

Good evening.

P.S German cities were bombed to waste and back. So also Japanese cities. Now they all look good and nice. Because they developed industries and economies based on industries, not on looking for oil in Bauchi or the sea...and sold their industrial producits for profits greater than that can be gotten from oil...and greater than can be gotten from cocoa, and so on. And they charge high tax to gdp ratio

I want the East, and the rest of Nigeria to be like Germany and JAPAN. Which is why I am annoyed with the attitude of most Nairalanders PDP and APC. You guys all fight over sharing oil money. Not over development.

backbencher:


1.You want good stuff, you pay for it. That's why private companies provide better service than government companies. (eg covenant university can provide decent accommodation facilities for its students compared to OAU ile Ife.).

UK cities are better than Nigerian cities because they pay something called council tax...which is a lot of money, but it is used for good city services.

2.Nigeria is an oil dependent country...meaning

a) We don't have enough money because oil prices jump up and down and are never at a level that can sustain us (and our very large population does not help matters too)

b) We use the money to import and import...we even import stuff that we make...and the value of imports are more than that of exports.

c) Industrial countries are able to set the prices of their industrial exports..meaning they can earn far more money than oil dependent countries.

d) The only oil dependent countries that do 'well' are countries that have very small populations.

e) Even if we go and tell the North and SW to 'do agriculture' the same arguments apply...that's why no African country is rich enough and most subsaharan African countries are just as debt ridden and poor as we are. The places where they set the prices for cocoa, iron, cotton, and so on is the same place they set the price for oil...London, Paris and New York.


Let's become industrial, and raise our tax to gdp ratio from 6.1% to higher...and then we can get somewhere.(Accountability and fighting corruption is importante)

Not this one where we are fighting over VAT money and oil money...meanwhile Bauchi and Rivers state are doing nothing about attracting industries or encoruaging domestic production of industrial goods for export.

The reason why I struggle with your list of excuses is that If you compare the pictures of some Nigerian cities (that never experienced war) to their present day condition, you will be shocked to the bone that not much has changed.

The excuses that you are stating above don't explain this fundamental problem.

Look at Bogota in Columbia and see how it went from a decaying slum to where it is today. Columbia's economy was not doing well during that time period. Yet they were still able to transform Bogota.

PROUDIGBO:


[s]Thanks!

Igbos don’t hate any tribe....not even the Fulani! You can’t hold a wife in a loveless marriage....abuse and disrespect her, yet get surprised when she curses you out!

If you like, we can have a discussion about who exactly is hating who....with concrete examples to help buttress our points!?[/s]

take your trash to the bin.. you hate others, they hate you back and you start crying.
I have been On nairaland since 2007 to know this

AlfaSeltzer:


Afonja mods won't see this one to ban.

Na when we remind them of how unhuman they are they will start banning upandan.

fvck you nigga

LILTJAY:
take your trash to the bin.. you hate others, they hate you back and you start crying.
I have been On nairaland since 2007 to know this

Perfect assertion, they are supposedly begging for freedom, yet they want to dictate how it should be delivered?