Abagworo:

Dede1 has come again. The kind of business in Port-Harcourt is unequaled in Africa. Petty trading is no business and that is why most qualified people vacate Aba and Onitsha where 90% of the population are petty traders. Why can't graduates carry file on the streets of both towns if they are on PH level. Aba is even better that wealth is created there by artisans than Onitsha which is almost entirely dependent on selling to people from outside the State.

Much of Nigerias wealth is created in Port Harcourt but a large chunk vacates to Abuja and Lagos..

I am not a stranger to Port Harcourt, Aba, Lagos, or Onitsha. If you had read my post without bias, you would come across a statement such as “Remove Crude Oil Activities from Port Harcourt the city dies a natural death”. Believe me, I stand by it. I remember when I used to go to Abonima waterside to bring drums of Akamere (kinkana) and loads of smoked fish for my mother. Port Harcourt might have had Wharf but all the importers and businessmen came from Aba or Onitsha with warehouses in those cities. People from Ogoni, Port Hacourt, Afam, Eleme and Obigbo went to Aba to engage in trading activities.

By the way with the trend of economic and industrial development seen today any city can serve as a hub for economic activities. The city does not need to be a crude oil city. It is only in Nigeria crude oil is an alpha and omega. In USA, cities such as Houston and New Orleans, which handle crude oil activities as does Port Harcourt, are considered backbenchers to cities such New York, Los Angeles or Las Vergas when business activities are subject of discussion.

But dede what you have failed to realise is that the economy of PH as it is now is rapidly shifting away from an oil based one.oil has moved from being the 'foundation' of its economy to being its 'catalyst', by that i mean a steady increase in the population of the city AND a resultant increase in nonoil businesses or investments to cater for the increasing population...kind of like what being the FCT did for lagos and is currently doing for abuja.i can say for a fact that one of the reasons the population of this city hasnt exploded is that the cost of jiving here is highest amongst the three major cities..

phantom: But dede what you have failed to realise is that the economy of PH as it is now is rapidly shifting away from an oil based one.oil has moved from being the 'foundation' of its economy to being its 'catalyst', by that i mean a steady increase in the population of the city AND a resultant increase in nonoil businesses or investments to cater for the increasing population...kind of like what being the FCT did for lagos and is currently doing for abuja.i can say for a fact that one of the reasons the population of this city hasnt exploded is that the cost of jiving here is highest amongst the three major cities..

Please tell me exactly what port-hacourt's economy is shifting to? Militancy? PH is about oil, oil and more oil. That's why most rich people in port-hacourt are involved in one oil business or the other while others live in abject poverty. Do you know that there is more poverty in PH than let's say owerri and Enugu.

Afam. .true! But you forget thats as a result of the population difference.thats why you would also expect to find more wealthy people in Ph than in those other two...but truth be told, generally speaking PH is probably the only city in this country where the wealth is spread out.you can randomly grab a man off the street there and expect to find(70% probability) at least a hundred bucks in his pocket compared to say lagos where there is a 5 - 10% chance of finding the same( super rich,super poor,very thin middle class).

afam4eva:

Please tell me exactly what port-hacourt's economy is shifting to? Militancy? PH is about oil, oil and more oil. That's why most rich people in port-hacourt are involved in one oil business or the other while others live in abject poverty. Do you know that there more poverty in PH than let's say owerri and Enugu.

Wrong one there. Each time I visit any other Nigerian city I get amazed at the level of poverty. Port Harcourt is far wealthier than any other city you can think of. Maybe I grew up not experiencing the poor side though but as an adult I've never seen where money is spent lavishly like PH.

Abagworo:

Wrong one there. Each time I visit any other Nigerian city I get amazed at the level of poverty. Port Harcourt is far wealthier than any other city you can think of. Maybe I grew up not experiencing the poor side though but as an adult I've never seen where money is spent lavishly like PH.

Go to Rumukruishi(i lived here), Elimgbu(also lived), Borokiri and other parts of the city and you'll notice that poverty is a commonwealth.

phantom: But dede what you have failed to realise is that the economy of PH as it is now is rapidly shifting away from an oil based one.oil has moved from being the 'foundation' of its economy to being its 'catalyst', by that i mean a steady increase in the population of the city AND a resultant increase in nonoil businesses or investments to cater for the increasing population...kind of like what being the FCT did for lagos and is currently doing for abuja.i can say for a fact that one of the reasons the population of this city hasnt exploded is that the cost of jiving here is highest amongst the three major cities..

I have engaged in business activities both in low and high level places. When I had to talk business of lifting crude oil, I think of Port Harcourt, Lagos or Abuja. But I must tell you that majority of business activities that involved large cross sections of Nigerian population are very local. For example, you are in Nigeria looking for a certain vehicular part or any engine part or textile material or building material or household equipment, you will be referred to Lagos, Aba or Onitsha. I have a house in Obigbo and recently needed finder liner for my mother’s Nissan Quest, the mechanics directed me to Aba or Lagos.

There's something about PH that surprises me. It's a big city yet it's always found wanting. Aba is actually providing most things that are used in port-hacourt. The government there have to device another means of making money and make port-hacourt known for something else other than Oil. Other cities should also carve a niche for themselves. It's unfortunate that most Nigerian cities are redundant except few cities like Aba, Onitsha, Nnewi, Abeokuta, Calabar and Lagos.

afam4eva: There's something about PH that surprises me. It's a big city yet it's always found wanting. Aba is actually providing most things that are used in port-hacourt. The government there have to device another means of making money and make port-hacourt known for something else other than Oil. Other cities should also carve a niche for themselves. It's unfortunate that most Nigerian cities are redundant except few cities like Aba, Onitsha, Nnewi, Abeokuta, Calabar and Lagos.

Stop mentioning those towns alongside Port Harcourt and Lagos.

Dede1:


I am not a stranger to Port Harcourt, Aba, Lagos, or Onitsha. If you had read my post without bias, you would come across a statement such as “Remove Crude Oil Activities from Port Harcourt the city dies a natural death”. Believe me, I stand by it. I remember when I used to go to Abonima waterside to bring drums of Akamere (kinkana) and loads of smoked fish for my mother. Port Harcourt might have had Wharf but all the importers and businessmen came from Aba or Onitsha with warehouses in those cities. People from Ogoni, Port Hacourt, Afam, Eleme and Obigbo went to Aba to engage in trading activities.

By the way with the trend of economic and industrial development seen today any city can serve as a hub for economic activities. The city does not need to be a crude oil city. It is only in Nigeria crude oil is an alpha and omega. In USA, cities such as Houston and New Orleans, which handle crude oil activities as does Port Harcourt, are considered backbenchers to cities such New York, Los Angeles or Las Vergas when business activities are subject of discussion.

The guy Abagworo must has had brain damage in the past. How could someone of his age say that we have all petty traders in Onitsha? Isn't a sign that this guy is headed for mental home.

Onitsha has the bulk of major importer that sustain this country. Go figure

Abagworo:

Stop mentioning those towns alongside Port Harcourt and Lagos.

This is a sign you are going down the drain. What other major economic city in the east can you name alongside PH and lagos, if not Onitsha? Owerre is not anywhere near those cities in any sphere of economic development, infact owerre represent a typical of lame town with little or nothing to offer to the society.

chino11:


This is a sign you are going down the drain. What other major economic city in the east can you name alongside PH and lagos, if not Onitsha? Owerre is not anywhere near those cities in any sphere of economic development, infact owerre represent a typical of lame town with little or nothing to offer to the society.

Boy you need to travel and see. Igbos are re-knowned travelers but you are so unenlightened and stuck to your local enclave.

Abagworo:


Boy you need to travel and see. Igbos are re-knowned travelers but you are so unenlightened and stuck to your local enclave.

I have traveled more than you could ever do. You lack common sense, its an insult to mention Owerre on same page with PH not to talk of lagos. I have been to major cities in Nigeria to know which and which you can compare. You can only compare cities Lagos, Onitsha and PH for economic reason which are synonymous in those places.

You can start comparing Owerre and PH when it comes to issues concerning prostitution.

chino11:


I have traveled more than you could ever do. You lack common sense, its an insult to mention Owerre on same page with PH not to talk of lagos. I have been to major cities in Nigeria to know which and which you can compare. You can only compare cities Lagos, Onitsha and PH for economic reason which are synonymous in those places.

You can start comparing Owerre and PH when it comes to issues concerning prostitution.

You can as well read my posts on this topic. Neither Owerri nor Onitsha should be mentioned alongside Port Harcourt. In Nigeria it is just Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The 2nd set are Ibadan, Kano,Benin city, Aba, Onitsha, Warri, Kaduna,Abeokuta and Jos.

Owerri, Calabar and Enugu are not business towns but are more organized than the 2nd class cities.

^
Guy, you have been spreading falso infomation all around here since. You clearly dont know what is development. Ph is just a hustling city where oil money is for the taking why owerri is a well planned and inhabitable city more like modelled after miami, paris and the rest. Your comparing Abia state to Anambra state in terms of development tells all about your primitivity. You can stop trolling.

Abagworo:

You can as well read my posts on this topic. Neither Owerri nor Onitsha should be mentioned alongside Port Harcourt. In Nigeria it is just Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The 2nd set are Ibadan, Kano,Benin city, Aba, Onitsha, Warri, Kaduna,Abeokuta and Jos.

Owerri, Calabar and Enugu are not business towns but are more organized than the 2nd class cities.

Your post doesn't make any sense. Maybe you are having comprehension problem. The economic hub of SW is Lagos, Economic hub of SE is Onitsha, the economic hub of SS is Onitsha. And have one thing in comon and that is Sea/River ports, huge population (metropolitan) in nature, huge market.

These factors are major economic indices investor look out for during investment plan. Do you know that Onitsha has more commercial banks than entire imo state? Owerre may seems to be organised, which is far from being true, but its owes it to the fact that the town is not up half of Onitsha and that it has few population which is not equal to to population of Nkpor/Awada layout in Onitsha.

When we talk of real organised cities, we talk of Calabar and Jos except for recent uprising in crisis. Owerre is not anywhere there being that organised and sane. Only one thing is organised in owerre/imo state and that is organised commercial sex workers. enuf said

Mr. Globe:
^
Guy, you have been spreading falso infomation all around here since. You clearly dont know what is development. Ph is just a hustling city where oil money is for the taking why owerri is a well planned and inhabitable city more like modelled after miami, paris and the rest. Your comparing Abia state to Anambra state in terms of development tells all about your primitivity. You can stop trolling.

You are just a feaking fool. Look man you are crazy for say that about owerre. Owerre is nothing but a town not the half the city of Onitsha. Owerre for all I care is sodom, where commercial sex workers is the second largest employer of labour -statistics. if that is where you guys are organised I support you.

II know your pains that Anambra has consistently maintain the lead as being the hub of east. Everything in the east runs around Anambra, from leadership to economy to FG presense; go figire

Abagworo:

You can as well read my posts on this topic. Neither Owerri nor Onitsha should be mentioned alongside Port Harcourt. In Nigeria it is just Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The 2nd set are Ibadan, Kano,Benin city, Aba, Onitsha, Warri, Kaduna,Abeokuta and Jos.

Owerri, Calabar and Enugu are not business towns but are more organized than the 2nd class cities.

At times i wonder what inspires you to spew this kind of rubbish. Enugu is not a business town but Abeokuta, Jos, Benin and Ibadan are? Dude, get a grip of yourself and quit talking what you know next to nothing about.How exactly does your brain work?

Afam biko mere ya ebere. That guy has received enough blows and linching to make him type rubbish. Its not his fault. Owerre Owerre Owerre, atimes I wonder if imo state starts and ends with owerre, look at the way orlu and okigwe looks? Enugu is more civil and business oriented than entire imo state and owerri put together.

afam4eva:

At times i wonder what inspires you to spew this kind of rubbish. Enugu is not a business town but Abeokuta, Jos, Benin and Ibadan are? Dude, get a grip of yourself and quit talking what you know next to nothing about.How exactly does your brain work?

I say things the way they are without sentiments. Enugu is not a business town. Calabar is even better off that there is a seaport there but still not worthy to be mentioned alongside Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

Abagworo:

I say things the way they are without sentiments. Enugu is not a business town. Calabar is even better off that there is a seaport there but still not worthy to be mentioned alongside Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

So, why did you mention Abeokuta, Ibadan, Benin and Jos ahead of Enugu, Owerri and Calabar when they are also not commercial cities.

Mr. Globe:

we not talking population, we talking city planning, decorum and advancement. Which of you guys have even been in rumuomasi, choba and the rest? Take aba road out of ph and ph is dead! Everything in ph is centered around aba rd

BULLSHIT!!

City Planning ; Lets start from Borokiri in Port-Harcourt, to Old-Gra (emphasis on Old), to D-line, to Odili road Trans-Amadi to Forces Avenue. These places are PORT-HARCOURT technically speaking and Owerri dosent even come close when compared directly to "PORT_HARCOURT" (not Obio-Apko). EVEN Diobu (Mile 3/Mile 1) is planned. .

Decorum: Another useless talk. Orderliness is relative to population density. Compare a city like Paris (which I lived in for over 4 years) and a City like New York (which I lived in for 8 months) and you can see the difference in decorum. Lets bring it home. Compare Lagos and Kano city in terms of decorum and lets see what you get. The bigger a cities population, the harder it is to control and regulate. Port-harcourt may be mad, but it is nowhere near Lagos. Owerri may be saner, but its only because Owerri's population isnt even up to 3 quarters of Obio Apko local government area alone, talk of the entire port-harcourt. If places were switched, Owerri would not last a week under the pressures port-harcourt has to deal with.

Advancement: NIGGA are you shitting me right now?! Now let me school you son, Owerri is a student town. The highest employer of labour is Government. The rest of the town is filled with petty traders. Owerri is so backwards that despite the fact that they are an Oil producing state (irrespective of how ridiculously small the oil might be), there isnt a single oil company in the freaking state ( not just Owerri). Presently, Port-Harcourt has started making most of the drainages on their roads underground, Owerri is yet to embrace the concept of open pit gutters sef. How many fly-overs does Owerri have to boast of?! (Using fly-overs as a yardstick to measure how advanced a city has come to dealing with traffic congestion to ease the flow of traffic). . . Moving forward, how many manufacturing companies does Owerri have?! Scratch that, Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport got its highest airplane traffic when Port-Harcourt International was closed down for rehabilitation in 2007 and even then, no international flight would land there. Still on advancement, Port-harcourt has started sinking Billions of dollars into a monorail system to help decongest traffic, Owerri is yet to even have ground moving train tracks let alone think of a monorail. Port-Harcourt has so Advanced and grown from its colonial days that it has fully engulfed over 3 local government areas outside of Port-Harcourt, what is Owerris actual span?! I heard people talk about hotels and I laugh, is it those 10,000 - 25,000 Naira per night hotels that you are bragging about?! ONCE MORE MY NIGGA GIVE ME A BREAK!! Lets start from the oldest Hotel in Port-Harcourt "PRESIDENTIAL HOTEL" and work our way up. . . . to the Le Meridians, Proteas, Novotels, Golden Tulips and the list goes on . . . If those things littered around Owerri is what you refer to as "5 STAR", then the Hotels in Port-Harcourt are the Burj Al-Arab. Speaking of Advancement, How do you talk shi't about a state that has Two refineries with more being built as we speak, Three functional independent gas power plants, a sea port, an International Airport that actually hosts international flights on a daily basis, multi-national companies and hotel and businesses and the list goes on and then try to compare it to Owerri?! In what way biko?! How?!

Aba Road issue: Without a doubt most businesses are centered around Aba Road as it should be. Reasons being its a major road, ease of access and all, but for you to say take out Aba road and Port-Harcourt is dead shows that you know nothing about Port-harcourt. Lets now take a census of the MAJOR businesses on Aba road; A few banks, NDDC H/Q, Presidential Hotel, Happy Bites confectioneries, Intels Camp, Protea Hotel, Oil Mill Market, and thats about it. . . I'm sure these are not the businesses holding port-Harcourt up, If you had said Trans-Amadi, then you may have been up to something. If you used Aba Road in terms of major road, then again you would be right but only for a little period. . As we speak, we have Airforce road which is a multicarriage way, East-west road which is being expanded to a 6-lane highway, Stadium road and even old-Aba road. . . INFACT, you can move around port-harcourt without even getting onto Aba road for more than a few kilometers. . . Everything is centered around Aba road only to a JJC. .

CHOBA is Obio Apko not Port-Harcourt. Why didnt you add Obigbo to the list. . .



Once more sir, STAY IN YOUR LANE ELSE YOU GET RUN OVER. . . An Owerri Big Boy is toy when he enters Port-Harcourt. Go and ask the people that know. . . . Like someone pointed out, just because your town (Owerri) has an endless supply of cheap whores that attract low lifers into the city dont make it a mega city or more than it is (a civil servant State). Even Aba boys make more money than Owerri Boys. . .

Okija_juju:

BULLSHIT!!

City Planning ; Lets start from Borokiri in Port-Harcourt, to Old-Gra (emphasis on Old), to D-line, to Odili road Trans-Amadi to Forces Avenue. These places are PORT-HARCOURT technically speaking and Owerri dosent even come close when compared directly to "PORT_HARCOURT" (not Obio-Apko). EVEN Diobu (Mile 3/Mile 1) is planned. .

Decorum: Another useless talk. Orderliness is relative to population density. Compare a city like Paris (which I lived in for over 4 years) and a City like New York (which I lived in for 8 months) and you can see the difference in decorum. Lets bring it home. Compare Lagos and Kano city in terms of decorum and lets see what you get. The bigger a cities population, the harder it is to control and regulate. Port-harcourt may be mad, but it is nowhere near Lagos. Owerri may be saner, but its only because Owerri's population isnt even up to 3 quarters of Obio Apko local government area alone, talk of the entire port-harcourt. If places were switched, Owerri would not last a week under the pressures port-harcourt has to deal with.

Advancement: NIGGA are you shitting me right now?! Now let me school you son, Owerri is a student town. The highest employer of labour is Government. The rest of the town is filled with petty traders. Owerri is so backwards that despite the fact that they are an Oil producing state (irrespective of how ridiculously small the oil might be), there isnt a single oil company in the freaking state ( not just Owerri). Presently, Port-Harcourt has started making most of the drainages on their roads underground, Owerri is yet to embrace the concept of open pit gutters sef. How many fly-overs does Owerri have to boast of?! (Using fly-overs as a yardstick to measure how advanced a city has come to dealing with traffic congestion to ease the flow of traffic). . . Moving forward, how many manufacturing companies does Owerri have?! Scratch that, Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport got its highest airplane traffic when Port-Harcourt International was closed down for rehabilitation in 2007 and even then, no international flight would land there. Still on advancement, Port-harcourt has started sinking Billions of dollars into a monorail system to help decongest traffic, Owerri is yet to even have ground moving train tracks let alone think of a monorail. Port-Harcourt has so Advanced and grown from its colonial days that it has fully engulfed over 3 local government areas outside of Port-Harcourt, what is Owerris actual span?! I heard people talk about hotels and I laugh, is it those 10,000 - 25,000 Naira per night hotels that you are bragging about?! ONCE MORE MY NIGGA GIVE ME A BREAK!! Lets start from the oldest Hotel in Port-Harcourt "PRESIDENTIAL HOTEL" and work our way up. . . . to the Le Meridians, Proteas, Novotels, Golden Tulips and the list goes on . . . If those things littered around Owerri is what you refer to as "5 STAR", then the Hotels in Port-Harcourt are the Burj Al-Arab. Speaking of Advancement, How do you talk shi't about a state that has Two refineries with more being built as we speak, Three functional independent gas power plants, a sea port, an International Airport that actually hosts international flights on a daily basis, multi-national companies and hotel and businesses and the list goes on and then try to compare it to Owerri?! In what way biko?! How?!

Aba Road issue: Without a doubt most businesses are centered around Aba Road as it should be. Reasons being its a major road, ease of access and all, but for you to say take out Aba road and Port-Harcourt is dead shows that you know nothing about Port-harcourt. Lets now take a census of the MAJOR businesses on Aba road; A few banks, NDDC H/Q, Presidential Hotel, Happy Bites confectioneries, Intels Camp, Protea Hotel, Oil Mill Market, and thats about it. . . I'm sure these are not the businesses holding port-Harcourt up, If you had said Trans-Amadi, then you may have been up to something. If you used Aba Road in terms of major road, then again you would be right but only for a little period. . As we speak, we have Airforce road which is a multicarriage way, East-west road which is being expanded to a 6-lane highway, Stadium road and even old-Aba road. . . INFACT, you can move around port-harcourt without even getting onto Aba road for more than a few kilometers. . . Everything is centered around Aba road only to a JJC. .

CHOBA is Obio Apko not Port-Harcourt. Why didnt you add Obigbo to the list. . .



Once more sir, STAY IN YOUR LANE ELSE YOU GET RUN OVER. . . An Owerri Big Boy is toy when he enters Port-Harcourt. Go and ask the people that know. . . . Like someone pointed out, just because your town (Owerri) has an endless supply of cheap whores that attract low lifers into the city dont make it a mega city or more than it is (a civil servant State). Even Aba boys make more money than Owerri Boys. . .

As rightly noted your name says it all because no Rivers man will come out to write the above. We know people that do it.

Port Harcourt can only be compared with Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria. Owerri is a beautiful town almost with zero slum though.

Abagworo:

As rightly noted your name says it all because no Rivers man will come out to write the above. We know people that do it.

Port Harcourt can only be compared with Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria. Owerri is a beautiful town almost with zero slum though.

Say what?!

Did I say something wrong?!

Slums are a standard part of any developed city. Even NEW YORK has slums a.k.a Projects (Harlem and co. . .). Slums more often than none are a product of failed big city dreams. Slums are filled with people who came from far and wide to the big city in search of greener pastures and never made it, or those who were once on the ladder to achieving their big city dreams and fell off. How do you expect Owerri to have slums when virtually everyone who lives in the darn place have no dreams, let alone failed dreams!!

I agree with your statement that says; Port-Harcourt can only be compared with Lagos and Abuja. . . FINISH!!

This thread is tantamount to blasphemy against Port-harcourt!

Okija_juju:

Say what?!

Did I say something wrong?!

Slums are a standard part of any developed city. Even NEW YORK has slums a.k.a Projects (Harlem and co. . .). Slums more often than none are a product of failed big city dreams. Slums are filled with people who came from far and wide to the big city in search of greener pastures and never made it, or those who were once on the ladder to achieving their big city dreams and fell off. How do you expect Owerri to have slums when virtually everyone who lives in the darn place have no dreams, let alone failed dreams!!

I agree with your statement that says; Port-Harcourt can only be compared with Lagos and Abuja. . . FINISH!!

This thread is tantamount to blasphemy against Port-harcourt!

People in Owerri do have dreams that defer from others. Being easy going does not mean you have less dreams than an aggressive man.

Abagworo:

People in Owerri do have dreams that defer from others. Being easy going does not mean you have less dreams than an aggressive man.

I was actually hoping you would tell me why you said "No Riversman would come out to write the Above?!

@Abagworo, Mr Globe, Afam and co

I must admit I find something very fasinating about Igbo people that I wish other Nigerians can emulate

Ok take for example, when the north talks, they talk of Abuja and Kano

the the west talk, they talk of Ibadan and Lagos

when the east talk, they can easily talk of Rivers and Anambra but it does not stop there, It seems like you people inspire other states in the east to be at the same competitive level as the rest regardless of rivers and anambra. It is defiantly worth emulating.

While others are relaxed with what they have, you all are not, you believe it could be better.

I find this competitive nature very useful in Nigeria if Nigeria is to grow from a developing country to a developed country.

Okija_juju:

BULLSHIT!!

City Planning ; Lets start from Borokiri in Port-Harcourt, to Old-Gra (emphasis on Old), to D-line, to Odili road Trans-Amadi to Forces Avenue. These places are PORT-HARCOURT technically speaking and Owerri dosent even come close when compared directly to "PORT_HARCOURT" (not Obio-Apko). EVEN Diobu (Mile 3/Mile 1) is planned. .

Decorum: Another useless talk. Orderliness is relative to population density. Compare a city like Paris (which I lived in for over 4 years) and a City like New York (which I lived in for 8 months) and you can see the difference in decorum. Lets bring it home. Compare Lagos and Kano city in terms of decorum and lets see what you get. The bigger a cities population, the harder it is to control and regulate. Port-harcourt may be mad, but it is nowhere near Lagos. Owerri may be saner, but its only because Owerri's population isnt even up to 3 quarters of Obio Apko local government area alone, talk of the entire port-harcourt. If places were switched, Owerri would not last a week under the pressures port-harcourt has to deal with.

Advancement: NIGGA are you shitting me right now?! Now let me school you son, Owerri is a student town. The highest employer of labour is Government. The rest of the town is filled with petty traders. Owerri is so backwards that despite the fact that they are an Oil producing state (irrespective of how ridiculously small the oil might be), there isnt a single oil company in the freaking state ( not just Owerri). Presently, Port-Harcourt has started making most of the drainages on their roads underground, Owerri is yet to embrace the concept of open pit gutters sef. How many fly-overs does Owerri have to boast of?! (Using fly-overs as a yardstick to measure how advanced a city has come to dealing with traffic congestion to ease the flow of traffic). . . Moving forward, how many manufacturing companies does Owerri have?! Scratch that, Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport got its highest airplane traffic when Port-Harcourt International was closed down for rehabilitation in 2007 and even then, no international flight would land there. Still on advancement, Port-harcourt has started sinking Billions of dollars into a monorail system to help decongest traffic, Owerri is yet to even have ground moving train tracks let alone think of a monorail. Port-Harcourt has so Advanced and grown from its colonial days that it has fully engulfed over 3 local government areas outside of Port-Harcourt, what is Owerris actual span?! I heard people talk about hotels and I laugh, is it those 10,000 - 25,000 Naira per night hotels that you are bragging about?! ONCE MORE MY NIGGA GIVE ME A BREAK!! Lets start from the oldest Hotel in Port-Harcourt "PRESIDENTIAL HOTEL" and work our way up. . . . to the Le Meridians, Proteas, Novotels, Golden Tulips and the list goes on . . . If those things littered around Owerri is what you refer to as "5 STAR", then the Hotels in Port-Harcourt are the Burj Al-Arab. Speaking of Advancement, How do you talk shi't about a state that has Two refineries with more being built as we speak, Three functional independent gas power plants, a sea port, an International Airport that actually hosts international flights on a daily basis, multi-national companies and hotel and businesses and the list goes on and then try to compare it to Owerri?! In what way biko?! How?!

Aba Road issue: Without a doubt most businesses are centered around Aba Road as it should be. Reasons being its a major road, ease of access and all, but for you to say take out Aba road and Port-Harcourt is dead shows that you know nothing about Port-harcourt. Lets now take a census of the MAJOR businesses on Aba road; A few banks, NDDC H/Q, Presidential Hotel, Happy Bites confectioneries, Intels Camp, Protea Hotel, Oil Mill Market, and thats about it. . . I'm sure these are not the businesses holding port-Harcourt up, If you had said Trans-Amadi, then you may have been up to something. If you used Aba Road in terms of major road, then again you would be right but only for a little period. . As we speak, we have Airforce road which is a multicarriage way, East-west road which is being expanded to a 6-lane highway, Stadium road and even old-Aba road. . . INFACT, you can move around port-harcourt without even getting onto Aba road for more than a few kilometers. . . Everything is centered around Aba road only to a JJC. .

CHOBA is Obio Apko not Port-Harcourt. Why didnt you add Obigbo to the list. . .



Once more sir, STAY IN YOUR LANE ELSE YOU GET RUN OVER. . . An Owerri Big Boy is toy when he enters Port-Harcourt. Go and ask the people that know. . . . Like someone pointed out, just because your town (Owerri) has an endless supply of cheap whores that attract low lifers into the city dont make it a mega city or more than it is (a civil servant State). Even Aba boys make more money than Owerri Boys. . .

he he he
This is exactly what I've been avoiding. Exactly why I've been pleading with Abagworo to rest this issue.

Like someone pointed out, just because
your town (Owerri) has an endless supply of cheap
whores

We don't call women whores.

Abagworo:

We don't call women whores.

Sorry bros I think the spam bot seems to modify some words.

alj harem: @Abagworo, Mr Globe, Afam and co

I must admit I find something very fasinating about Igbo people that I wish other Nigerians can emulate

Ok take for example, when the north talks, they talk of Abuja and Kano

the the west talk, they talk of Ibadan and Lagos

when the east talk, they can easily talk of Rivers and Anambra but it does not stop there, It seems like you people inspire other states in the east to be at the same competitive level as the rest regardless of rivers and anambra. It is defiantly worth emulating.

While others are relaxed with what they have, you all are not, you believe it could be better.

I find this competitive nature very useful in Nigeria if Nigeria is to grow from a developing country to a developed country.

Let me +1 your post as I get set to go in on okija juju. lol

Dede1:


I am not a stranger to Port Harcourt, Aba, Lagos, or Onitsha. If you had read my post without bias, you would come across a statement such as “Remove Crude Oil Activities from Port Harcourt the city dies a natural death”. Believe me, I stand by it. I remember when I used to go to Abonima waterside to bring drums of Akamere (kinkana) and loads of smoked fish for my mother. Port Harcourt might have had Wharf but all the importers and businessmen came from Aba or Onitsha with warehouses in those cities. People from Ogoni, Port Hacourt, Afam, Eleme and Obigbo went to Aba to engage in trading activities.

By the way with the trend of economic and industrial development seen today any city can serve as a hub for economic activities. The city does not need to be a crude oil city. It is only in Nigeria crude oil is an alpha and omega. In USA, cities such as Houston and New Orleans, which handle crude oil activities as does Port Harcourt, are considered backbenchers to cities such New York, Los Angeles or Las Vergas when business activities are subject of discussion.

To support your argument and also why portharcourt is not fast growing as one would expect with the presence sea port.read this carefully

Pandemonium broke loose. People were running helter-skelter, wailing. Those who could not wail were shouting. Commentaries upon commentaries were all over the media. The cyber cafes were flooded. Everybody wanted first-hand news. General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu is dead. Nigeria and Nigerians stood still.

He died early hours of Saturday, November 26, 2011, at Hammersfield Hospital London. His family and close associates confirmed this. He was ill about a year now and had been receiving treatment. His death has been unfolding many in the Pandora’s Box. People like Generals Yakubu Gowon and Olusegun Obasanjo have refused to briddle their tongues since Ojukwu died. They are now exhuming what was supposed to be left for history. Gowon, like Obasanjo, because they saw theirselves in positions they never expected all their life, by their prosecution of Ndi’Igbo in and after the 60s, they would not allow Ndi’Igbo to wipe away the tears on their (Ndi’Igbo) eyes, before they started to make derogatory statements against the dead. In his statement on his master, General Ojukwu, all Obasanjo could recall was that he requested Ojukwu to apologize to the nation for coming up with the Biafran state, “but that Ojukwu refused”, while Gowon is blaming Ojukwu for leading Biafrans to the war. It is a pity that Obasanjo have not realized that he had egocentric interest; never really cared about anybody, including his Yoruba race. While Ndi’Igbo are trying to stop taking Gowon serious, Obasanjo is goofing. Ndi’Igbo will never stop to remember Ojukwu for what he stood for, the sacrifice he made in the name of freedom for Ndi’Igbo and Nigeria in general. Gowon and Obasanjo have refused to remember those men and women who sacrificed so much in the name of Biafra and Nigeria. Maybe, the “the Sword of Damocles” is now hanging on Gowon and Obasanjo’s heads and they are making mentally subnormal utterances.

Since Gowon and Obasanjo have refused to allow the sleeping dog to lie, one issue their statements have made Ndi’Igbo and Ngerians to recall to is the issue of ‘Abandoned Property.’ This phraseology was given after the Nigeria/Biafra civil war – 1967-1970. Ndiigbo who are majority Biafrans left their property in the old Rivers State created in 1967, and fled for safety of their lives during this war. After the war they came back to Rivers State to start up a new life, they were deprived of their property. Rivers men and women claimed Ndiigbo property worth Millions of Pounds unlawfully and characterized it “Abandoned Property” with the connivance of the Nigerian state.

The Nigeria/Biafra war didn’t just come up. It was after the Northerners gruesomely murdered Ndiigbo, in what was called retaliation of some Northern elites, who were killed during the January 15, 1966 coup. This coup was adjudged as a pointer that Ndiigbo wanted to “dominate” all spheres of life in Nigeria. But the fact was that the coupists never consulted any of the known prominent Igbo leaders. The North characterized it as “Igbo-inspired Coup.” Hence, they killed Ndiigbo in the North. Ndiigbo mutilated bodies were ferried down their land amidst tears. Ojukwu was among notable Igbo sons and daughters who stood up and cried and called the entire world to come and see the pogrom that was committed against Igbo. The Northerners wanted to break out of Nigeria. Hence they saw anybody who was not from the North as an enemy.

The Northerners circulated falsehood as necessary motivation for executing the civil war. They said that General JTU Aguiyi Ironsi’s military regime was tending towards unitary form and if not stopped, would be detrimental to the heterogeneous composition of Nigeria. As a result, some scholars have asked that if unitary government was against Nigeria’s corporate interest between January 15, 1966 and July 28, 1966, how come after the July 29, 1966 revenge coup, unitary system of government was consolidated and perpetuated within Nigeria even till present-day? What changed after July 29, 1966? They have asked that could it be that some sections of Nigeria were entitled to impose and operate a unitary form of government on other sections of Nigeria, while some other sections are not entitled to do the same. The scholars have further said that the Hausa-Fulani, while hiding their real intensions for the war, co-opted the Yoruba in the project. Both these groups set about poisoning the minds of some Eastern Nigeria minority groups especially the Ijaw with phantoms of Igbo “oppression” and “domination” so much so that both the Eyo Ita incident and Udo Udoma’s COR movement issue became ready ‘examples’ adduced as representative of Igbo ‘domination’ of Eastern Region minorities with the potential to spread to other parts of Nigeria, if not checked by collective effort. The unsuspecting Ijaw, Efik, Ogoni amongst others, swallowed the bait hook, line, and sinker.

Ojukwu’s death has refreshed the memories of Ndiigbo on the evil of ‘Abandoned Property.” General Yakubu Gowon was it who led the Nigerian soldiers against the Biafrans. The war took millions of lives of Ndiigbo and impoverished them during and after the war. It was Chief Obafemi Awolowo who advised Gowon in 1967 to diminish the powers of Ndiigbo. His heinous advise was that Gowon should divide the old Eastern region by creating two states out from it. But this was Awolowo who was released from the Calabar prisons and taken to his Ikene home by Ojukwu’s aids. Awolowo gave this ill advise shortly after his release from the prison. It was his advise that born Rivers and south eastern states. These states were used as an easy access by the Nigerian state to humiliate Biafrans.

Shortly Rivers State was carved out from the old eastern region, Biafra’s main base in Calabar and Port Harcourt fell to the capture of the Nigerian soldiers with the aid of some people characterized as saboteurs. The Igbo victims fled Port Harcourt when the city was captured by the Third Marine Commando Division in May 1968. Olusegun Obasanjo was the General Officer Commanding Third Commando Division in 1969, with headquarters in Port Harcourt, and was seen as one of the hands guiding the then Rivers State governor, Lt-Commander Alfred Diete-Spiff. When this was achieved by the Nigerian soldiers, historians would say that Ken Saro Wiwa was allegedly among the Rivers State indigenes who led other like minds from the state to Gowon. The outcome of their meeting was an accord with the Gowon-led government that should the war end in favour of Nigeria, the state would take over all that Ndiigbo left behind in River State.

In 1970 the war ended, Gowon pronounced his Kangaroo statement: “No victor, No vanquished”. While this lasted, because an agreement is an agreement, Ndiigbo property they worked hard to institute in Rivers State was sharply coveted by the Rivers indigenes and was immediately given the name – Abandoned Property. Ndiigbo were hand-twisted over their property. However, Awolowo, while the war was going on was given the Federal Commissioner for Finance, a gift from Gowon for denouncing his earlier stand to declare the Odu-Dua Republic. His stand on this republic was hinged on the prospect, should the easterners declare the Biafra republic.

While the Yoruba people respected Awolowo, Ndiigbo venerated the commands and the wishes of Ojukwu for their undying patriotism to their different regions. Ndiigbo were fighting to live, while Awolowo had announced a total naturalization of all the companies Ndiigbo had so much interests in, especially on the Nigerian side. His International Monetary Fund (IMF) negotiation of fund was to fund the war in favour of Nigeria – his pay master. He didn’t stop there, he channeled some of the percentage of this fund into the National Bank. This bank was solely owned by the westerners. As a result of this, Yoruba people had direct access to loans for the purchase of the share interests taken away from Ndiigbo till date. Conversely, through these rigorous adventures orchestrated against Ndiigbo by Awolowo, Ndiigbo did not lose even a pin in the entire Yoruba land after the war, but they did in Rivers State that was supposed to be their brothers and sisters.

Although Ndiigbo didn’t lose property in the Yoruba-land after the war, but one of their own, who took the helm-of-affairs as the military president of Nigeria in 1976 took Ndiigbo less than a beast. This person was Chief Obasanjo. It happened after the death of Murtala Mohammed. The representations of Ndiigbo in the federal level were next to nothing. Courtesy of Obasanjo. A lot of people said that it was the hatred culminating from the Yoruba-race since during the war that made Obasanjo to hand power over to Alhaji Shehu Shagari in 1979, even when Shagari, it was clear in many quarters, did not win the election with the two-third(2/3) majority, as stipulated in the Nigerian electoral rules. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe – Igbo – was allegedly robbed in that election.

Going down memory lane of how Ndiigbo have been unjustly humiliated in the Nigerian state since forty years the war ended is a crying shame. In 1999, Dr. Alex Ekwueme emerged as the most preferred candidate in the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) primaries, but the same machinery that have been in use against Ndiigbo was used to float him out of the race in favour of the same Obasanjo. It was this same skimming out anything Igbo that converted Igbo businessmen into street hustlers, following “The harsh post-war economic policy” that was meted out against Ndiigbo. The distinguished President of the Senate, David Bonaventure Mark, allegedly chaired and rationalized the properties of Ndiigbo in the Old Rivers State. A “Statesman” like Chief Edwin Clarke has been manipulated severally as a major beneficiary of the abandoned property, no matter how he has tried to exonerate himself from this situation.

Anytime Chief Clarke was brought into this issue of Abandoned Property, he sings lullaby to Ndiigbo, claiming that the statement is a blatant falsehood deliberately calculated to tarnish his reputation and to incite his very ‘good Ndiigbo’ friends to hate him. He would categorically state that he did not acquire any abandoned property in Port Harcourt and that he does not own even a kitchen or any property in Port Harcourt at anytime before or after the Civil War to this day. “It is indeed, a deliberate falsehood and malicious assassination of my character,” he would say. But what Clarke has refused to tell the world was that he moved to re-install Ijaw hegemony in Rivers State, even though that he comes from Delta State, in what many Nigerians have described as, “by all means necessary.” This followed his full support of Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State since 2007 the later was clamoured to have been imposed on Rivers people as governor, a man many have said was declared winner of an election in the court of law and installed as governor in an election, he did not contest.

One phenomenon that has kept the Nigerian state aghast about Ndiigbo is their skyrocketing socio-economic status, even when deprived much of Nigeria’s political positions. Ndiigbo are surmounting all odds in the Nigerian state without rehabilitative assistance from any quarters, locally and internationally. Upon their hard earned property seize in Rivers State, they are not leaving anything to weigh their entrepreneurial spirit down. The memory of the roles Awolowo played against Ndiigbo during the war has only deterred a progressive and prosperous Southern Nigeria and Nigeria, but people are just pretending.

In the later months of 2007, Ojukwu visited Rivers State. The issue of abandoned property unofficially characterized his visit. Many Nigerians were of the view that the Rivers State government might re-open the issue. From virtually all quarters indications were prominent that Ojukwu’s visit was to impress on Amaechi the need for a retroactive abrogation of the Abandoned Property Edict. There were also feelers that the federal government might be uncomfortable with the alleged move. This information was hinged on the fact that it could further heat-up the already militantly over-heated Rivers State. The issue was that Ojukwu seldom visits a serving state governor, so why Amaechi?

A lot of people feared that Amaechi, Ikwerre, may not move fast enough to repeal the land grabbed by the indigenes in Rivers State, because “… abandoned property was to prevent Igbo people from participating in the buying of indigenized companies in the 1970s. Remember that part of the abandoned property “law” was that Igbo landed assets in Port Harcourt could not be used as collaterals for bank loans. That was a master stroke after confiscating Igbo bank accounts and giving everyone N20…The fiction of abandoned property was embellished and maintained until 1996 when Abacha skillfully carved out Ijaw die-hards and the most ardent enforcers of abandoned property into Bayelsa State. It soon dawned on these Ijaws that actually, they owned nothing… my view is that this should have been called “Stolen Properties” instead of “Abandoned properties,” said an observer.

Not even Spiff helped Ndiigbo to attain their “stolen property” back by the indigenous Rivers people. He was even alleged to have plotted with Obasanjo and the Federal Government to further hold unto the decision against Ndiigbo takeover of their property back. There has been doubt by many Nigerians over the speculation that absolutely nothing is to be gained from the purported review of the Abandoned Property. They allay their claims that the point was that the Rivers people kicked the Igbo nation in the stomach, while it laid prostrate on the ground, adding that such a review would have made sense in the 1970s, when Spiff was in office.

More were yet to crop-up from this issue, as many Nigerians were saying that the next aim of abandoned property was to award Port Harcourt to Ijaw henchmen as war booty and edge the Igbo people into the fictionalized enclave called East Central State with no access to the sea. The Ijaws accepted their task with unbridled zeal and this had two consequences (a) destruction of the port in Port Harcourt and the migration of Igbo import-export business to Lagos, Cotonou and other ports in West Africa (b) the destruction of the real estate sector in Port Harcourt and the flight of capital to elsewhere.

Nigerians have gone further to say that the Igbo nation has learned a valuable lesson from the abandoned property saga and moved on. Despite the suffering of individual property owners, the overall outcome has been positive. Ndiigbo have learnt to think home always. Alternative growth points have been created everywhere in Igboland – Asaba, Onitsha, Nnewi, Aba, Awka, Owerri, Umuahia etc. Igbo trading network in West and central Africa has diversified away from Port Harcourt, as its focus and has been strengthened rather than weakened. Abandoned property has also enabled the Igbo to be more realistic about the distribution of infrastructure in their country. Today, Owerri with its 5-star hotels, universities, wide streets, housing estates and Airport exists side-by-side with Port Harcourt. And Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AKIA) Enugu, will complement Port Harcourt international airport and Owerri, to give people more choice in the region. Abandoned property has thankfully re-oriented young Igbo away from unhealthy fixation with Port Harcourt and diversified development thinking in Igbo region.

There is a school of thought that says that those who owned abandoned property are mostly dead or have moved on. Any so-called review now is not for their benefit- more to sooth the conscience of those reviewing it that is apparently haunted by their treachery. Review or no review, Igbo people have moved on. This is one piece of theater that should be pointedly ignored by every worthwhile Igbo. But other people are of the opinion that even though that the owners of the abandoned property may have died, their wards can inherit the property. The late elder statesman Sam Mbakwe, former Governor of the old Imo State, is praised to have tried to handle the collective cases of the Igbo landlords in Port Harcourt, even though that there was rare significant outcome. The question now is why majority of the abandoned property on the Ikwerre land went not to the Ikwerre people but to those from the Riverine areas of Rivers State.

Majority of the people are asking for curtail of degrees of mutual suspicion and antagonism amongst all the groups involved in the war in one way or the other. According to them, the issues from the war have so poisoned the political atmosphere in Nigeria, corroding any traces of future political unity between and amongst the ethnic nationalities, which constitute Southern Nigeria. They are asking for the abrogation of the over past decades Igbo and Yoruba, for selfish and self-serving considerations, refused to bury their differences and chart a mutually beneficial political and economic course for Nigeria. They pray and believe that the death of Ojukwu will bring about the long sought peace.

Nigerians in many quarters have confirmed that Ojukwu is a General of the Peoples Army of The Republic of Biafra & General of the Army of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, son of the Richest Black Man of his time and also an Oxford Graduate, he was never and will never be a tribal warlord as Biafra is not a tribe, like Gowon and Obasanjo have painted her to to be. Gowon and Obasanjo should remember that Ojukwu joined NPN (Hausa/Fulani/Yoruba party), not NPP (Igbo party), when he contested for the senate. He was born in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria in November 4, 1933. He started his early life as a hero and died a hero. The Old Boys of CMS Grammar School, Lagos, King’s College, Lagos, Epsom College, Surrey, England, and Lincoln College, Oxford University, England where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Masters degree in History, would be crying more than. He joined the civil service in the then Eastern Nigeria, upon his return to Nigeria in 1956; he enlisted in the Nigeria in 1957, and was posted to Nigerian Army depot, Zaria, as one of the graduates that joined the military during that period, though as a recruit. He had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and appointed Quartermaster General, Nigeria Army, by 1964. He was everything good until his death at 78. While Nigerians would be morning him greatly, he would be deeply missed by the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), a political party he was its national leader. His death to Ndiigbo is like they are now abandoned property. But what can they say other than “Ojukwu farewell”.
Niger Delta-Cease Fire and Amnesty in jeopardy-MEND warns JTF-Meltdown Continues

AFP News Excerpt 08/18/09