₦airaland Forum

ebufa:
This video has validated the reports I was getting from folks in Onitsha and Awka, The sanitary condition in Onitsha has gone back to the days before Obiano left office( when refuse contractors went on strike)! That strike was a sytemic shock to a well oiled refuse collection system........I knew that for the system to catch up and get back on track will be an uphill struggle! Even the Obiano refuse collection system was at best delicate but it was still manageable! For soludo's system to work properly ,billions will have to be spent by anambra on compactors,bins and personel emoluments etc

The government needs to commoditize/commercialize refuse collection,disposal and recycling, if there is money in it ,then people especially the unemployed may venture into it! Onitsha is a large metropolis, Anambra state has to designate more refuse collation centers within town and dump sites for mass private participation by individuals to work...

My take is that we need to think out of the box to tackle this refuse issue!

The Soludo administration is full of incompetent people including ASWAMA.

Waste management is a MANAGEMENT issue. The state should ask first where is the waste being generated, how much waste and what types before deploying a solution. This is where simple enumeration of residential and business activity in cities is critical so that one can estimate it and price the costs of waste collection and disposal. Every single tenant of a flat or shop should pay a waste fee that aligns with waste they generate.

Once you can price costs of waste collection and disposal then people should pay for generating waste and having it collected for them.

The state needs to also pass the cost of waste to manufacturers of pure water sachets, plastic bags and plastic bottles. Anyone manufacturing drinks in plastic bottles should pay a surcharge per bottle for waste disposal.

Finally, thr state needs to do something about informal hawkers of foods, fruits, vegetables, etc. They congregate on busy roads and dump their waste and go.

Group decries activities of touts in Anambra
December 29, 2022
.Anambra
A group of traders in Anambra has expressed concern over the activities of illegal revenue collectors in different parts of Onitsha, the commercial hub of Anambra.

The group, operating under the aegis of the Concerned Anambra Traders’ Association, made the remark at a news briefing in Onitsha on Wednesday.

The group’s Chairman, Mr Gabriel Okeke, described the extortion of Onitsha traders allegedly by touts as condemnable and unacceptable.

Okeke regretted that holidaymakers and travellers passing through Onitsha and its environs were being subjected to harassment, assault and extortion on a daily basis by touts on the road.

“The touts, who have returned to the state after their sack by Gov. Charles Soludo, openly stationed themselves at some strategic areas of Onitsha.

Okeke listed the areas to include the Upper Iweka axis, Bida Road, Nkpor Junction, St. Anthony Church on the Old Road and Owerri Road.

Others are Iweka (down flyover), Ugwu Nwasike Junction, Building Material Market, Bridgehead, amongst others.

He said that the touts were operating with audacity without the fear of arrest by security agencies.

[quote author= post=119468531]My visit to Second Niger Bridge Onitsha


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfPV9EMyf7E[/quote]See the difference between Julius Berger/RCC standard engineering and sub-standard expressway and bridge built by IDC in Awka and CCC in Onitsha that lacks emergency lane, crash barrier and protection for utilities (street lights, power cables).

The best thing Soludo government can do for the state is to clean up the cities. Tar all the roads, sweep the streets, get rid of keke/okada and small shuttle. Regulate the markets. The boom in investment from diaspora and foreign investors will do the rest.

XerXerz:
[s]Night owl aka abuzz33, make this busy airport dey pepper you. You thought in your evil mind that it wouldn't come to fruition[/s]

Busy airport with 4 flights a day? You are a joker. Lagos has over 80 flights a day. Abuja 65. Port Harcourt 23.

You have nothing upstairs and are full of lies and deceit changing moniker like ashawo.

...

IGBOSON1:
As you implied, there are other revenue sources available to the state gov’t at the airport.

For starters, they could generate extra revenue by configuring the two electronic flight status boards to show advertisements as well (i noticed they were off when the latest pics were taken), and also have another bigger one outside by the car park.

If they’re not doing so already, they should be charging parking fees for cars parked in the parking lot. Charges should depend on the length of time the vehicle is parked there.

The airport can make extra money by letting out space for shops both within the terminal building and outside.

There’d be even more scope to increase revenue when the international and cargo parts of the airport commence operations.

These are important sources of revenue but strategically, they should try to get a company like Ethiopian Airlines to invest in the airport as a partner.

Ethiopian which already operates in Enugu could utilise the airport for cargo and run selected international flights to and from Anambra. For example since ET flies three times a week out of Enugu it could shift one flight a week for a start to gauge demand.

However, the Anambra State government has to do more to attract foreign investors. Awka is a mess with keke everywhere and trash on the roads. They need to clean up awka so that it would have same attraction as Enugu.

IGBOSON1:
This is what i like seeing! The airport is getting busier....just look at the sea of cars in the car park!

It's good Obiano settled for nothing but the best and the airports expansion and upgrade should continue with the present admin'! The Soludo admin' could seek private investors for a multi-level car park of say 4 or 5 levels. It would be a money spinner and could pay for itself within two years.

The main revenue for any airport in Nigeria is the passenger service charge which is N2,000 for domestic flights and $80 for international flights. With Anambra airport doing roughly 30,000 DOMESTIC takeoffs thats 60m per year. Not enough to make a dent on the huge cost of building and running the airport which cost reportedly between 40-60 BILLION. The airport has to push for international flights otherwise after 10-15 years its terminal, runway and parking lot will look like the one at Enugu which is poorly maintained because of lack of funds.

Getting International flights revenue of roughly N60,000 per passenger means that an airport doing even just 50,000 passengers per year like Enugu will gain roughly 3 BILLION in revenue to make the airport VIABLE. The MMA makes around $240 million from its 3M international passengers per year. It and Abuja are the only profitable airports in Nigeria.

Pacesetterz:
If Anambra becomes too ungovernable from now,ndi Anambra should Soludo responsible. Since he came into power it has been from one unbridled statement to another. From Ipob to other states carrying out crime in d state to Peter Obi backlash. His pple should warn him against making unguarded statement not now that the southeast is experiencing breakdown of law and order.

Soludo appointed incompetent people and this is the result. Keke boys are driving like people wey no get sense and Anambra claims to have atma and a commissioner of transport. Simple solution they no fit do. Solution to keke is simple. I would ban them first in Awka and next in Onitsha. Let people go back to using hiace bus and taxi. That should remove over 20,000 keke from the narrow roads and replace them with 5,000 buses. There will be less chaos and all those crazy boys who shouldn't be driving anything should look for something else to do.

Too much insults here. What a disgraceful piece of crap chino is.

globemoney01:
Onuku, I'm sure you watched Soludo's interview yesterday, Anambra wasted 8 years claiming to save money which is now worthless with huge deficit on roads and hospitals yet the same person is going about claiming he want to want to change Nigeria.

Obi built over 1,000km of roads many with substandard foundation. Obiano did little for 8 years except in aguleri. No maintenance, no expansion. Most roads are built to last 10-15 years. It is not surprising they are collapsing.

Rocksvibes234:
We need this kind standard of our new roads all over Anambra.. and I believe Soludu and our Contractors are working to deliver this kinda roads

One thing is standard of roads two is people using the road. They should get all the illegal traders off the roads. Force keke and buses into parks. Anambra looks like a slum.

ANSMEDIA:
Onitsha 2nd Niger bridge the new economic corridor to Onitsha the economic and financial headquarters of Eastern Nigeria. Finishing works ongoing

This is the kind of quality infrastructure needed in Anambra. Imagine if Awka and Onitsha had these kind of roads.

Rocksvibes234:
Soludo Solution
Onitsha Town will be next followed by its metropolis and other urban and semi urban areas as we no longer have rural areas except our agricultural belts ayamelum and anambra West

In Soludo we have no Political Party.
We support him with our full chest..

Six months and he is still taking pictures. SOLUDO cannot even patch the roads that are broken. Street lights fall on major roads they leave them there for weeks. They don't sweep streets anywmore. Garbage and filth everywhere. Wheelbarrows in front of markets. Its a disgrace.

Maybe Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is right about Soludo who she brought into government and who like the proverbial dog that doesnt know its master turned round and bit her:

"“Soludo is so derailed” to “commit intellectual harakiri by deliberately misquoting economic facts and maliciously turning statistics on their head to justify a hatchet job...Soludo has shamelessly pandered to so many past leaders that Nigerians are asking one more time – what position is Soludo gunning for now?...There is definitely an issue of character with Prof. Charles Soludo and his desperate search for power and relevance in Nigeria. Nigerians should therefore beware of so-called intellectuals without character and wisdom because this combination is fatal,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, 2015

https://twitter.com/Dtnsophiepresh/status/1579573949108998144

Ofodirinwa:
Take precieved glamor out of the picture and I will choose Alaba 100x over Glo. Again not only does Alaba create million and billionaires in a way that working for Glo does not, it also creates employment at an entry level at a volume the whole od corporate Nigeria cannot and has not. Again, let us not lose what we have as a people to entertain this constant need to pretend we have nothing.

I'm not again industry ( in fact I love it) or corporations but look at Anambra. Anambra has corporations and has Onitsha main and Nnewi. Which has created more wealth for people? The office or the small business? The greater bulk of Anambra's upper class was created by the trader system. This is a system that has produced real results that nobody else in Africa has. The CBD of Ontisha is main market. That's what a CBD is. A centeral district where business is done. If you want to remove that and replace it with Malawi then we are not being result based.

If you're speaking of results, the biggest corporation in the world will only create wealth for its share holders. Employees (engineers etc) will be comfortable assuming they don't lose the job, but their job will never give them wealth. our markets create real wealth for real people, even if they start as sales girls and boys.

Comparing a shop to a hut is not reasonable. I think you're more into looks than results.
The industrial volume of Aba supplies the whole of Africa and beyond with its products. I will never ignore that or decide it's primitive. If that is primitive give me more primitive

Do not forget that 100% of the viable industries in the SE either start as shops or small business and many of the viable companies in nigeria depend on Igbo merchants for distribution. Glo does not exist without Alaba and co.

Meanwhile the shops don't need the corporations.


This is a good discussion and I think both sides are valid but I'm very against the constant need to pretend we have nothing in order to say we need something more. Do you know the issue this causes? Someone will be making furniture in Orlu and the government will give a German furniture company cash grants and free land to come do the same thing in the same Orlu. We will even clap for the gov. When real development is putting your energy into what you already have.

A lot of Nigerians, especially the ones that are unproductive, take suits and desks more seriously than results because vanity and appearance matters more than achievement. It is better to impress others by pretending to be western. Meanwhile the west is scrapping all of these things

Alaba market is an electronics retail market cluster in Nigerias biggest and richest city. It has 5,000 shops and generates less than $30,000 per shop per year. Glo has 3,000 employees and generates over $1 billion a year. Glo contributes a lot more economically than Alaba whether you like it or not.

You talk about wealth and innovation it comes from corporations not one man business. China has a lot of markets and always had but what made China wealthy was their factories and their companies.

Anambra is nit going to be wealthy buying and selling but by inventing, making things and organising itself. Tonimas, Seaman, Roban Supermarkets, Albertinas, Juhel Pharmaceuticals, Innoson are reaping far more from scale than had they remained traders.

But where is the cbd to house the modern offices of these corporations? None of Anambra cities has a decent high street or central business district. Not in Onitsha, not in Awka. Instead you will see major streets littered with primitive markets, mechanics, filthy bus parks, barrow hawkers. You don't see this in Lagos, Port Harcourt or Abuja or even poor African cities. Modern streets attract investment and create modern jobs. Modern offices, retail, shopping malls, restaurants, hotels.

Ofodirinwa:
This is what I mean, no matter what igbo do what someone else is doing = better. This is a general trait with africans. You have a good thing, rather than advance it you want to drop it and grab another based on nothing but trying to exaggerate to prove a point.

So there are limits to how much I can have this discussion. For example, does the SE lack 'big business' and had big business created more wealthy and middle class ppl in Nigerian than the 10x10 shops you're insulting but don't have the discipline courage or blessing to run and maintain.

In you're own life who has created more millionaires, Glo or Alaba?

Economic complexity is not buying and selling like Alaba. Its manufacturing, engineering, sophisticated retail. GLO does 700 billion in revenue a year. They hire engineers, accountants, marketers, a wide array of professionals. Alaba is traders and sales girls and boys.

The SE has let its self down by playing to the Alaba model of economic activity. Primitive retailing. But there cannot be a high street when people are selling in barrows or in primitive 10x10 shops. It's why university graduates flee the region in droves.

Do the economic calculation of modern vs primitive. A properly designed retail outlet requires cement, paint, furniture, electricity, computers, TV, cleaners, trained staff with uniforms, signage. A wheelbarrow requires only a wheelbarrow.

You say that Anambra has nice houses in rural areas. Why didn't their owners build just basic huts with no electricity, electrical fixtures, interlocking stones, fancy gates etc. Is a house not a house?

If SE want better cities its not going to come from primitive markets as the centre of activity. It requires properly managed business districts that draw in sophisticated businesses. Look at the disgraceful state of Zik Avenue with Eke Awka, Eastern mass all turning it to agbero haven.

Ofodirinwa:
Strongly disagree with this. If we're not being hyperbolic (which we tend to be anyways), the level of development in SE Nigeria is highest in Africa across that wide an area. There are pockets that surpass it but all of those pockets are cities. You will not find anywhere in Africa where this many people are in this condition. We are not where we want to be, but we have done things that are not done anywhere else on the continent. Developing one area doesn't work. It leads to sluming and wealth disaparity. Nigeria cannot handle wealth imbalance because the rich people will inevitably take their wealth and leave as has been the case for decades.

A rich man from Osun who makes his money in Lagos will send his children to the UK. Osun will not be a part of his life plan because the development in the SW is in Lagos. Why we want that for ourselves is beyond me. Meanwhile, Igbos have loyalty to their hometown and if we lose that, we lose everything.

We have developed a model that is working but the grass will perpetually be greener in many of our brains. That is why boys are dying to sneak into Congo as we speak.

Which model is working? No South East city matches little Blantyre in Malawi nobody hears of or Gabarone in Botswana. SE cities are either civil service towns or primitive trading hovels that don't scale beyond 10x10 shops. The oyibos we like to copy don't allow everybody to trade so that big businesses get built. For us we believe small is mighty.

NwekereNdoki:
That is where you are making a mistake. We can't develop SE/Anambra by scattering development here and there.

Concentrated development gets effective results to result in the most shortest time. If everyone develops their village, it will take decades for SE to develop. That is where we get it wrong.

Don't mind them. You know how advanced a civilization is from their city. Not village mentality anambra governors take to build roads few vehicles use.

Landmack:
Bullshit

Josef Bassey prolly ran from Crossriver,a state known for its high taxation to Anambra (a home for all..including miscreants and armrobbers,a home where anybody can come and do anyhow,a home where they tell govt how to run the state).
The commissioner is too docile. Soludo should relieve her of that duty if she’s clueless.
Everyday we read on the news riders on rampage protesting. Sxx he had better handle the situation before some miscreants turn the protest to something else (exactly what they’ve been hoping for).

If Soludo has given an order for the disappearance of agberos on the streets of Anambra,I still wonder why those urchins are still on the road. Is Soludo lacking balls to finish what he’s started? Why give an executive order and have it disobeyed by miscreants?
Why give an exec order and still have those thieves boldly on the roads than ever before?


Who are those still engineering these touts to keep standing on the road?

Look at Keke/Shuttle operators giving condition to government. How weak can you be as a governor when they are giving you condition? But they see that all his pronouncements have no backbone. He told touts to get off the street, they stayed away for 2 weeks went back and nothing happened. He told street traders to stop trading on the street, they stopped for a few days, went back and nothing happened.

This is what is known as a lame duck. A dog with a broken leg. All bark. No bite.

Soludo should man up. The solution is very simple. Send vigilante people around and pick up those touts. Take them straight to the nearest police station. Jail them for three days. Every day take them out of cell, chain their legs, put uniform that says "no more touting", take them to the dirtiest gutter and let them clear out the dirt from the gutter. After the three days, get their identification and take video of them promising not to engage in touting again otherwise they will be jailed for a longer period.

For the Street traders who see the frontage of markets as shopping space. The solution is simple. Do what Obi did to them. Send Vigilantes with a truck to seize their goods. Identify who they are. After one week release their goods after they pay 5,000 naira fine with a warning. Second time offenders, seize their goods and share it to government workers. When you are done you will not see one barrow in front of Eke Awka or Ochanja.

For the Keke/Shuttle boys have a traffic management team. Keke/Shuttle's driving badly fine N1,000. Keke/Shuttle parking illegally fine N3,000. The traffic management authority should share the fines 50:50 with the state government. Every Keke/Shuttle should be registered within a local government, drivers must have a driver's license, undergo Anambra road traffic test and have their vehicles certified every year. Those driving keke/shuttle illegally without license should have their vehicles impounded and be heavily fined.

abuzz33:
Fulfil Your Promise By Removing Touts Or Forget N15,000 Tax – Anambra Motorcyclists Tell Governor Soludo
September 23, 2022
NEWS
The motorcyclists and tricycle drivers, who have been protesting in Awka since Thursday lamented that the burden of taxation and exploitation was too much for them to bear.

Commercial motorcyclists and tricycle operators popularly known as Keke Napep riders in Awka, Anambra State capital have called on the state Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, to fulfill his promise of getting rid of touts or forget about the N15,000 monthly tax imposed on them.

The motorcyclists and tricycle drivers, who have been protesting in Awka since Thursday lamented that the burden of taxation and exploitation was too much for them to bear, saying they could no longer afford hire purchase tricycles given to them.

Recall that the state government had asked Keke Napep riders across the state to pay N15,000 tax per month, promising to end illegal revenue collection by getting rid of touts and illegal tax collectors.

But speaking with SaharaReporters on Friday at the popular Arroma Roundabout at the heart of Awka, some of the protesting Keke Napep riders said that the state government had unleashed its tax on them for the implementation of the N15,000 levy while they still paid touts at every terminal.

The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions including “Soludo: Solution please help us solve this payment out because is too much for Keke drivers”, “Soludo please help us. The money is too much for us to be paying”, “Say no to N15,000”, “We no go pay”.

One of the protesters who identified himself as Joseph Bassey said, “We don’t need Agberos (touts). What we are saying is that Soludo asked us to pay N15,000 monthly for each Keke rider but the N15,000 is too much for us to pay for each person per month. At least N5,000 is okay for us.

“Since April, the governor asked us not to pay any money again to agberos but since then till now we are still paying them money. In fact, we have paid N500 to agberos this morning. How will it be easy for us to be paying the government N15,000 and still be paying agberos N500 every day?”

Another protester who refused to mention his name pointed out that particularly in the Ifite axis of the city, “We pay N1500 and stop at Book Foundation and we will not even reach the school gate. If we pass the Book Foundation, another set of agberos are there collecting N7000. What is the essence of paying the government N15,000 and still be paying agberos?

“Every day, we pay N1500 from Arroma Roundabout to Book Foundation, paying for Government House N600, while every Friday is N800. Who loses, the government or we? How much do we make a day? It is either the government stops agberos, then we can pay the money because the summation of the money we pay to the government and the agberos, it is about N35,000 per month.”

They alleged that their supposed leaders were the ones fueling the forceful implementation of the N15,000 levy by the government, adding that Thursday, some government tax force raided their park and took some of their colleagues to police station for failure to pay the levy.

Bassey said that they have tried to explain to the government officials that they are still finding it difficult to register their Keke with the government but to no avail.

“I have gone to the Government House several times but the registration kept showing invalid OTP (One Time Password) and it is not only me. Even the people who came to harass us yesterday, we tried to explain to them that the government has not rectified the registration issues we have been complaining about but they refused to listen.”

According to them, “agbero is the problem of the Keke riders and as for now, we don’t have any union or government. We are on our own.”

SaharaReporters’ efforts to get the state Commissioner for Transportation, Patricia Igwebuike, to comment on the matter failed as she did not answer calls made to her phone number nor reply to a text message sent to her.

Meanwhile, the aggrieved protesters have vowed to sustain the protest until the government attended to their demand.

Patricia Igwebuike is turning out to be the worst Commissioner that cannot control simple transport sector.

https://www.lawrevision2019.an.gov.ng/patricia-ifeoma-igwebuike-esq.html

They are talking tax when what you see on ground are thousands of lawless young men driving like mad people in the name of keke and shuttle, obstructing roads, congesting junctions. Very disorganized set of people. Mrs Igwebuike doesnt know what she is doing and it shows.

You will not see this madness in Abakaliki or Enugu or many cities across Nigeria. But Anambra is now chaos defined and like rats in a sewer, touts, thieves are flooding into Anambra.

Fulfil Your Promise By Removing Touts Or Forget N15,000 Tax – Anambra Motorcyclists Tell Governor Soludo
September 23, 2022
NEWS
The motorcyclists and tricycle drivers, who have been protesting in Awka since Thursday lamented that the burden of taxation and exploitation was too much for them to bear.

Commercial motorcyclists and tricycle operators popularly known as Keke Napep riders in Awka, Anambra State capital have called on the state Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, to fulfill his promise of getting rid of touts or forget about the N15,000 monthly tax imposed on them.

The motorcyclists and tricycle drivers, who have been protesting in Awka since Thursday lamented that the burden of taxation and exploitation was too much for them to bear, saying they could no longer afford hire purchase tricycles given to them.

Recall that the state government had asked Keke Napep riders across the state to pay N15,000 tax per month, promising to end illegal revenue collection by getting rid of touts and illegal tax collectors.

But speaking with SaharaReporters on Friday at the popular Arroma Roundabout at the heart of Awka, some of the protesting Keke Napep riders said that the state government had unleashed its tax on them for the implementation of the N15,000 levy while they still paid touts at every terminal.

The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions including “Soludo: Solution please help us solve this payment out because is too much for Keke drivers”, “Soludo please help us. The money is too much for us to be paying”, “Say no to N15,000”, “We no go pay”.

One of the protesters who identified himself as Joseph Bassey said, “We don’t need Agberos (touts). What we are saying is that Soludo asked us to pay N15,000 monthly for each Keke rider but the N15,000 is too much for us to pay for each person per month. At least N5,000 is okay for us.

“Since April, the governor asked us not to pay any money again to agberos but since then till now we are still paying them money. In fact, we have paid N500 to agberos this morning. How will it be easy for us to be paying the government N15,000 and still be paying agberos N500 every day?”

Another protester who refused to mention his name pointed out that particularly in the Ifite axis of the city, “We pay N1500 and stop at Book Foundation and we will not even reach the school gate. If we pass the Book Foundation, another set of agberos are there collecting N7000. What is the essence of paying the government N15,000 and still be paying agberos?

“Every day, we pay N1500 from Arroma Roundabout to Book Foundation, paying for Government House N600, while every Friday is N800. Who loses, the government or we? How much do we make a day? It is either the government stops agberos, then we can pay the money because the summation of the money we pay to the government and the agberos, it is about N35,000 per month.”

They alleged that their supposed leaders were the ones fueling the forceful implementation of the N15,000 levy by the government, adding that Thursday, some government tax force raided their park and took some of their colleagues to police station for failure to pay the levy.

Bassey said that they have tried to explain to the government officials that they are still finding it difficult to register their Keke with the government but to no avail.

“I have gone to the Government House several times but the registration kept showing invalid OTP (One Time Password) and it is not only me. Even the people who came to harass us yesterday, we tried to explain to them that the government has not rectified the registration issues we have been complaining about but they refused to listen.”

According to them, “agbero is the problem of the Keke riders and as for now, we don’t have any union or government. We are on our own.”

SaharaReporters’ efforts to get the state Commissioner for Transportation, Patricia Igwebuike, to comment on the matter failed as she did not answer calls made to her phone number nor reply to a text message sent to her.

Meanwhile, the aggrieved protesters have vowed to sustain the protest until the government attended to their demand.

Ethiopian Airlines is a well managed outfit. The JV will be the same way MTN came to Nigeria as an average company and became a major player in Africa.

A Nigerian airline with ET as operator will make it easy for Nigerians to fly London - Lagos - Enugu or New York - Lagos - Enugu than flying all the way to Ethiopia and back.

Ceegar01:
ICC was a waste of money according to some people, all I know is that Willie worked!!

The ICC was a great project. Fashion Show is a start. Let us see more important events like Building Materials Convention, etc.

Nzam Road that has collapsed even after federal government tried to build it? A place with excess water? Waste of money.

Omanambala:
Remember the airport and ICC were projects Obiano built with the liquidated stocks not just the ICC. Obiano doesn't have much to his name without the funds he "stole" from the children of the state.

Obiano was an empty and loud fella who bragged about how he would turn Anambra to Dubai without any clear plan. pathetic!

The difference between Obiano and Rochas Okorocha is that Peter Obi saved money and Anambra people cant be messed with.

Obiano and his cabal looted from the usual. Inflated Road, Bridge, flyover and airport. The flyovers in Awka cost 15 billion naira. Can you imagine? From 1 billion it was estimated under Obi. 15 billion was almost $100 million dollars. Then his oil rig bridges and adjoining roads at Aguleri Uno cost 20 billion. Then he was allocating 13 billion every year to the office of the governor which he used to fly chartered jets and hire over 100 special advisors whom he lodged at Trigpoint Hotel.

Obiano was extremely wasteful. The airport and ICC cost well over 60 billion some of whose cost Soludo is saddled with.

Omanambala:
Soludo might just be the messiah we are waiting for and the only good thing Obiano achieved.

Touts are attracted to places where there is excessive illegal commercial activity. They operate in Anambra because there are way too many keke vehicles, shuttles, buses all driving insanely, parking illegally. You can never see touts enter bus parks or inside markets. They operate on the fringes. The state government should focus on regulating transport and markets and getting rid of the lawless behavior of keke, shuttle and buses loading on the side of roads or people selling inside barrow or shacks outside markets.

Markets should have parking places for buses within their walls. Keke and shuttle should be banned from plying main roads of (Onitsha/Awka) and expressways. Limit them to neighbourhoods or university area. Only 12 seater buses should ply main roads and be provided with bus stops.

All those barrow hawkers that line up outside markets or sell on top of pavements should be removed and relocated to walled in spaces for evening or sunday markets like what you see in Lagos. Get them off the roads completely.

NwekereNdoki:
This market is heavily due for remodelling. Soludo can patner with Private sector to remodelling rebuilt a better main market.

The problem with all markets in Nigeria is overcrowding. The government needs to regulate the market and remove all the attachments and new buildings built on parking lots and curbs. Create new markets elsewhere.

About soil types, when Soludo is ready to build roads he should do proper soil stabilisation with cement on the sub base not using laterite before pouring asphalt because a lot of the soils in Anambra have poor load bearing characteristics and need to be reinforced. They should also relocate all markets out of cities because those trailers contribute to destruction of roads.

Soil-Cement Stabilization For Road Pavement Using Soils Obtained From Agu-Awka In Anambra State

O. OkonkwoV.
Published 2015

This work was carried out to determine the effectiveness of soil-cement stabilization for road pavement construction using soils gotten from Agu-Awka, Awka,

Anambra State. Tests were carried out on the soil sample which includes the Atterberg limit tests, particle size distribution analysis; compaction test using the West African Standard mould compaction test and the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test. Based on the tests carried out on the soil, the sample was found to belong to the A-2-6 subgroup of A-2 group of the AASHTO soil classification system. It is required that a minimum California bearing ratio which should not be below 80%, 30% and 10% be met for base, sub-base and subgrade materials respectively. From the California bearing ratio (CBR) test carried out on the soil sample, the CBR value for the soil sample was found to be 15%, which was adequate for subgrade materials but not adequate for sub-base materials and thus, the soil sample had to be stabilized. After stabilizing the soil sample by the addition of cement, CBR values of 27%, 33%, 50%, 86%, 111%, and 122% were obtained for percentages of cement added at 5.0%, 5.5%, 6.0%, 6.5%, 7.0% and 7.5% respectively. The minimum percentage of cement added to the non-stabilized soil in order to attain the minimum CBR value requirement for sub-base materials and base course materials were 5.36% and 6.48%. The result met AASHTO standard specifications and set a minimum benchmark that applies to the soil tested.

[quote author= post=116229302]Awka Millennium City update

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTCXYGOA_rs[/quote]A wonderful estate. I see a lot of water lying around on the surfaces showing high clay content of the soil. I hope that the roads are well built and the drainage is top notch.

Landmack:
Soludo is beginning to relax. Things are becoming abnormal again. I learned EkeAwka after it’s initial gragra is back to its squalid state..indiscriminate dumping of refuse,disregard for traffic,street trading and what have u.

He should look at the ATMA and market people that collect money from all those barrows and look the other way. If you want to stop those idiots in front of eke awka Ngonadi should shut down the market until the market leaders banish those hawkers for good. Let them take responsibility.

After all how can someone paying 20k per month for shop plus waste levies selling beans inside the market lose business to someone whose only plan is to buy barrow fill it with beans and sit at the entrance and only pay 200 naira a day while messing up the road.

Go and rent shop of 50k elsewhere they will not do. Its only to ride on the back of someone's success.

Someone will be selling phone cases and gadgets in shops with light, AC, staff, a hawker will carry barrow load it with phone cases and destroy that man's business. Go rent shop in another part of Awka and look for customer the hard way. They will not do.

PROUDIGBO:
Let's showcase some highbrow areas of Port Harcourt with a view to seeing if there are a few takeaways we can use to improve our major cities in the south-east....Enugu, Abakaliki, Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi, Owerri, Umuahia and Aba.

One thing i've noticed by watching these YouTube clips or Port' is the necessity for our cities to incorporate underground/covered drainages and sidewalks. As well as giving the city a nice and scenic ambience, they also help in eliminating the dumping/gathering of refuse in gutters. Going forward, our cities in the south-east need to incorporate underground drainages and sidewalks in urban development.

Notice also the well maintained greenery and trees.....which Port Harcourt has always been known for, hence earning the tag, Garden City! Besides looking nice, trees help cool down the streets they line as well as help mop up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Owerri and Aba have similar rainforest climates like Port', but what they lack is commitment from their gov'ts to do thr needful. Where you do see greenery in these cities...especially Owerri, they're usually overgrown and lack maintainance. Just check recent clips of Owerri and Aba to see what i'm talking about.

Also, notice how the streets of Port' are swept of sand/sediment/rubbish and marked as well. This shows a presence of gov't and enforcement of sanitation initiatives and rules. Coming over to the south-east, our state capitals are trying a bit in this regard, but any discernable effort tends to concentrate mainly in just small parts of the city.

Also, i noticed there's less clutter and illegal structures on the streets shown in the clips when compared to streets in cities in the south-east. What you see in old GRA, Port Harcourt is well swept and marked roads...then the sidewalks with street/traffic lights....then well trimmed carpet grass....then the perimeter walls of properties! This is how low-density highbrow areas should look like! Only Enugu tries to replicate this in Independence Layout!

Or course, Rivers state has an advantage over states in the south-east in that they have a much larger allocation from the federation account, and only have one city they focus on, while states like Anambra and Abia have three and two respectively! However, states like Anambra have a lot going for them with which they could use to make up for their comparative low position in federal allocation, and this is their wealthy and massive diasporan business, academic and professional class! But even more than this, they have a family spirit that could help pool resources together and drive a common developmental initiative! Rivers doesn't have this family spirit....and even if they do, it's certainly not as strong and cohesive as that of Anambra. Other south-east states, to varying degrees, also have this disapora and cohesiveness which could help drive development in their states, and this is where leadership is key! Governor Soludo is on the right track, but more needs to be done by way of taking advantage of the states massive, wealthy and global diaspora...developing financial tools and schemes that could help pool their resources and efforts together to help drive the states economic agenda.

Old and New GRAs, Port Harcourt.
Courtesy Thav TV: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThavTV


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9LD3PG6-kI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bON7ftr8Xf8

PH was not always like this. Wike has done a very good job in bringing infra upto par. Rivers also doesn't allow all sorts if lawless transporters using keke or shuttle to mess the place up. SE wants to compete with Lagos for home for agberos.

Daverytimes:
It's unfortunate that some might see what you wrote and default to calling you names, but you are right. It's shameful that some poverty stricken northern states have better road networks and generally more beautifully kept environments than we do, soludo has his work cut out for him and I hope he delivers.

You have to use a hard hand in Anambra. All those markets spilling over onto roads, All those barrow hawkers making a nuisance of themselves blocking roads. All those people who see sidewalks as market stalls. All those mad youth driving keke like they are driving motorcycle.

Soludo is still giving speeches and setting up committees. Anambra is embracing all the hawkers and illegal traders from everywhere. Home for all. Quality for none. A city should not look like someone's village. It should be neat.

NwekereNdoki:
Lol. .Anuohia. SO in your mind Obiano was responsible??

How many hospitals did Obiano build or renovated? Obiano reaped the good foundation Obi left behind in education (Number 1 2014), in Health, in Infrastructure, in Economy (increased IGR due to profit-yielding investments and support for local industries such as SAB miller, Innoson, Juhel, Neimeth, etc)

Obi built a better health apparatus. Obiano to his credit added more buildings to Amaku and set up the PHC system which was corrupted by the crooks he brought into government.