₦airaland Forum

asha 80: op how sure are you about no 9 ie the one about the remotest village having electricity?was akanu ibiam a premier of the then eastern nigeria?i do not doubt the remaining points though.

Akanu Ibiam was not a premier, he was a Governor of the Eastern region when Zik was Governor-General of Nigeria
On electricity, of course there could be some very remote places without light but most have. Don't forget that they have produced a senate president and now a sec of the fed govt. They have something, albeit modest, to show for it. Let me show you a few examples of villages

Cassava processing

Oil palm

Another beach

Unwana Beach

Ndibe beach

hand-made mounds for yam/cassava and farmland

Ebonyi rice

Ebonyi quarry

Rural Ebonyi

Ebonyi rural

1. Ebonyi State is one of the poorest states in southern Nigeria, sharing that position with Ekiti
2. It is highly agrarian, and draws a lot of similarities with its equally agrarian neighbor to the North, Benue
3. Ebonyi state is one of the food baskets in Nigeria
4. It can feed the entire south East if its agricultural potentials are harnessed properly
5. It has loads of beaches and natural salts
6. It is quite scenic, a property that should be harnessed for ecotourism
7. It is a highly cultural/conservative society
8. It has 3 federal [Federal College of Agriculture Ishiagu, new Federal University in Ikwo, and Akanu Ibiam Fed Poly Unwana) and one State university(EBSU)] institutions of higher learning
9. Most villages, even the remote ones, have electricity
10. Ebonyi is pristine and almost untainted, far from the madness in places such as Aba, Onitsha and Lagos
11. It produced the first and only governor of Eastern Nigeria
12. It produced a Senate President (Anyim)
13. It produced a Secretary to the Fed govt (Anyim)
14. Any agricultural investor should run there for land acquisition. Someone I know just moved his farm from Ibadan to Ebonyi
15. Many of its inhabitants can almost pass for Middle belters, in terms of looks
16. Its inhabitants are strong and unforgiving warriors (e.g., Ezza and Izzi)
17. Large rice and yam farms, and rice processing factories strut the landscape
18. It has one of the highest stone quarry sites in Nigeria, competing with Ondo, Ibadan, and Plateau in this area.
19. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have rice farming and processing development projects going on in Ebonyi
20: The Fed College of Agriculture Ebonyi is one of the few, if not the only place in Nigeria where you can receive a Diploma in Bee farming (Apiculture)

Let me regale you with a variety of rural Ebonyi photos

2015 gonna be tough.

Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the US House during Clinton's regime, and he contested to be president recently.
John McCain has been in the US senate since eon, and still is.

Some US Senators have been there for 30+ years. Hey!!! John Kerry after more than 27 years in the Senate just became the US Secretary of State (minister of foreign affairs).

In Europe, at least mainland Europe that I am very, very familiar with, politicians are recycled like bottled water container

I agree that Nigerian leaders are recycled, but it is not a Nigerian-only thing.

The recycling seems worst in the North of Nigeria as almost all governors and senators and house of rep members from the south, at least SE, were unknown ten years ago.

Even the 80 years old Ebonyi State Gov was unknown before he became a governor.

Young or old, no single Nigerian leader in recent times has been able to impress in a big way. So age has nothing to do with it.

Ahan74: Why would there be battle ground in SE?
With your OPC, Afenifere, ACN, LP, PDP, and now UPN and with the huge almajiri (Yoruba and hausa) population, and your hatred for SS, you will be in the thick of the battle


@Adejoro, I am not sure that you are any where near Igbo Man, and can see how desperate you are to rope Igbos inn, it is clear that your saying of "God bless Igbos" is false and parts of your attempts to bring them inn. Pls stop that, it can work for you.


1 Like

You must be an undiscerning i//diot. Your grandfather is not even as Igbo as I am. Anu ofia

~Bluetooth:
Nigeria is a SOVEREIGN state and it's not the duty of the US to intervene in her internal affairs.

Everyone knows that if a desperate Jonathan lose the election,he's going to instigate crisis in Nigeria.You don't need an Asari or any other militant to tell you that !

And if Buhari loses, what will he do? What did he do the last time?

geeez: Battle: North vs South South
Battle Ground: South East
Spectators: South West

I won't say more

Why would there be battle ground in SE?
With your OPC, Afenifere, ACN, LP, PDP, and now UPN and with the huge almajiri (Yoruba and hausa) population, and your hatred for SS, you will be in the thick of the battle

Her accent sounds Edoish (or non-Igbo Deltaish

Delete post as already posted earlier

https://www.nairaland.com/1367556/arms-stockpile-north-prepares-war

ACM10: Just accomplishment - Nigerian standard

Accomplished in what? Do you have an overall most accomplished American or British or Chinese or African? In sane countries, these things are based on separate criteria.

muktarl: we have 1million alumanjiris for sacrifice. can you beat that?

As long as they are sacrificed in the Northern region that is fine with me.

Politics and leadership (for good or bad): Obasanjo
Wealth and business acumen (whether real or fronting for others): Dangoge
Literature: Achebe: most roundly accomplished and most read literary giant
Sports: Kanu Nwanko
Highest degree: Ndubuisi Ekekwe: holds two PhD degrees and contributing to Africa's IT development in ways no other Nigerian has
Selflessness (as far as the eye can see): Dora Akunyili
Service to their people: Awo and Ojukwu
Religion?
Culture?

Ola Johnson: Living, I give it to Wole Soyinka; dead, I give it to Obafemi Awolowo.

Bigot. What did Wole achieve? A noble prize in literature.
What did Awo achieve? Leading his ethnic group
Those are your yardsticks. What else?

Okay I get it, both are Yorubas like you.

muktarl: when i was saying it, you fools thouth we are joking. if you people do not release the power to us in 2015. this child play. the power now or never. i have the new map of nigeria. i will release more infor

This time, you guys will be consumed as the war will be fought and won in northern Nigeria, including Abuja.

Willy4Willy: Nice move from North, they should prepare very well, the coming war is not going to be easy, it is going to be the mother of all battles. Every tribe and group should also be well prepared, the time and moment of truth is not that Far.

I love this.

idnoble135: Bunch of jokers!

This needs to be taken more seriously than merely ascribing them as jokers. With Boko Haram, we all have seen how serious Muslim Northerners can get.

God help any Igbo man found in the NW and NE in 2015, except for security operatives assigned to work there.

The North and the South South are each fully armed, by virtue of the different types of economic or religious/ethnic militancy that has gone on in both regions.

What can we say about South East and South West?

I have seen OPC brandish machetes and charms, and MASSOB brandish cudgels and raw power. But can these archaic fighting tools match the fire powers of the North and SS in 2015?

The only firepower possessed by SE and SW are those held by armed robbers and these are insignificant in number.

These two groups need to sit down differently and strategize for their region's safety.

Arms stockpile: North prepares for war over 2015?

Written by Tayo Babarinde
Sunday, 21 July 2013 00:00


RECENT discoveries and interception of arms and ammunition in some parts of northern Nigeria has raised fears and alarm in security and southern political circles as to the goals of the forces behind the smuggling of arms. While similar arm discoveries had happened in some southern states in recent past, the frequency of such discoveries in the North in recent days has reportedly increased the level of intelligence shadowing and surveillance in the area.

As insurgency remains a major headache in the Northeastern part of the country, the growing cases of arm stockpile in the North-West states are said to be giving security analysts sleepless nights, especially as clues as to the motives of the masterminds are yet unclear. As of the time of filing this report, security agencies are said to be focusing on both local and external sources in their bid to unravel the sudden surge in the trafficking menace.

Sunday Tribune was told that the initial suspicion was that the importation of arms was due to transnational islamist terrorists arming local jihadists, as well as using Nigeria as a transit route in the Sahel arms and related smuggling trade. This line of thought was reported to be the main preoccupation of the security agencies for sometime until in the last one month when political motivation reportedly entered the review process.

While analysts are yet to find direct linkage between political actors and the arm storage and smuggling, there are fears that threats from key leaders suggest a zone preparing for war depending on the outcome of the 2015 race. An insider told Sunday Tribune that the intensity of arm stockpiles correlates with the heightening of tension and mounting attacks on the presidency by political opposition and political dissenters within the ruling party.

It will be recalled that the arm cache found in Kano is still a mystery despite the ongoing prosecution of the Lebanese involved in the entire saga. The security agencies are also said to be at a loss over what alleged Hezbollah Shiite agents will be doing with the Sunni-led Boko Haramists on the arms stockpile. Boko Haram is said to belong to the Sunni school of Islam, attributing a link between them and the Lebanese under trial over the arms cache is said to be proving very difficult among intelligence analysts in the country. Though it is being suggested that the Shiite group could have its own separate mission in the country.

The Kano arms discovery, therefore, is reported to have given rise to many theories, one of such is the possibility of a non-religious involvement, with political undertone being the chief reason. This theory was said to have gained ground after the Zamfara State government got embroiled in an arm importation controversy, claiming it wanted to arm vigilance groups in the state. The way and manner the state government imported the arms allegedly without police approval had since become a subject of investigation which is said to be attracting attention of many within the security circles.

A security official confessed under the condition of anonymity that importation of arm without prior approval is a violation of the law. Said he: “for a state government to have done that, it is a matter to be taken seriously”.

Though the Zamfara State government had since justified its action on the need to combat criminal gangs operating freely in the state, keen watchers of the 2015 drama, however, pointed out that arming vigilantes in the countdown to 2015 sent mixed signals. Many people believed that once Zamafara succeeded on this matter, other state governments would follow suit, leading to proliferation of arms in the country and a potentially explosive electoral year in 2015.

While the controversy over Zamfara arm importation is still boiling, a tanker filled with assorted arms and ammunition was impounded between Kebbi-Zamafara axis with the source of the importation still unknown.

With hundreds of such tankers in remote parts of northwestern Nigeria, fears are spreading that there may be a deliberate programme to acquire arms by some unknown elements in the northern parts of the country ahead of 2015 elections.

Four days after the tanker was impounded, another arm cache was discovered in the sleepy state of Jigawa with exchange of fire between security agencies and those described as Boko Haram operatives. Security analysts, however, faulted the reference to Boko Haram, as Jigawa has never witnessed any Boko Haram attack since the insurgency started. Others claimed the exchange of fire did not explain the owner of the arms or who masterminded their stockpile in the state.

Another source told Sunday Tribune of the fear being nursed in that sector, saying “the situation is scary. We cannot say for sure that all these arms are imported by islamists. We cannot prove that. We can also not prove that politicians are behind the caches of arms for electoral purposes. All what we know for sure is that there is an arms build-up in the core North”, the security, a security official, said.

While the real motive behind the huge arms stockpile is still under investigation by security agencies, the statement credited to the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadohme, warning against civil war is cited by other analysts to argue that the presidency already has more facts over security situation in the country and, particularly, about arms build-up in northern part of the country than it is letting out. Oghiadohme had called attention to the tragedy of the last civil war, warning that leaders and elders should beware of actions and utterances capable of plunging the nation into another conflict.

The arms build-up situation has become an open issue within the Nigerian military, which is battling insurgency in the North-East. Though the military is not ruling out political opportunism, it howver suspects the Islamists to be behind the arms build-up, while the wider intelligence community are fingering political forces as being neck-deep in the menace.

Sagir Musa,spokesman of the Joint Task Force in Borno, while confirming the arms proliferation gave greater insight into the problem facing the North and the country as a whole in a recent statement on the issue.

Said he: “Nigeria’s borders are massive with hundreds of footpaths crisscrossing to neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger with links to Mali, Libya and Sudan. From conservative estimate by locals, there are well over 250 footpaths from Damaturu/Maiduguri axis that link or lead direct to Cameroon, Chad or Niger. These paths, which are mostly unknown to security agencies, are unmanned, unprotected and have continued to serve as conveyor belts for arms and ammunition trafficking into Nigeria.

“It is disheartening and unfortunate that the “merchants of death” have since devised methods to beat security agencies at the borders, chief among them, through the footpaths. These methods include the use of camels, donkeys and cows to traffic arms, ammunition and drugs such as cocaine into Nigeria. The fact that the weapons are small, light and collapsible makes it easy to be concealed and moved on camels and donkeys’ backs in a specially crafted skin or thatched bags mainly meant for the illegal “expedition” undetected. Similarly, some cows and grains merchants in the North- East sub – region of the country device means of hiding cache of arms and ammunition in empty fuel tankers, vehicle engines and bags of grains.

“The “grains” are transported in large number via trucks, trailers, lorries and old model pickup vans and Jeeps with little attention given to them by security agents. The use of Jega-type of tricycles (KEKE-NAPEP) as well as camels, donkeys, and cows (moving in flocks) to deceive, hide and conveniently traffic arms in some parts of the North are ways hitherto unknown, not well known”, Musa noted.

He explained further that “the Libyan and Malian rebels are desperate to exchange arms for money to Boko Haram terrorists, their financiers and collaborators as the sect has since been affiliated to Al-Qaida in the Maghreb. This has added to the overwhelming challenge of the influx of illegal aliens, arms, ammunition and sophisticated IED materials into the country and an efficient and effective fight against terrorism”, Musa had stated.
Sunday Tribune was, however, told that the political angle is already taking the center stage of discreet investigation into the discoveries. Already, it was gathered that investigation into the Kano arm caches has been extended to foreign soil, while the security agencies are said to be mounting pressure to ensure that Zamafara vigilantes are not armed with weapons.

As the arms influx expands, the questions on the lips of keen security analysts are many. Who is preparing for war? Is the North becoming a Somalia? And is the South too secretly building up its own arms,and /or has not been undetected? Could the flexing of muscles by politicians a subtle declaration of war over 2015?

Only a thorough investigation by the security agencies can provide the necessary answers.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/component/k2/item/17169-arms-stockpile-north-prepares-for-war-over-2015

No one respects Tinubu that much?