₦airaland Forum

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0cCzQv0BIQ

@Ikengawo:

Don't go there. Anambra as a state that has no divisions whether political or economical because almost all the towns in the state has privileged people that are equal to the task both politically and economically. So I don't think that there is any part of the state that is being ignored either politically or otherwise. Even the Onitsha you mentioned is presently witnessing massive turn around, upgrade and beautification same with other parts of the state. No part of the state is neglected because they are not in government at the moment.

MaximusDMeridux: This is Onitsha! Onitsha is the worst single place to be in Nigeria where you will be hearing gunshots in broad daylight! Petty traders literally drag you off the streets or bike to come and buy something or enter their bus, etc. Now @OP, except their are no slums in your state, then have you even any moral rights to question other states in Nigeria. At least, they don't go boasting they are the most hardworking state in Nigeria. Jesus said until they Pharisees, Woe unto the pharisees... (You are a pharisee!)


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These pictures are as old as 10-15yrs old. All these places has been cleaned up, upgraded and given face lift. The entire city of Onitsha is presently a beauty to behold.

Afam4eva: MASSOB will not be the same thing as the Biafran government. Massob has no say in it. A few divergent views on where the capital should be cited is expected but is not the popular opinion. Popular opinion states that Enugu should be remain the capital. Any attempt to go against that will actually cause problems. For those that are even clamoring for NNewi. On what basis are they even doing that? Even Owerri and Abakaliki stands a better chance than Nnewi. Even Awka stands a better chance. Nnewi is a commercial center and cannot be a capital.

Me think equally that Nnewi does not stand any chance, but just telling you what I overheard. You will not know how deep state creation has fractured the east until Biafra is achieved. SE of today is not SE of 1966 when Enugu was the regional capital, I bet you its gonna be an issue that can be worse than fighting another civil war. State creation succeeded in further enhancing the individualistic nature of an Igboman and it is not good for us. State creation killed the remaining unity we had during the time of Zik when regional govts where run.

I will recommend confederation for Biafra, secondly an entirely virgin city can be developed from the scratch, where all the SE states can have a contributory stake by way of land. The new city will cut across all the states of SE, this will make it imperative for all the confederating units to have equal stakes to the capital without being out-domineer by others.

Afam4eva: To avoid the problem of where to cite the capital, i think it should be cited in Enugu because that's the defacto capital of the east and a lot of people have accepted that by default. But if the government makes their intention to move the capital away from what the consensus has come to accept, that's when everyone would be fighting for it to be cited in their state. But personally, i would want it moved to Ebonyi.

That is the problem. It appears you don't know the damages already done by state creation? Each state now appears as different people. Sometime time ago I was in Onitsha and overheard some MASSOB members saying that Ojukwu's home town of Nnewi will eventually becomes the capital of the emerging Biafra.

Although different people with different positions. Today people go to Ojukwu's tomb in Nnewi to commune with his spirit..don't know if it is political. But I know that Uwazulike, Umeh etc has been there for such purposes. An average MASSOBIAN does not believe that there is any other symbol of Biafra than Ikemba and where is Ikemba now- Nnewi.

And if MASSOB goes on with this position and eventually succeeds in there efforts, nobody will question them on where to site the capital because they fought for it. Some folks has equally mention Okwe town where Uwazulike comes from. So presently there is this mixed feeling concerning all these. In a nutshell you cannot stamp your feet and maintain that it will be Enugu when the freedom fighters are all preparing Ojukwu's home in Nnewi as the makeshift State House until their vision is achieved.

Afam4eva: Is there any city in the world without a capital? There must be a capital. What you should be clamoring for is for us to copy the South African model where more than one cities are made the capital. Enugu can be the Executive capital while another city can be the legislative capital and so on. Every city should be allowed to develop at their own pace while the Eastern government would focus on regional integration which includes building rail lines that runs through all the cities and so on.

Am not saying that there won't be capital at all. Am even proffering is a virgin land to be built up as the new capital just like we have it today in Abuja. Let me tell you, the greatest problem we will have eventually when Biafra comes is where to site the capital.

Enugu state will come and say that it hosted the former eastern Nigerian capital and so therefore they deserve it, Imo will say that they are the heartland state and therefore capital should be at the center, then of course Anambra will come and say that the first president of Biafra was Ikemba and that he should be honored by naming Nnewi as the new Biafran capital.

We need to face these fact squarely, we should not pretend that this feelings does not exist amongst us and that is why before I now, I will come out so straightforward and some may misunderstand me as being harsh and caustic. But, no, it isn't.

cjrane: Wow !
It is good for the breeze to blow,so that we can see fowl nyash! I never knew Enugu people hated their Anambra brothers like this !

Let me begin by tendering my heart felt apology to all the Anambra people i had literally tongue lashed in the previous pages of this thread for saying harsh words about Enugu people. Chino,Odenigb-aroli etc, biko unu forgive me! It was done out of ignorance oh! I am from Ogwashi-uku and i had thought Igbos needed to be a formidable united front,thus my ideas and pain when i hitherto read the vile of Igbo against Igbo. I even insulted Chino once,calling him a boy with laptop creating havoc. I never knew they were simply exercising their God given right to defend their homeland and state from vicious unwarranted hatred and attacks. Biko Chino and co, gbahara nu mu o! I will never say one bad word to stop Igbos from killing each other anywhere on the internet.We deserve all we get from other Nigerians, especially our yoruba brothers.

Someone called Mekayboy said he didn't want Biafra as a physical place,but as a psychological thing.I never knew what that very brilliant man was talking about.Indeed, there is no need to prepare anywhere for anything. The best thing would be for everyone to develop their state and communities.It doesn't make sense to designate anywhere as anything,since Igbos have already learnt the Nigerian character of deporting their own people in their own country. Biko,Anambra people face your state,Imo and Abia should also face their state and Enugu should do the same.As for we Deltans,i have returned to being an Ika from today. I am no longer Igbo. It is a group for losers.

Now you know better..

Apology accepted. I keep saying it, there is no need designating any city out of the east as our capital, every state should go and develop their state simple. Even if Biafra comes today, no present city can emerge the capital city for Biafra. An entirely virgin place could be mapped out, acquired by Biafran government to be developed as the capital of Biafra.

All the states of SE can be economically powerful due to healthy competition. The present infrastructural upgrade sweeping through Onitsha is a welcome development. In as much as it is an economic city, the addition of five star hotel, modern shopping centers like shoprite and amusement parks is equally good for mix development. Enugu being a civil servant's city cannot remain thus, there is need for some level of economic-commercial activities to make it equally self-sufficient. It is equally a beautiful city.

In a nutshell each and every SE city should have some elements of hospitality and commerce either industrial for self sustaining. Owerri being hospitality city should equally add up some other elements that are found in Aba and vice versa. When we get all these in place our cities will be a one-stop-shop, where everything is set and good to go. No part of SE will have to depend on another part for sustenance. For Biafra to succeed there is need for confederation.

Btw, you cannot deny your Igboness because of mere fight between brothers. However we fight, we are still brothers. I will keep saying it.

MAYOWAAK: The first president prize you are gloating over was ceremonial with little powers and delegated responsibilities.Real power was with the Prime Minister.

But the yuruba clown and local champion awoh cried to be in same position as the great Zik (an Igboman) for just 24hrs. He was denied it on several occasions which led to his committing suicide. Na lie..?

I thought as much. I was in Lagos last week for a workshop. I bet Lagos is huge slum over hyped by yuruba media..

So much disorder and area boy syndrome. The infrastructures are rotten, the huge allocation that clown receives does not reflect the reality on the ground

mekaboy: I don't think there is need to start buying land and all that, the land dispute issue will arise, some parts will say their land is more expensive than others.

There will be a national and regional agenda. Instead of having states, we have regions, east west north and south of whatever country it is called.

Governor of the east and governor of the west. We only buy land for major national projects, maybe a refinery or something is to be sited in a region . The national account will come from a pull of resources generated from each region.

It is not about landing buying. It is called government compulsory acquisition that attracts compensation. Such compensations are usually statutory, it has a benchmark within which you cannot exceed.

INNO18: that road has already been completed just awaiting commisioning.. .

Yes I know. I just wanted you to confirm that Obi is working. The road came with standard gauge drainage on the both sides.

INNO18: so happy to see chino discussing like ''Ezigbo mmadu'', constructively and not destructively.... Udo di nwanne.

Remember am ogo ndi Osumenyi. Whatever you say now will be used against Osumenyi when I eventually becomes commissioner of works and housing in Anambra. I will stop the ongoing works at Amichi-Osumenyi-Ezinifite road.

mekaboy: You have a point but knowing how humans reason, every state has land so which of the states will the biafran govt buy the land from. Enugu will say buy from us Anambra , Ebonyi , Abi and Imo will say the same. So will biafra Govt take the nations money and pay to people of a state to buy land while other states look?

Capital will just be a name, any state can be capoital. Its not going to bw like Nigeria where we have massive development in the capital while other states are left behind.

All the states including the capital will have governors, then the various ministries will be distributed in all the states.

The office of the presidency will be in the capital, with 5 REPS from each state. Before the presidency takes a decision, all 5 states reps will have to accept.

It will be a kind of equity land. Whereby all the states of SE will be a land contributor to the capital there by neutralizing any domination from any particular state that may want to claim outright ownership. Abuja is a perfect model and a case-study for this.

Afam4eva: By the time the natives start chopping off people's head, you'll feel at home more in Cotonou #JustJoking

The truth is that you don't have as much right as the Northerners in Abuja. I'm sure what you're saying is what some people said about Lagos but see what's happening today. I think the best bet would be for power to be decentralized so that every city and state can develop at their own pace and should the country eventually lose, nobody will feel cheated. Did you hear the countries of the old soviet union complain about their commonwealth being taken to a particular city? Every part of the old soviet union no matter how small had a city to be proud of but the case is different in Nigeria because our commonwealth is taken and used to develop someone's abode and tomorrow the person tells us that it's their own and that we should go and develop our region. if Abakaliki or anywhere becomes the capital of Biafra tomorrow, i think the proceeds from Abakaliki should be used to developed the place and not the proceeds from Onitsha for example. The only thing that our commonwealth can be used for is to build government structures.

You have made some good points here. But I believe that as at today nobody, no northern youth or whatever of any nature can lay any form of claim to Abuja. Even the police, army etc are equitably distributed in Abuja. No particular tribe is dominant in Abuja. The converse is the case in Lagos where Yorubas will claim that it is their land, and of course it is their land because govt did not ab initio acquire nor paid any compensation of the said land of lagos. FG sensed this things early enough that was why the first move they made in the case of Abuja was to acquire the lands from the host communities: Abaji, Wuse, Asokoro, Karu etc these were some of the origins of Abuja then.

Afam4eva: @Chino
Can you lay claim to Abuja if Nigeria eventually breaks up? Won't it still go back to the original owners?

So far as Nigeria remains one, it is Nigerian property and thereby belong to all Nigerians. It is not the same when the capital was in Lagos. Abuja is center for all Nigerians and all Nigerians has equal opportunity there. Do you know that I feel at home more in Abuja than Lagos.

Afam4eva: And when the place seizes to be capital, what then happens? Dude, there's no such thing as virgin land. Everyland is owned by some people or should i say is the ancestral land of some people and even if it takes them 100 years, they will reclaim it. The only thing you should be fighting for is a law that makes everyone equal irrespective of where they're are from. As a matter of fact, a nation's commonwealth mustn't be used to develop a capital city. It's only in Nigeria and some backward countries that i see that happening. In the US for example, Washington DC is not even one of the top 5 or even top 10 cities in the US. The government does not give it any overwhelming special attention like in the case of Nigeria where billions are pumped into Abuja yearly.

I agree with you that any land at all is owned by somebody. But when compensation is paid, more especially compulsory acquisition done by the govt. Whenever compensation is done and the land acquired the host community seizes to be owners of the land. It then becomes govt property. It happened in the case of Abuja.

Afam4eva: Pls can you define what you mean by "neutral ground". Is there any land in Nigeria that's not owned by anyone?

There are still virgin lands with Igboland as at today. Neutral ground could be likened to a place where government acquired and paid compensation to the host communities for it and thereby no state nor town can lay sole claim to it. By that compensation they seize to be owners of the said land.

Just like no singular Abuja community can lay claim to being the owner of Abuja, because it has been paid for and acquired. This is the same problem people had in Lagos, and that was part of the reason capital was moved to a neutral ground. Ebonyi may not be a bad idea because they still have arable and un-used land in mass.

Govt of Biafra could move into the place and acquire most of the land and pay them compensation to relocate to other parts of the state. But I will strongly suggest that lands should be chopped off from all the states that made up SE so that it won't be a problem when a particular state gives up their entire land for the project.

I strongly believe that eventually if Biafra comes, Enugu may not make it as the capital anymore. Most Igbos from other state will likely kick against it. Apart from issues that may arise with Igbos folk that may reason that 1966 is not 2013.

I know for sure that most people will go for a quite neutral ground. Maybe a combination of virgin lands from SE towns will be carved out and develop from ground zero a state capital that all Igbos can lay claim to. We don't need a capital where one day somebody will wake up and start saying that this is our land and all that.

Just like what is playing out now in Lagos after it was collectively developed from the scratch and now some people claim to be more lagosian than others. I believed that was major reason capital was moved from lagos to more central area now called Abuja.

Even Biafran govt can pay acquire virgin land and pay compensation to the host communities just like it was done in the case of Abuja. I believe we should not make the mistake Nigeria made until it was later corrected by moving the capital to the neutral ground.

Who said that Nnewi in Anambra is not the Japan of Africa..?

Yurubas are cowards..they won't dare do a thing or else they will be killed and lodged in jails like Abacha did.

They are still northern subjects after they were annexed by the northern expansionists years ago..

Good step..

Thump up GEJ..

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan will be on the seat till 2019. It is only God that gives POWER. God have given the power to the shoeless, humble Otuoke born minority from the creeks of Niger Delta to rule over us. The same God will see him through to 2019.

They will surely gather......

Ekweremmadu is right now warming up to take over from Chime. I don't know if that will go down well with Nsukka people who have been shut out from the corridors of power since Okechukwu Itanyi's time.