₦airaland Forum

omololu2020:
Only daft fool thought you got arrested because you are Igbo,but no matter what they think,if you are found guilty of forgery,you will be fully dealt with.

Just pray segun agbaje is not guilty because he will be dealt with too. 8billion naira is not a small money

abduljabbar4:
See this mumus they should even thank God that yakowa was able to rig the election in 2011. Kaduna is forever united and dominated by the Hausas. Shey their leader went to visit namdi cownu the other time? we will show you people that you cannot befriend our enemy and expect favours from us. We have not even started marginalising you yet

What has anyone who has been your friend gained since the beginning of your friendship. Stop foaming boy.

GoroTango:
It is senseless talk like this that divides the north further pushing the minorities into the hands of our IPOB enemies. Desist from such talk brother

So, how have you shown that southern kaduna are your friends when you guys have been fighting even before the civil war. You guys have different cultural direction and religion, why are you holding them back to stay with you in kaduna. Just let those people go and you guys can be good neighbours.

Guestlander:
Akure is a city that is 3 times the size of Enugu.

Akure is a town that just recently escaped from being a village.

totit:
[s][/s]

Lool

The problem with westerners are their inability to travel. Very lazy people.

Guestlander:
Ibos developed Akure as well? We are in a good company with Lagos, Abuja, Johannesburg, Beijing, Bangkok, Jakarta etc.

I give u ijapo estate, alagbaka, state house, futa axis. Tell me what else is in akure?

This totit guy should bury his head in shame, he jeeps regurgitating officers' mess like the 500th time. I ask myself, is that place close to chibok?

The Hot guy really killed this thread. I have told the Yoruba's that they all concentrate their energies in Lagos and allowing other parts to rot. I have been to virtually all parts of the west because I schooled and grew up there. Southwest is not really developed. They only have educated numbers who do not build a thing.

Like a colleague used to say, all the houses close to the road in akure are owned by Igbo's. The Yoruba's are selling their properties to go back to the interior villages. Akure south since being the capital cannot and has not expanded into akure north because it doesn't have the capacity.

Ado-ekiti local government. The capital of Ekiti has still not developed the whole LGA. So also osogbo. Abeokuta is one long street with dual lane.

Let them go and sleep.

bakynes:
I have never seen a Chest beating tribe like the Igbos in my life.

Elizade is bigger than Coscharis and would pay more taxes than Coscharis but you will never hear Yoruba's talk about it. What is wrong with this people sef are you the only ones that make money in this country.

Elizade bigger than coscharis? What is wrong with u folks

people did not come out. what a low turnout

why are they stranded

The driver entered which report?

EternalTruths:
The West that has relied so much on Taxation, have they being able to build a well developed society.?

The taxation should be aimed at expanding the economic boundaries in the east at the moment and not to paste IGR every year. That doesnt make sense. The east has potentials of being an economic hub but without money flowing in that region, then the needed investors will not want to be around there.

For example, the onitsha main market should have been transformed to a mall city since like 10years ago after amassing a strong title of one of the biggest markets in west africa and africa at large. It should be remodeled and expanded for bigger players and tourism. We are not just doing the right things in this part of the world. That market alone can provides for more than 40million nigerians in a year without much problem while another 10million can visit that place based on tourism and dubai-like tour. That alone can raise almost 500billion naira in a year.

We need to tax more igbos outside the region and outside the country to make the east economically viable by plugging those monies in smart investments which will open and expand economic boundaries totally. Then we can stop and generate other ways.

The south east governors cannot do anything more than what they are doing. The income from the federal government is so small that they can only achieve next to nothing after paying salaries. The ones building bridges and some projects should be applauded because these things cost money. The total budget of all five eastern governors is not up to 500billion naira which is equivalent of 1.5billion dollars. It is not as if they already have that money but they believe the money will come the next year after proper fiscal projections.

The igbo people in and outside the region need to be taxed. You dont just consider the east as the only place you come just during christmas without wanting to develop the state itself. If the eastern governors can adopt the method of diasporan tax system whereby every igbo man working pays tax to his respective state, then we can generate more funds for development.

If you leave the east like this, I am sorry, it will be the same story year in, year out.

S

Jerryojozy:
Kano state the headquarters of drug abuse. Shout out to peeps from lamido crescent.



Genius J

i know there bruh

9japrof:
Nigerians and the spirit of "arrival"

Dude is making a paltry 30,000 pounds compared to what superstars earn and he is making noise, getting in the news for the wrong reasons.

All these Nigerians who forget they have left the shores of Nigeria where their excesses can be condoned.

First ideye, now this over hyped mofo

You say 30,000 pounds a week is paltry?

I was just 8 at the time. My friends and I were going to catechism class in the reverend sister's convent. It was a ritual that we go early and pluck "fruits" before the commencement of the classes. We knew there were dogs in the compound, I mean fierce looking dogs but they were always caged. This fateful day, we thought it was like every other day, we were throwing stones to hit the fruits and enjoying our target practice not knowing that these three dogs were busy locating the direction of stones and coming towards us.

lo and behold, the dogs started running towards, Peter saw the dogs first and screamed "dogs, dogs", thinking he was trying to be smart and carry all the fruits. It when I heard "whoof, whoof" close to me, I believed him. I ran my heart out. These dogs didn't want to stop, they came at us determined to bite us. I started running and crying. We ran for minutes, infact the distance we ran was close to a mini-marathon. It was until the reverend sister came out that she ordered them to go inside before we felt any form of respite. The funniest part was that we graduated from crying to laughing in seconds. We continued eating the fruits we plucked.

Afam4eva:
Unfortunately, we don't have the kind of leaders that can make these changes and the reason is because we don't have the electorate that will demand these things. Like i said, our best brains are outside the south east and only if they move to the SE, will they challenge the current status quo and make our governors to sit up. Most of us outside the SE don't even see the SE as a place where we will end up. Rather we see it as our ancestral home where we visit every one in a while and that's the sad reality.

That is the painful truth. The southeast now looks more like a place we get to see our old parents and our old uncles without any real activity going on. The real issue is we finding a solution to this problem because as we can all see, not everyone can leave the region to find a greener pasture somewhere in the world. I am afraid to say that the east might up being a burial ground for everyone who dies outside the region or a place where we go for traditional marriage and come back almost immediately.

We can change this and ofcourse it is possible. The east needs a lot of money to bring back to life. This money is not in the hands of the state government and the federal government will not fund such even if Ojukwu is the president at this time. A popular saying goes that "a stitch in time saves nine", we should not just fold our arms because the federal government neglected us and we do nothing. We can come up with our plan and design that will help in the time being before we get the right policies or government that will favour us.

A vibrant economy in the east will solve alot of intra-family squabbles and inter-ethnic tensions. Our lives will have more meaning and the youth will have a future. Without this, we will be having a serious security threat in our hands in the next couple of years.

September 16th, 2017, the igbos had a conference in chatham house in London. It was organised by igbo elites and ohaneze ndigbo. We saw notable people in the gathering like the Obi of Onitsha, Ekweremadu and the rest. They spoke about the origin of the igbo problem and how it has deteriorated to this day. What I found amiss in all their meetings is their inability to connect with the young minds of the igbo race. We do not as matter of fact get information about these meetings and conferences. We only see the outcome in the news which makes us feel we are not carried along.

When the president of Ohaneze Ndigbo was been interviewed, he made mention of the fact that there will be a mega conference where everybody will come and air his opinion about the situation of things with the igbos sometime soon. He still conspicuously did not mention the time and date. I was leaning every close to my laptop to hear if he said anything about the date and time so that we the youths who really need things to change can come and air our views.

I promise to get the time and date and I am trying to compile a very strong statement for the day so that our opinions and suggestion will be spoken on that day without mincing words.

Afam4eva:
Thanks for taking out time to create this thread. This is the type of threads that i've been clamoring for well meaning Igbos to create so that we can discuss our problems and how to surmount them instead of always dwelling on mundane issues.

The problem with Igboland is multi-faceted. We have the same problems that other cities in Nigeria have but more importantly, we have our own problems which in my opinion is as a result of being totally abandoned by the federal government. There's a reason why way more people move from Enugu to Kaduna, Anambra to Kano, Abia to Ibadan than vice versa. I'm not even going to mention Lagos and Abuja. The reason being that only places that the FG wants to succeed will succeed. The reason why more commercial and insustrial activity happens in the places i mentioned is because there's an enabler which was made possible by the FG. We don't have those enablers in Igboland. Atleast not to the extent of those other places. I think it behooves on our governors to actually create the enabling environment for every kind of business to thrive in Igboland. The absence of these enablers is why our best brains within Nigeria are either in Lagos and Abuja. Even our traditional rulers dont even live in their communities or even their states. You see them in places such as Porthacourt, Lagos and Abuja.

This is brilliant afam, these enablers which are present in some states deemed fit as development epicentres in Nigeria is lacking in the entire southeast, the state governors should really look at these enablers and try as much as possible to fix the infrastructural deficit so that we can make the region an economic viable place.

lozanni:
You have listed some good points here.
Some of the major amenities lacking in the East are :

1. Employment opportunities for graduates. You find out that most banks and multi-national firms are based in Lagos, and so to secure a job with them, most often, you have to be in Lagos.
2. Good and secure housing programs. Apart from IMO State that I know has good housing schemes, most other eastern states, like Umuahia, Abia State ( some box - like buildings, without aesthetics,
are being built now at the outskirts of the state, on the bende-ohafia road) do not have good housing schemes that will make it attractive for their elites to live there.
3. Security is very much lacking in some eastern states, because when some rich folks are seen in exotic cars, the next thing is for some miscreants to plan their kidnap.
4. Absence of recreational facilities in most eastern states. In Lagos, there are many recreational parks, such as amusement parks, popular cinemas, beaches etc. If such activities can be created for the east, then many people will think it's a fun place to live in.
5. A program to make eastern people relocate home. One of the criteria for the location of industry, from secondary school economics, is the availability of a large population. The east has the population, but they are dispersed all over the country. If we need to create viable industries, we need the desired population.
6. Right people in government. If we can get the right people with the right ideas into govt, then issues like poor Road network, corruption etc will be properly tackled.
7. A super-fast rail link that can enable people move from the east to Lagos and back again in under three hours can help re-populate the east with the vibrant population it needs.

This is brilliant, I am keeping this information close to my heart and will highlight it when the time comes. You will be cited as one of the brilliant igbo minds who saw the problem of the east from a very clear angle.

Bibors:
If there must be an igbo forum, then I think an Igbo IT guru should set up an app like this nairaland and lock out those that are non igbos just as non Muslim have been locked out on nairaland Muslim forum.
* Also my brother, it's better we look at the realities on ground while we try to advance the Igbo agenda.
I don't want to sound IPOB but it's only through such means that our leaders can listen.
I wish all those who have criticized Nnamdi Kanu 's approach have proffered a better solution.

We have leaders that since the coming of imperialist, have been feeding fat on the masses.
They captured and sold brothers as slaves and even had to be fought by the same imperialists to stop taking slaves as its no longer a lucrative business since its abolition.
These leaders metamorphosed into warrant chiefs and did so many unspeakable atrocities. As if we haven't had enough from them as society advanced, so did they advance their method and approach of fattening themselves at the cost of the masses.
They deliberately sold us out because of the Ahiara declaration which made Biafra loose the war,.
Post Biafra war, the Igbos have endured untold hardship just to make out something from their 20 pounds and move forward.
These unscrupulous leaders have found their way into politics and for close to 20 years of " civil rule" the south east having collected billions of naira as allocation cannot boast of basic infrastructure.
No housing program.
No health insurance program
No roads
They even make the environment hostile to business .
They corrupt the masses and entice them with salt, rice and one thousand to vote for them just for public show.
There has never been any of them who genuinely won an election. They have since been anointed by the leaving king and the cycle is endless.
They loot public treasury for personal gain and guard themselves with both thugs, police and military.

My brother, the great Pan African revolutionist Thomas Sankara did say " we should date to reinvent the future for it takes the Mad Men of yesterday to create the desired change" ( paraphrased).

If indeed it's in Igbo blood to rebelious and have no regard for constituted authority as aledged by Lugard, then it means that it is in our blood to rebel against bad leadership and to have no regard for fraudulent and oppressive constituted authority.

We must change the Ignorance nation from within.
We must reorient our minds.
We must keep fighting injustice anywhere we see it.
There can never be peace without fairness, equity and justice.

This is very intelligent input from you and you have hit the nail on the head. We have a big problem of leadership which has made the entire region look like a medieval civilization.

istandfortruth:
True that. I completely agree we can't wait for restructuring. However, we can use a two pronged approach to address the challenges of the east. On one hand we continually speak up and demand for our rights, a restoration of our dignity as citizens. On the other hand, we address the economic issues bedevilling the east by developing a plan for the entire region and get the necessary buy-in from all interest groups (youth groups, politicians, igbos in diaspora and other regions with common interests).

This must be done whilst we also address the issues of integrity and character in our dealings, there's no way to establish long term trust with integrest groups without directly confronting these. In today's world integrity is literally money (its as good as cash).

You have captured the thought succinctly without anything left behind. We solve our economic woes without waiting for these people while on the other hand we raise our voices on restructuring or anything we will love to push for. The plan that we have to wait for the government (northerners) to cede their advantage is like waiting for sand to die.

We can generate as high as 2trillion naira yearly if we engage the right methodology and no one will be shortchanged or better-still feel used. We need to start acting because no one will develop igboland or make it economically viable if we do not take actions ourselves now.

We have great states that will help our external economies of scale if we get our acts right. Let us play a little, we have states like edo, delta, rivers, cross river, bayelsa, akwa ibom, benue, kogi and plateau states which are closer to the east than other economic zones.

Let us now look at their IGR and their allocations for 2016

Edo state - IGR -23billion, FA - 57billion

Delta 44billion, FA - 126BILLION

RIVERS 85billion, FA - 134billion

C/river 14billion, FA - 56billion

Bayelsa 8billion, FA - 99billion

A/ibom 23billion, FA- 150billion

Benue 9billion, FA - 69billion

Kogi 9billion, FA - 63billion

Plateau 9billion, FA - 57billion

We have over 224 billion internally generated revenue from these states and 811billion as federal allocations from these states. Most of these monies were spent on projects and salaries while I do not put into consideration the corruption therein, if we key into these monies flying in these states and we can make them spend atleast 20 - 30% of it in the eastern region, then we can say that we have added over 200 billion naira into the region. I am not putting into consideration the influx of businesses that will come into the region if we put our acts right.

Do we need restructuring to steal these monies through solving their needs and giving them an option than going to lagos? We can be the better option for these and if we do not key into these opportunities, other people will.

nabiz:
even if u like build heaven just single harsh economic policy from federal government will render all those infrastructure useless.

What is the economic policy that will render whatever i have highlighted above useless?

Let us know the economic plan and lets know that this is what is keeping us from achieving it. Where is the eastern region going to? What is the mission of our leaders? What do you know is the igbo grand plan? Where is the destination? I am seriously at a loss here. Why are all of you silent? Do you know where anambra is going or imo is going? Do we have any form of economic integration?

Ebonyi cannot feed itself, neither do imo and enugu generate substantial funds. A whole year, the highest amount of money we can realise in the whole of southeast is not more than 60billion naira. A region with almost 40 million people or more. Is this not a shame? We keep screaming restructuring. Which question are you asking? Where are we going to generate funds to take care of myriads of people that might want to return during regionalism?

We should stop arguing in all these threads and start generating ideas. I can push all these information to the right people. The next world igbo conference, we can actually say our minds. Lets stop sitting as people tied to a tree for slaughter and behave like a majority that we are.

All we do is talk and talk but no one is talking of how we can start generating funds to drive economic development and expansion. If you stop collecting free money from the federal government, how do you plan to generate money for industrialisation. Do you know that when the time comes for restructuring, states will start their own era of nepotism and man-know-manism. Our brothers working in different firms and companies in other regions will have lose some of their jobs for them to cater for their own people. They will start policies to protect their indigenes and their businesses.

Start generating your funds now because starting will surely be difficult.

No one is going to give you 13% if you create industrial layouts.

No one will give you 13% if you rebrand and upgrade onitsha market the mall for africa because you have the capacity.

No one will give you 13% if you build inter-state rails using amaechi to facilitate the project.

No one will give you 13% if you build and operate ibaka seaport and just pay tax to the government.

No one will give you 13% if you expand roads going to industrial layout, central business units, and other important places in the region.

No one will give you 13% if you build water corporations that will supply clean and potable water in the region.

No one will give you 13% if you invest in agriculture and make a difference like netherland and israel.

No one will give you 13% if you build steel factory that will cater for the industrialisation of the region.

I can go on and on. Until we place ourselves in the spotlight, organisations and multinationals will drive past our region and go to other regions to invest. The only major industry in the east is either sabmiller and nigeria breweries. Everyone is afraid without seeing any violence. You are only good with drinking beer and not good with good industries.

If we keep waiting for Nigeria, I am sorry, restructuring will not help us when the time comes.

libertyhope2017:
I would like to know your tribe. If Igbo or Niger Delta, I'll help you. If you are Hausa-Fulani or Yoruba, especially yoruba which I suspect you since most of you beg online, I'll not help you because majority of you support this evil country; you are suffering, dying, no food, no house, absolutely nothing, yet you support this useless, evil country. Shows there something mentally wrong with some of you...

Please stop spoiling our name, if you are a goat, remain a goat in your home.

istandfortruth:
Firstly i must say that i'm very I'm proud of the Ohanaeze leadership. The east needs to speak out loud and clear using every upportunity because the government of today desperately wants the east to die in silence and the only way out is to speak out loud and clear.

@ Lalasticlala: How can one say they love Nigeria and still say no to restructuring? Think

If we wait for restructuring before we start doing something, then we as good as them and our youths will continue to go into violent activities and agitations. I know these northerners, they will never cede to restructuring that will make their hands tied. Until we start doing our thing ourselves, then we are as good as other tribes.

nabiz:
bros in not about what Igbo can do but all about the term and condition in getting the approval from the federal government. And again after the project, the federal government will give you 13% of the procced instead of you givn them they will be the one to give u. It is is discouraging and kills motives

The federal government will not give us 13% of the proceed, but they might just want to land heavy taxes on us. The federal government wanted to build the seaport on PPP project before they stopped building totally. We must as a matter of fact not stop doing something because we are afraid the federal government will render our efforts useless. We not doing anything is rendering our economy in the east useless too. If we want to get these things done, we can find a way round it and it will benefit us. There is always a common ground for anything and most importantly, there is always a backyard route to it.

The Nigerian system is grossly flawed, we do not have any serious sector in this country. All we need do is take three sectors and be serious about it and we become the focal point of the country. The igbos have a comparative advantage in commerce, automobiles and technology, arts and craft, we also have untapped potentials in the health industry and tourism. Why not create the next best thing in the whole africa. We should stop acting like everyone else if we want to be better. If we invest massively in these sectors, we will not be in the same level as we are today.

Igbos need to stop waiting for Nigeria and start working the talk. We complain everyday with no actions. We keep funding things we should have diverted our monies into and create a bigger economy so that the region will have a face in the world. The kurds developed a face, the catalonians have developed a face but the igbos in the east have not developed a face in the world. If we can tell the world we can sustain an economy, then anything we are agitating for will have a face value in the world. We need to stop talking and start doing something about our economic situation.