ezeagu:

Which community in Umuahia?

Ubakala and Old Umuahia . I remember going to Apumiri Square in Ubakala when I was a kid to watch Nwankelenke during xmas. From what I observed, they did not go from place to place like other masquerades but performed in market/village squares during xmas. My own community is less than two miles from Ubakala. We are smark in the middle between Golden Guinea Breweries and The Ceramic Industry.

Do you know Umuahia ? Where do you know in Umuahia ?

ifyalways:

Ooops,Izaga is the one that wears white,carrys and rings a bell to announce its presence and [b]stands/walks on sticks(joined to the ankles or sumthin).[/b]Ulaga is always on black,immediately it comes and leaves a funeral(titled men),the person is buried.Izaga is taller than Ulaga though

We also have that in Umuahia. They walk on sticks about a storey building high and some of them just hop about on one stick at alarming speed. We call them Nwa Nkelenke (otu ukwu or ukwu abou depending on number of sticks) I doubt that they are original to us though.

A 100M race where one of the participants is required to start from the 200M mark for whatever reason. Hmmm, interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjXH4b2GUKw&feature=related

tensor777:

That definitely is NOT in any way a case for building more federal universities. Maybe just maybe these school leavers could be channeled to more productive areas.
The obvious solution to the supply - demand imbalance which you, for some reason, have scrupulously avoided thus far, is simply to allow the universities to charge the full economic costs of their tuition services rendered.

Channeled to more productive area how ? By what means do you intend to channel someone to do something s/he has no intention of doing ? I haven't a clue as to how to channel an aspiring student to drop the ambition and become "more productive", maybe you can explain.

Private universities are allowed to charge whatever they feel like at the moment and how many research or specialist units have they produced ?

Government remains the only body in Nigeria with the financial muscle to establish and run university. It is a debt to society by government to guarantee affordable education at all levels and the 9 unis would be a solid step in the right direction.

I am a strong advocate of privatisation, but the vulnerable must be protected at all times.

tensor777:

Yes how much is say $1.5 million divided between 100 schools. The point is that they can still raise that amount if they are serious about donating computers to schools who presumably have the infrastructure and trained persommel available to maintain such a system. Or do they?

If you can't save the pennies, you can't save the pounds, it's that simple. I only used independence cake and rice as example and we know that we can count many more.

Computers are basic learning materials and do not require specially trained personnel to maintain them. By the way each school would receive $15,000, which would be able to buy more books and a few computers for their library.

tensor777:

So you would advocate a tax and spend solution to the issue of building more universities when you have not made a compelling case that more universities should be built in the first place. That is a sledgehammer and totally unnecessary at this point in time
There really is no need to build more universities as the system is already saturated with white collar jobseekers.
The FGN shoud leave all that to the private sector and concentrate attention on more basic areas.

Right now, there is complete rot from primary to University and the everyday budget allocation cannot cut it. In as much as I understand that tax can be burdensome, I believe that it is a good way out until we get to the level where budgetary allocation would become sufficient to run the sector.

As per compelling case for more universities by the government,  JAMB statistics for number of applicants and number of successful applicants are solid reasons  and I outlined that in my first response. The information available shows that there is huge gap between demand and supply in that sector with demand far outweighing supply.

I also believe that private bodies should also establish universities as they are doing at the moment, but that should be in addition to government efforts as not everybody can afford to pay for private uni education.

The fact that there many unemployed graduates is neither here nor there as everyone deserves a chance to be as educated as the next person.

In as much as I believe in privatisation and privately run institutions, I also believe that government also have a role to develop a sector which requires huge capital demand before stepping back. Take look at all the countries that scream privatisation and you would realise that most of them had their infrastructure developed by government before selling them off.

With regards the portion in bold; besides healthcare, what else can be more basic than education ?

Orikinla:

What would you propose for the education sector?

I would definitely propose more funding from the government, but I also realise that the task has gone beyond normal allocation from the budget as the funds aren't just there. Therefore, I would propose two sources of funds for the sector bearing in mind who the beneficiaries of education are; companies/employers, Nigerians  and employees.

1. Education development tax (employee): For a start, this would be 0.5% tax on income 15K - 30K (N75 - N150). 1% on income N30001 - N70K and 2% on N70001 and above. (that's a revenue of at least N30 billion p/a assuming that 20 million people were at work and earned btw 15 and 30K)

2. Corporate Education development tax: 2% tax on profit of all corporate bodies.

The money from both sources would be lodged in a special account and would be used for funding infrastructural development in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. Govt should also continue to increase allocation to the sector as if the the funds did not exist. The harsh reality is that we need an enormous amount in the education sector and there is no way we can rely on budget allocation alone to remedy the situation.

In addition to the above, universities should be given a level of independence to source  funds and I am sure they would be able to secure corporate funding for some chairs and research activities in schools.

Orikinla:

The decision to establish new universities was part of the President's political campaign.

If he can approve billions of naira for the 50th Independence anniversary, is it not ridiculous to give only N35 billion for capital projects in the education sector?

Then N39 billion proposed for the Presidency and over N350 billion for the National Assembly.

N10 billion is not even enough for capital projects in one of the collapsing federal universities.

Presently, education deserves the lion's share of the budget.

I completely agree with you that education is grossly under funded, but the £350 billion to NASS is nearly entirely statutory so you have to keep approving an amount close to that until somethings are amended in the constitution.

You referred to the amount spent on independence day celebration and I also agree with you that there is an enormous waste everywhere in government.

I have looked at the situation in Nigeria and concluded that we will continue to move at snails speed if the government should continue to monopolise infrastructural development, because the recurrent budget far out weighs the capital budget and that is not going to change anytime soon.

In addition, the little amount for capital project is spent government style in a lavish kurukere manner, therefore don't expect any miracles from any president soon because our burden is bigger than our shoulders at the moment.

Orikinla,

Technically speaking, a campus of a university may as well be it's own university because the only thing that changes is the appointment of a VC more or less.

A campus will still require their own land, structures (library ,departments etc), students and lecturers so they might as well be new universities. In other words, the cost of running a university with several campuses is not much cheaper than running each campus as a separate entity.

Take UNEC and UNN for instance; making them separate universities will only result to the appointment of a VC for UNEC as the only change. In effect, some money might be saved overall because of the independence of UNEC from Nsukka which would result to no further need for the money spent on logistics support for communication between the campuses. Example, the school Senate members would not have to travel one way or the other for meetings.

Tensor, you referred to independence rice and cake as headline grabbing but little significance in savings. Those were on examples, but do you realise that 150 million naira rice would mean 10 computers each for 150 schools ?

For the fact that we have unemployed graduates does not mean that we should not try and give equal opportunity to everyone who aspires to go to university.

I accept that the universities are grossly under funded at the moment, but would you also stop building hospitals for wider outreach as well just because our existing hospitals are ill-equiped ?

First of all, statistics from JAMB show a steady increase in the number of applicants over the years and this will increase exponentially as soon as the educationally backward states increase their enrolment into primary and secondary schools which will lead to added pressure on existing facilities. From that point of view alone, it is worthy of praise that more universities would be built to cater for the increasing number of applicants. JAMB stats also show that a significant amount of candidates are unable to gain admission into existing universities. The options left to govt are either expand the capacities of existing universities or build new ones for wider outreach and accessibility.

Secondly, the cost of tertiary education increases many folds when people have to find rented accommodation or school accommodation in addition to paying for three meals everyday. That factor has made a lot of people drop out of school or to become part time students in full time courses. Nearness to people would aid many people of little means get through university without the need for rented accommodation. Take note that the universities would be located in new areas and away from existing ones.

Regarding the amount being spent in comparison to NASS budget, we have to bear in mind that NASS allocation is statutory and you can not get away from that unless rubbish expenditures like constituency allowance are discontinued. Furthermore, the amount of our resources allocated to recurrent expenditure (nearly 80%), of which NASS, Federal and State bodies take a large chunk will continue to ensure that govt is unable to provide the much needed development that we need in every sector, let alone education.

In my opinion, govt needs to be scaled down drastically to free up money for capital expenditure. NASS is a house of chaos as it stands and in my opinion we do not need a two tier NASS and we certainly do not need more than 76 representatives in total. There are irrelevant positions like minister for state positions which also come with their portfolio of offices and aids. We certainly do not need ministers of state and their personal assistants and other staff.

The bottom line is that we do not have much disposable income for capital expenditure and sectors like education; healthcare, publicly funded infrastructure (roads and co) will continue to be victims of under funding.

Surely, I also agree with those who think that the govt should shelve or cut non-value adding expenditure like independence rice and cake, et al and channel the savings made to other sectors.

For now, it is a good step in the right direction from GEJ to increase the amount of funding to the education sector from paltry to less paltry.

ndu_chucks:

@texazzpete, what's the matter with you? No one in his right mind is saying that they should let people continue this extremely unsafe act! The least they could do is provide enough supervision and organization to ensure that these people will not be able to ride the trains in an unsafe manner in the first place.

It is not difficult to do that. They used to have conductors effectively for these purposes.

For those who are wondering whether we have train services, please note that as far back as the late 1960s trains used to go From Lagos all the way to Kano, Jos etc. on a weekly basis. Thieving thieves have since destroyed the system.

While I was in Sec Sch, there were daily train services from Kano - Lag and PH in 1987. Later in 88 or 89 it was Mon, Wed and Fridays to PH and Tue Thu and Sats for western line.

By 1990 it was like once a week but it also became so unreliable that a 24hr journey could last up to 72 hrs. The trains broke down any how and I remember a journey in 1990 when we were stranded in Wasa (Kaduna or Plateau state) for two days on our way back to school. It was fun though and very exciting cos we always had reserved coaches alongside other FGCs and NMS. That was actually my best part of school (enough jiving in train). Regretably, I had to stop going back by train from 1990 till I left school.

Regarding those riding on train tops, they deserve to be taken to court for their own good and for others sake and for the prosperity of the rail company. I remember once when someone fell off the train top between Makurdi and Oturkpo because he did not lie low enough and was dislodged from the rooftop by a low bridge roof and he fell in between the carriages and the train was nearly derailed. We spent another two hours moving backwards to Markurdi for repairs that lasted half the day.

The govt is expected to provide good infrastructure but the citizens are also expected to be law abiding and respectful towards public property.

Kobojunkie:

The DUNCE accused me of LYING that there was a stopover in abuja when I ASKED(QUESTION MARK PEOPLE) if there wasn't one.

I have in the past ridden the train to places like Kano, even I would be shocked if there is no way to get to Abuja by train.

Madam, call me a m-oron all you like, but you you need to step back from your lies.

You said "There is already a function Lagos -> Abuja railway or doesn't the NRC currently make stops at Abuja?" Maybe you need to learn how to express yourself some more.

You said that there was a functional railway Lag-Abj and asked if the operators no longer stopped at Abuja. Someone expressed surprise and you backed up your claim by claiming to have ridden on one in the past. Yeah right, just like you once flew direct to Calabar from Atlanta. Come on Kobo, this is a new year and you are fast pushing 54 years. You gotsa turn a new leaf.

Kobojunkie:

^^^ It is heavily used, as far as I know. Rode the train myself back in the days.

What do you gain by telling lies ? Like someone asked, is there anything that you "haven't done"?

There is no line linking Lagos and Abuja so you must have done so in your dreams. The nearest line to Abuja is the Kano - Lagos line and to get to Abuja, you have to get off at Bidda, Minna or any other part of Niger state. I used the NRC line very much in my secondary School days until they packed up.

The railway lines run thus:

Kano - Line  (Lagos and PH terminus) Branching off at KDJ (Kaduna Jnuction)  for the Lagos or PH terminus.
Kano - maiduguri .
Kano or Zaria to Kaura Namoda.
Jos Line (Kano and PH terminus) Branching off at Kafanchan Junction for Kano or PH.
The most recent is the Ajaokuta - warri line (don't know if it was completed)

I still remember how long it took to travel on a good day.

Kaduna - Umuahia (24hrs) Umuahia -PH (4Hrs) Kano -kaduna (4Hrs) Kaduna -Lag (28hrs) Jos -PH (28 hrs).

Major stations Kano -PH (Zaria -KDJ- Zonkwa - Kafanchan- Mada - Lafia- Makurdi - Oturkpo- Ehamufu - Emene- Enugu- Afikpo junction- Ovim- Ameke Ibeku - Umuahia- Ibeku - Ngboko - Obioma Ngwa - Aba - ? - PH.)

Kano-Lagos ( Zaria - KDJ -  Minna - Bida- Zungeru- Mokwa , etc)

Why must you be in an all knowing situation in order to make your points ? Liars make me want to puke and to think that you are over 50 years old. very Pathetic !

Nsiman:

Kobojunkie, pls are u single?

Maybe, but she is circa 52years old. Do you still want ?

Abagworo:

We need not argue about it

I agree, just go and read about Aro and Efik

Abagworo:

Maybe you are unaware that Efik originated from Arochukwu.Visit Calabar museum or read their history.

Efik did not originate from Arochukwu, the Aro people dislodged them from a portion of their territory. Read their history as well.

Akhenaten:

Awesome Picture

Shege danuwa !!!

Many people do not know that Kano people have the oldest self-written history in Nigeria. Their weather was also kind to their architecture as the Hausa also have the oldest standing structures in Nigeria thanks to low rainfall and arid conditions.

Very interesting. Enough artworks to start a massive museum. I think the Edo govt should start trying to recover all the works and restoring old buildings if any is still standing with a view to starting a tourist museum - a good money spinner.

Akhenaten:

Very nice video FACE. I hail from Umuahia as well. Umuahia South to be exact. Umuopara is my clan.

Umuopara na Ibeku bu nwanne. Nwanne mmamma oo.

ChinenyeN:

That's an interesting video. Reminds me of one picture EzeUche had on his profile. The guys were dressed (nearly, if not exactly) the same way as the men in the Ikpirikpe Ogu video.

That dance is common in most Old Bende axis, but Abiriba, Abam, Arochukwu-Ohafia are the Don Dadas of it.

Chinenye, here is a link to Ikpirikpe ogu dance (don't know how to paste pixs/videos).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg_dSLOKywk&feature=related

Our ekpe is a combination of that, other ekpo types, and a procession through all the ama (compounds) in the clan before ariving at the communal ground for the climax (in our case Ama mbara oru).

There are 3 kindreds in my clan (Afara ukwu- Ibeku) and each kindred host their own ekpe but not in the same year (by mutual agreement), but it was very much centralised back in the days.

Ekpe is not a society in my place, but warriors were expected to participate in ekpe. Okonko, though a society, is not clandestine and the members are known by others.

To participate in real masquerade (ifu ekpo) you have to be initiated and mee mmanya ekpo. When I was growing up ( when villa was villa) we used to see the mmanya ekpo guys unmask and destroy the masquerades of the mmanya ekpoless guys. However, mmanya ekpo guys never used to show up during the build up of any major event (xmas and iri ji) they only showed up on d-day and went in groups.

I so much loved going home for xmas just because of masquerades and I also did little boys masquerades (agaba) and the ones that did not require mmanya ekpo.

ifyalways:

Loving this thread.
Missed this years' Ekpe.
Ekpe ohuhu is my favorite. Mbiarabia laa

Chineke mee, ndi ofe anyi hiri nne ngaa. mbiarabia laa oo !

Chinenye, our name for masquerade in Umuahia (Ibeku and environs) is ekpo. A gbaala m ekpo a couple of times. We call it I fu ekpo. e.g a furula m ekpo.

We do ekpe during iri ji. The main feature of our ekpe is the Ikpirikpe ogu (war dance ) with the ishi aja (three sacred heads on a platform) which is not put down by the carrier until after the ekpe. He also doesn't talk during the task and has omu (palm leaf) in his mouth to prevent him from talking.

Although we have a few ekpo around during iri ji, they don't get as much attention as the ekpe. This ekpe climaxes with the severing of a goat's head with one stroke of the matchet (an art not to be undertaken by the weak or careless as there is a price for failing in the task and a reward for success)

Okonko is similar to Iwa akwa and membership is accomplished in two stages; I da iyi (immersion in water) and I kpu ulo (home entrance). Being in okonko entitles you to participating fully in all matters that have to do with keeping law and order e.g land dispute, resolution of sacrilege and decision on how to deal with other societies.

Our Ibeku (Umuahia) tradition is rich but I will stop so far.

Aka m ji, a habeghi mu ye. ( I am still holding tight and my interest is still here)

I wonder if that "Egbo" is a mispelling of "Ekpo" as we generally call them in Umuahia. The Ubakala one is very close to our traditional masquerade "Udomi" in Ibeku, but ours has more rafia (agwo) to the mask and waist.

Akhenaten, how do you paste pictures here; let me paste the one I'm talking about ?

I see so many kettles ganging up against the pot. Inward review advised.

Aisha, Beaf might not have passed his message across in a politically correct way, but he was right in labelling the OP's intentions as daft.

Ndu_Chucks was the one that politicisized his own thread and all Beaf did was to try and bin that insensitivity. This is not the first time that Ndu_Chucks is employing this tactics. He enjoys trying to score political points out of other peopple's misery as he did with his ARABA thread. I had some form of respect for him until I saw that thread and understood the level of his moral decay.

I am sorry about your sisters and I hope they get well soon.

RIP to those that fell where they stood.

onye_ngbu:

No shes not igbo she only lived in Aba.

She did not really live in Aba or if she did, she only stayed there as a child. Her knowledge of the terrain once came under scrutiny and she fell like a pack of cards. She is between 47 and 52 years (as deduced from her comments), but goes about ROFLAMAOing, ranting like a juvenile, arguing blindly, supporting her arguments with pretexts of being in a situation related to the case in discussion and generally making zilch points.

As for those people deriding Dora for changing to APGA and not sticking to PDP to contest; where do you stand ? Most, if not all of those people have have expressed their dislike for PDP at one time or the other but still want to castigate someone for leaving the party, just because they hold a phantom beef against that person.

Onlytruth, you captured it well with the quote below. She is still going to fight for a ticket in her new party and votes in the main election, so I don't see what the fuss is all about.

Onlytruth:

The fact that she is willing to contest against long established PDP senator like Senator Annie Okonkwo shows that she is really courageous. She may also have to contest against Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige -the Onwa of Anambra state- contesting under ACN (I think he should leave that party ).

You see what I meant?

Yes, Anambra is an APGA state (thank God Nigerians have finally accepted the truth ), but she still has to win against HEAVYWEIGHTS in this senatorial zone. I wish her maximum luck, 'cos she will need it.

Like Anambra governor Peter Obi said:

“Anambra cannot be a highly sophisticated state, with highly intelligent people and continue sending one_legged men to represent her in a pushing competition”

Classic quote. Captures the whole gist!

Omenani:

Umuahia North - Ibeku

Nwanne, I hie nga ole na Ibeku ? (Now that's some good ole Ibeku dialect) A bu m onye, Umu Okeyi, Afara-Ukwu.

Very daft and agressive lady. She was lucky she did not get her butt hauled to jail for number of good reasons, just to teach her some manners.

Absolute rubbish. After kidnapping and killing innocent people, he wants to talk about amnesty and fairness ? He deserves a slow painful death, gestapo style.

mrlaconic:

@bk.babe97y I fully agree with you on the HOSPITALITY issue! I can say that the Ibos have a zero tolerance to HOSPITALITY,its not in their dictionary.I did my NYSC in a community called Eha-Alumona under Nsukka Local Govt in Enugu State,and I must say that these people are nothing to write home about in terms of HOSPITALITY! We were made to buy a 25litres galon of rain water @ between #30-#50,there was nothing like these people are Corpers lets consider them,foods stuffs were more expensive in the village market that held once in 4 days,than in Nsukka town and here is somebody complaining of the South East being the POOREST! There is a universal law of Seed time and Harvest time,i think the SE are reaping the seeds they have sown in the past.I called my friends serving in oda parts of Enugu and oda SE States and it was the same report of lack of HOSPITALITY that i got.I would rather throw my money in the Ocean than INVEST it in any of th SE states!

Funny that.

So why did you not fetch your own rain water while it was raining ? Did they also cover your part of the sky with umbrella while it was raining ?

If food stuff were more expensive in the village market, why would you expect them to give you special consideration just because you were a corper, would you pay the kids school fees or other necessities if they gave you special discounts ?

You are just a pathetic whinger, go and sulk elsewhere.

chino11:



hahahahahaha, i'm being asked why am laffing this way. My brother stop talking trash. Closed up so that people won't hear you out. See Aba and urban planning. Ask even goat and sheep knows that Abia state is in shamble, total disaster and failures. See Aba and aerial view. The question is ,does Aba have an area. Where is Aba? How many roads are in Aba? Aba is full of filth. My brother pls travel home and take another look at Aba so that you can petition your gov. Aba and Abia state has remained the state that is giving the south east bad image. The reason why I used Nnewi to compare to abia state is because its an insult rating Anambra the Light of the Nation to a mere Abia state. I'm based here in PH and Awka, I have seen the way and manner people ran out of Abia state.

Mention one multinational coy in Aba. Mention any road in Aba, is it Portharcourt road which is over flooded with weeds or is it the Enugu/Porthcourt road, the traders have taken the whole express. Am sure myour not in Aba. Even your gov has given up on Aba Ngwa. He recently called them kidnapers and murderers. UN Habitat recent rated Onitsha among the fastest growing cities in the world. What the world say about Aba Dirty, disoganised, disorderly town. Aba is an epitome of disaster. Banks are still closed in Abia state as an writng this piece. Abia state needs prayers

Aba might be filthy, just like Onitsha and the roads may be bad, but those are superficial and are fixable problems. The problems with Onitsha and Nnewi are fundamental.

What Aba needs is the restoration of the existing roads and drainage as the houses are already in line. But Onitsha and Nnewi would need demolition of houses to make way for straight paths and drainage.

Use google earth map and look up the three cities and anya ga emepe/edo gi. For the fact that you asked about the roads in Aba means that you haven't been to Aba; you only pass through.

You need to do your own research with regards to the industries in Aba, but you asked me to name one multinational in Aba and I will oblige you just this once , so here you go: PZ.

I am not going to over flog this issue, but I will leave you with your opinion.