Abagworo:


Its not about APC. Not everything is politics but where did you get the information that FG never wanted an international airport in Southeast? Its all about viability and Lagos has gone far in attracting almost all our air traffic and a business man will always prefer Lagos. Even after the uogrades most airlines will still prefer the busier Lagos route until the viability of the other airports is noticed.

You people amuse me, so why did;

1. FG build a refinery in Kaduna to refine imported Venezuelan crude?
2. Why did FG build a machine tools plant in Oshogbo, not Onitsha, Nnewi or Aba - is there any industry requiring machine tools in Oshogbo?
3. Why did FG build a steel rolling mill in Katsina, is there any industry in Katsina?
4. Why did FG build a railway from Ajaokuta to Warri, but failed construct a spur to Onitsha?
5. Why did FG have the time and money to build all these, but it took Jonathan to start work on the Second Niger Bridge?

It is good nobody is listening to your type and Rochas. Ndigbo can see clearly with both eyes - and will no longer listen to your types.

IGBOSON1:


^^^I remember some weeks back, i saw on the news when the permanent secretary of the aviation ministry was visiting the airports to appraise ongoing works at the new terminals under construction, she was talking to newsmen on progress being made and mentioned Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano, leaving out Enugu! That's when i knew we were finished!!!

You should know the way these people think.....they would have been thinking why should the north have two while the south has three! I know that new terminal at AIIA pain dem well-well! So any gullible fool thinking they'll add Owerri as well has another think coming! Some weeks back they were making noise about a useless warehouse either built or planned for Sam Mbakwe airport (a project that couldn't cost more than 200 million naira at best), and this is what they will point at and say Buhari is remembering the South East! Meanwhile he's soliciting 2 billion dollars to reconstruct the North East, and he's budgeting more than 30 billion naira to look for elusive oyel and gas in the north!

Very true. Rochas is clutching for straws - at the end of the day, he'll have nothing to show for his subservience.

Abagworo:


Wait for Buhari's 4 years to elapse like I wrote earlier. The Owerri Airport has been added and is equally being upgraded and this was done by Buhari admin. Jonathan did nothing tangible to even defend him for. If you make a true assessment of our infrastructure you'll realize we got little or nothing.

Let me break this to you. Buhari is more interested in finding oil in Lake Chad (read the 2016 budget) - he allocated almost N30 billion for just that. Get that budget & look for the allocations to the South East, there is nothing.

You Rochas people will learn to count your teeth with your tongue.

People should stop talking nonsense.

If Jonathan wasn't president, nobody would even consider building a new airport terminal in Enugu or even permitting international flights from there. Buhari and his fellow Northerners (Gowon, Murtala, Shagari, Babangida, Abacha and Abdulsalami) plus Obasanjo were in power for more than 40 years, how come none of them considered permitting international flights from Enugu?

If not for Stella Oduah, we won't even be talking about a new international terminal, let alone completing it. You don't know how these people think, they will tell you "after all, Port Harcourt is close to Enugu, they can use Port Harcourt".

Do you know the war that had to be fought before Ethiopian Airlines flew out of Enugu, do you those people are looking for an excuse to stop international flights from Enugu?

Secondly, Buhari has been in power for close to 7 months, within those months, the ministry of aviation (the Permanent Secretary was a woman from the North) probably told the Chinese to expedite action on the Kano terminal and go slow on the Enugu terminal. In fact, the only reason why this administration is considering any projects in the South East is because they want to counter the narrative of the Biafran agitators.

If you recall, Oshiomohle was trying to rubbish what Jonathan and Okonjo-Iweala had done on the Second Niger Bridge, but when APC realized that this would play into the hands of Biafran agitators, they are now keeping quiet.

Obiano keeps repeating the same things. We've heard about the N1.3 billion IGR since last year and anyone who engages the Awka Branch of the Nigerian Society of Architects (not a reputable Town Planning/Architectural firm like Akpabio did in Akwa Ibom is not serious; he's merely playing for media).

I am getting a bit tired of this media circus. If you are serious about town planning in Awka, you will start executing, not merely erecting "Willie is Working" signboards all over the place.

MrEverest:
Ofcourse something can be done about it, the commissioner of tourism, Enugu state can simply travel to Onitsha,Idumota & pound/park road Aba to liase with the union members. We should rather bother ourselves on why our rich folks are investing in Lagos/ogun region instead of the S.East. Diamond bank,Fidelity bank,UBA & Zenit bank are owned by Igbos yet non of them have their head office in Igboland unlike wema bank & bank of the north that have their offices in ibadan & kano respectively while maintaining corporate head offices in Lagos & Abuja. Do you know the impact a diamond bank or fidelity bank head office will have on the economy of Enugu?? The same goes for industries, that is were I see a big problem!

If you don't understand how the financial sector operates, please stop clogging the Internet with ignorance. Wema Bank and Bank of the North are not serious banks. Every serious bank has its HQ in Lagos - the same way US financial sector is largely New York based.

Having said that, anyone who says Pascal Dozie hasn't helped Ndigbo in Diamond Bank is talking nonsense. Out of the new generation banks, Diamond Bank has the most branches in Enugu - you can go ahead and do a survey. And having worked in Diamond Bank, I can tell you that Pascal prefers to employ Igbos, and he is NOT ashamed of it.

In many cases, the fault lies with state governors. A prominent Igbo oil and gas magnate wanted to establish an office in Awka, but he's constantly being frustrated by mid-level workers, and the governor is there, blowing his trumpet, doing nothing.

The shameful thing is that it is easier for an Igbo businessman to establish a factory in Lagos than in many Igbo states. That is when you hear "Enugu doesn't want to give land to Nnewi people to establish factories at Emene (a code word for Anambra people)". You also heard about how Ebonyi frustrated Ibeto for 8 solid years under Elechi, for what? (Ebonyi has more than 600 million tons of limestone, so you can establish as many cement factories there as you want).

We need to tell ourselves the truth.

cjrane:


I agree.
Even most of the Nollywood which used to be shot in Enugu has been moved.

Our musicians should shoot more music videos in Enugu using the same high definition cameras they use for South African videos.
I believe part of the success of Flavour's Ada ada music video was that it was shot in Enugu and promoting colorful culture.

I think they've moved to Asaba. It is cheaper to shoot in Asaba, and Asaba is closer to the film marketers at Onitsha.

The truth is that Enugu State Government has not done much to aggressively promote Enugu. They just take certain things for granted - that everyone will prefer Enugu or that no town can compete against Enugu.

Asaba now has airport (which Enugu has) and is gradually getting built up. If Obiano marks out a planned urban area in Anambra (not just making noise about it) and builds an airport there, a lot less people will come to Enugu.

chino11:
Any project Obiano is about to flag off takes off before before the actual flagging. You will be amazed when pictures will surface soon.

Please show us the pictures now, or hold your peace.

I actually know Mac Atasie, who is on the airport committee - he was my former boss.

chino11:
Anambra International Cargo Airport is already under construction under PPP. Three brand new dual carriageways linking the facility is equally under construction. Pipelines are being laid to supply ATK at a dump within the airport facility to serve as the hub for commercial sell of ATK in West Africa.

Please this is not true, construction is yet to start on the airport - although work on the roads has commenced.

CFCfan:
My dad passed away earlier today. He had a stroke for some weeks now. Then, a cardiac arrest took his life away

Sorry to hear this, may he rest in peace.

VickJames:
Igbo Kwenu! Igbo Kwenu!! Igbo Kwezuenu oooooo!!!

I have been saying it and I will keep on saying it. Let's build seaport in the east. It is very important we understand the happenings of our country before we make decisions. The igbo tribe is blessed with men and women capable of being self-reliant but we love to throw away every opportunity of doing just that. Like someone said, Apapa is a gridlock. If you haven't been to Apapa/wharf you won't understand what these guys are saying. It is locked!

But I think Lagosians are sharper than we the igbos. Lagos wants to build new seaport in Badagry and maybe lekki too. That means more money for the already congested state. Lagos has also opened new sites in Ibeju-lekki. Don't be surprised, that will be your lekki phase 3. What are igbos doing about it? Still lurking around and waiting for other people to do their job.

I know many people will say seaport is not the important thing, oh! Please, our economy is being run on the sea! So, why can't you run your economy on your own sea? The IGR of Lagos state is presently 28billion, like 3/4 of it from who? Igbos! You cannot continue to feed other people and you continue to starve. I still say it anywhere, build a seaport and see the east develop like a mad man. People will say Rivers, Calabar and Delta state has seaport. No! They don't! Why? Its either not functioning or they don't have people who can import/export from there.

My people, we have people to export our goods to. We have goods and raw material that we need. We have investors to flirt with. We shouldn't sleep and let other states wake up before we do. We should wake faster than the others. Investors want igbos to do business because if we do business, they'll be rich!

Build a seaport will be very expensive, but the real expensive thing is, not doing anything about it!


Enjoy

We CANNOT build seaports in the East. Seaports are on the exclusive list, you cannot build a seaport until the FG gives approval & FG will NEVER give approval for seaports in the South East.

Donald Duke built TINAPA, all that was required for TINAPA to function was dredging of the Calabar Channel, but with a Yoruba man as president (Obasanjo) and a Yoruba man as Nigerian Ports Authority Boss (Dapo Sarumi), it was never going to happen. So TINAPA never worked (while Atiku got Onne to work).

Lagos does not want any port to compete against it and Northerners do not want functional ports near the South East, so we will NEVER have functional ports unless we FIGHT for devolution of power. Without that, we'll simply waste our money and nothing will happen.

DelGardo:


Jonathan was a disaster... OBJ was a monster.
How our vibrant and intelligent folks gave Goodluck their blind support after 5 years of total neglect is still a mystery to some of us.

Who is our "leader" these days (pls don't even mention Nnamdi because he is setting Ndigbo up to be hated and ostracized)? Who is pulling the strings in Abuja for Ndigbo. We have Ogbonnia Onu, ezigbo nwafor Igbo currently close to the seat of power. Can he provide Tinubu-like leadership...? He is certainly influential with Buhari.

We need to be strategic like chinchi and be wise like mbe nwaaniga.

As for 042, quo vadis gburugburu?

Daalu nu

We just need to be ourselves.

Nigeria is set to implode. A nation cannot "cut off its nose to spite its face" forever.

I live in Lagos, Lagos is full, almost choking from congestion. If they like, let them refuse to locate federal infrastructure elsewhere.

Digitron:
why didn't GEJ construct that road through out his 6 yr tenure. the Igbo were the greatest looser in the last dispensation. Even though we had very prominent easterners in key position, we achieved little in term of infrastructure and that is why am not among those who are shouting that no easterner is in buhari govt because I didn't feel their effect in the last dispensation.

Jonathan was in office for 5 years.

Obasanjo was in office for 8 years, did absolutely nothing too.

We will never benefit from the Federal Government, not matter who is in charge. We must fight for devolution.

asha80:
executive will in which an sgf of se origin was part of

This is how we waste our time with self flagellation.

Obasanjo and Jonathan were both president, what did they do for their respective regions?

We need to finally come to terms with the problem, the problem is Nigeria as currently structured. The Federal Government is near useless and our only hope as Ndigbo is devolution of power and restructuring of this federation.

Not struggling for oil rents.

centje:
Please Explain?

The Federal Government is responsible for that road, not us.

Nobody blames "Yoruba leaders" or "Yoruba people" for the state of the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

We should stop falling for cheap distractions and hold the Federal Government responsible.

asha80:
that 720m tonnes sounds a bit too large though

I am quoting figures from the Geological Survey.

The British were not stupid to establish coal mines in Enugu and a cement factory at Nkalagu.

We have been stupid ever since, allowing all this mineral wealth to lie fallow.

Why doesn't Dangote invest in the South East?

The simple answer is that it is the most competitive region in Nigeria.

What are Dangote's main businesses? Cement and commodities.

Ebonyi has about 720 million tons of limestone, but Ibeto has locked that in. He's unlikely to be able to compete with Ibeto here. Ask yourself, is there any Yoruba man competing with Dangote in the cement business? Any Kogi or Benue person? No.

Consider Rice, Dangote has rice farms in Edo and Sokoto. Doesn't really have a competitor, but when you get to the rice growing region on Anambra, you already have the likes of Coscharis there. Why would he want extra competition?

There are Britons all over the World, doing good business and making money.

Same applies to Chinese, Indians etc.

Igbos should go wherever they can make money. I have no problems with it.

But we should develop our home.

Simple.

jpphilips:


It is an insult to say that Jonathan wanted 2015-2019 to complete a 4yrs project, what happened from 2011-2015 when the country was buoyant?
Most of the routes in your attached write up does not exist.
Lastly, the completion date of the present Niger bridge can not be 1965, Rosteiner and his commando division in the Biafran army destroyed the bridge during the war.

What about Gowon, Murtala Muhammed, Obasanjo, Shagari, Buhari, Babangida, Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Obasanjo (again) who governed Nigeria between 1970 and 2011 (41 years)? Why didn't they do anything about the bridge?

Was all Nigeria's infrastructure built 5 years ago, by Jonathan?

At least Jonathan started work on the foundation and has a financing plan, the others simply hated progress in Igboland and refused to do it even when Nigeria's problem "was not money but how to spend it" (Oil Boom).

Make I hear word.

ifeanyi199555:
Enugu is about to take off! (Quote me for future red) When AIIA becomes fully operational It is gonna open enugus potential! I hope tough times in Nigeria wouldn't affect investments and real estate expansion of Enugu so badly! I also pray God will lead our governor and president and enable them to match enugus expansion with infrastructural expansion too!
Let us kill corruption before it kills our country Sai Buhari!

Not sure about that. Only one airline flies out of Enugu and your "Sai Buhari" has not shown any enthusiasm to do anything in Enugu or the South East.

Do you think that if your "Sai Buhari" was president between 2011 and 2015, he would have permitted international flights out of Enugu?

This is nonsense.

"Ziggy Azike" is a jobless idiot who will sell his people for a mess of pottage, unfortunately we have too many of them in Igboland.

Julius Berger and Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority are responsible for the Second Niger Bridge, it is a much bigger project than the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge - it will include subordinate bridges and flyovers in addition to the main bridge and adjoining roads to bypass Onitsha and Asaba.

Uche Orji spent time on Channels TV, he explained the details of the project. I have also looked at project documentation, there is nowhere where the figure to be charged as toll, let alone N7,000 as toll is mentioned.

It is clear APC/Buhari doesn't want to build that bridge. First of all they got Oshiomhole to rubbish it, now this. Ndigbo are too strong, we won't die if our enemies try to frustrate the bridge. If the worst comes to the worst, we will build it ourselves.

I have attached a press release from NSIA and engineering drawings of the bridge to this mail:

asha80:
apart from ebony agro and rice processing outfits what other food processing outfits are there?

I just visited Ikwo, there's supposed to be a cluster of rice mills around the area where EbonyAgro is located and the Ebonyi State government built of very good road to access that cluster.

The owner of EbonyAgro, Charles Ugwu is also building a much bigger mill around the Adani Area (TaraAgro), with Coscharis farm nearby (at Anaku), he'll probably source enough paddy to run his mill (if he has funds for working capital).

BuddahMonk:


I have been there but its been long, Abakaliki is much older than Awka in terms of development, been the headquarter of the old Ogoja Division in Eastern Nigeria is not an easy feat.

I don't know what the government need to do but they need to invest massively in education and agriculture as well as solid mineral development.

Ebonyi is at par with Ekiti and Osun of the South if you ask me to rate them.

One more thing I like about Ebonyi State is the abundance of solid minerals there

I disagree. At the rate Ebonyi people are going out to fend for themselves, they might erase the education deficit within a generation. That is not to say investment in education is not needed.

Also people forget that Abakaliki is about 3 hours from Calabar (if you have a functioning port in Calabar), the business opportunities are immense.

Ebonyi has Ibeto's plant (the former NigerCem) and massive food processing industries like Engineer Charlie Ugwu's EbonyAgro (I visited there). I visited Osun also, and I did not see similar industrial potential - also consider that Osun & Ekiti people are not as enterprising as Igbos.

Abakaliki has all it takes to be the next Enugu - it's like an hour away from Enugu. A lot of business opportunity with a smart, forward looking governor.

chino11:
Abeg, concentrating on what you know and leave the rest. Do you know the boundaries of Awka Capital Territory? The boundaries of Awka Capital Territories is the largest in the SE. Quote me anywhere. Awka Capital Territory traverses more than 5 LGAs. In case you don't know and there is a very massive room for ongoing expansion. For instance do you know that Agulu Lake Resort is within the State Capital Territory and know the distance? As for the comparison you drew, we are not competing with local Nigerian cities that is why we are aiming Dubai by building world class infrastructures.

I'm from Anambra State like you; I am not going to argue with you.

Find someone else to argue with, not me.

With a forward looking governor, Abakaliki can look like Enugu in 4 to 8 years. I've been to the town and seen it's potential. Unlike Awka, it has land to expand.

I also realized that it wasn't too far from Calabar (you see Ibeto trucks on the road - Ibeto has a terminal where he bags imported cement at Calabar's port).

I took these pictures when I went to Abakaliki last year. Most of us haven't been to Abakaliki, thus we think nothing is going on there. I can tell you that Abakaliki is in much better shape than Awka.

(The second picture is of the Enugu/Abakaliki Road)

christejames:
...i'm happy you just corroborated my claims. That market in NSK is just on another level, that area is really living up to its name as an industrial area (always busy)... On the issue of deforestation or leaving the surface of our land bare, I can say that NSK is going against the grain of normal Nigerian lifestyle of not having value for d vegetation nay environment. Its in NSK that you would find large economic trees growing abut residential/commercial areas, this is where u find economic trees like palm tree (I can't remember d English/botanical names of others) et al being used as ornamental trees, this is where u will see the surface of escarpment (hills) covered with green grass to the admiration of all... Even though there might be seasonal bush burning (mainly during dry season), the people or inhabitants have imbibed this sense of environment protection (its seems innate in them)... Although more sensitization needs to be done. Deje nwannem!!

It comes from living close to a university.

UNN lecturers are in the habit of growing ornamental trees & plants in their compounds, I guess it rubbed off on other inhabitants.

badnature:
happy jeo enugu people love anambra people,not "like" love! so I don't understand what you mean by them not wanting anambra people to buy land at emene, on the issue of ibeto manumu and ebony state I think federal government is involved in scuttling the whole thing to fevour dangote but it's stupid all the same,some time you look at south east governors the way and manner the respond to strategic issues you will think the are being paid by someone to destroy our land just look at abia since 99 no leader no vision no direction nor focus ebonyi the same enugu and anambra are both luky from the time of obi/chieme

I'm not talking about "Enugu people", I am talking about people in government - they make the decisions, they allocate the plots etc.

Anyway, what Obiano needs to do urgently is open up the Anam area (with plenty of land) for development. I am happy he's doing that.

badnature:
all what you people are saying is good but there is one thing all of you are silent on,and that is the rate by which igbo people especially anambra and imo people are investing in lagos and Abuja in many areas especially real estate, it's just plain stupid is too much investment in let me use the word unfriendly territory instead of enemy territory,is there any body to tell this people to start investing back home? please FOK8 I will like you to open a tread about it on nairaland our people need to cut back on investment out side south east

Remember what Ibeto went through in Ebonyi State?

How many "non-indigenes" will be convinced to invest in that state? Even indigenes will run, when they know local politics can kill their businesses.

badnature:
all what you people are saying is good but there is one thing all of you are silent on,and that is the rate by which igbo people especially anambra and imo people are investing in lagos and Abuja in many areas especially real estate, it's just plain stupid is too much investment in let me use the word unfriendly territory instead of enemy territory,is there any body to tell this people to start investing back home? please FOK8 I will like you to open a tread about it on nairaland our people need to cut back on investment out side south east

The problem is South East governors.

Enugu doesn't want Anambra people "to buy up too much land in Emene"

Anambra is watching idly as Onitsha based people go to live in Asaba (instead of opening up the Nsugbe/Igbariam axis with bridges and facilities).

I don't want to talk about Abia (Theodore Orji sacked many Imo workers).

abagoro:


1st of all I learnt the malls are Government owned unlike the ones built by Shoprite and other foreigners in other States like Imo and Delta. 2ndly I see no difference between Ariaria, Main market and Shopping mall other than condusive shopping environment. Anambra State can lease the spaces to Nigerians of various specialisation. For example instead of KFC we can have Crunchies as one of the fast food outlets in the mall. Mr Price or Max can be "Okey bros" . That way we create our own brands.

In fact I believe the future of our trade lies in creating more condusive trading environment and not waiting for Lebanese to take advantage of that space.

This is not true. Look at the website for Onitsha Mall - it is being developed by African Capital Alliance & the State Government. This is not like the mall in Uyo. Shoprite will be a tenant: http://onitshamall.com/about_onitsha_mall.php

Obi Jackson is building a gas pipeline to Okija. That site might seem bushy, but a lot has to be done before it is activated.

Trust me, a lot is being done.