₦airaland Forum

Saturday, 09 June 2012 TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS - KUNLE ODEREMI



"From that point, the battle by the amorphous forces to scuttle the democracy process began to witness new twists and turns to the amazement of local and international communities. Some of those anti-democratic elements that had hitherto hid their faces began to come into the open, deploying weird antics and tactics to discredit the poll and denigrate the character of Abiola. From nowhere came Abimbola Davies to complement the hatchet job of the notorious Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) led by eccentric Chief Arthur Nzeribe.
To save the day and avoid the move to abort the making of June 12, those behind the new vision of a better Nigeria under a democracy moved briskly to form a coalition. Several human rights and pro-democracy bodies picked up the gauntlet of defending the sovereign powers of the people to elect those to govern them. The build-up culminated in the birth of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) from the mainsteam pan-Yoruba organisation, Afenifere; Movement for National Reformation (MNR) led by Pa Anthony Enahoro; Eastern Mandate Union (EMU) and many others.

From that moment, the face of the struggle changed. While the military bared its fangs like a rabid dog, the civil society and other forces dared the lion, even right in its den. The leaders of the coalition and other groups became victims of vicious attacks, including assassination and killings. Scores of hapless youths protesting against the “criminal” annulment were maimed or killed and even declared missing by pro-democracy and human rights groups. Many others were hounded into jail among hardened criminals. There are several other statesmen like late Pa adekunle Ajasin, Chief Bola Ige, General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Olisa Agbakoba, late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, late Pa Onasanya Solanke, Chuma Ubani, Ms Ayo Obe, and lots of other activists, as well as scores of other protesters that suffered indignities and humiliation in the hands of agents of government. In the words of the governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, “June 12, 1993 election has become historic and memorable, not because it produced the expected results, but because its sabotage produced a reaction that the saboteurs did not contemplate. It produced a platform for the expression of the need for change, a better life, true democracy and responsible governance by millions of Nigerians. The election ignited in Nigeria, the biggest human force known in our history – the consensus of millions for one common purpose.” But when will their garlands come? "

Nowenuse:
Easy to say this, when Adaka Boro previously declared the Niger delta republic for his people and was clamped down by the same Igbos.

Why did Igbos not support Adaka Boro's Niger-delta republic?

As much as I was never in support of Gowon as a person. His moves and that of Britain were nothing but to outsmart Ojukwu's attempt to grab the minority regions.
Igbos already had a large population and strong presence and influence in these minority areas at that time, one wonders how a fair referendum would have been possible. Would they distinguish people who will vote based on their tribes or residency?

Fast forward today, how much of these eastern minorities favour any sort of nation union with the Igbos? It's obvious that the majority do not.

You are already digressing.
The issue is not If Ironsi and Ojukwu denied Boro his Niger delta republic, the issue is not about how many of such Eastern minorities would choose Nigeria over Biafra Today , if those are the only two choices presented to them, the issue is if Ojukwu was forcefully annexing non Igbo parts of Eastern region in 1966-70.


And the Answer is No.

Why No? Because Ojukwu like Kanu Nnamdi was demanding for a UN supervised plebiscite in the non Igbo parts of Biafra, that's not the action of one who is forcing an unwilling people into a union. there are many minoroties in Biafran government, and some in Nigerian government, the best way of Knowing which the people prefered was via a plebiscite.

Why did Gowon decline Ojukwu plebiscite proposal ?

We know why, see it : "In an authoritative and detailed memorandum on the background, cause and consequences of the Nigerian civil war issued in November 1968 by more than sixty British subjects, including Sir Robert Stapleton, the last British governor of the Eastern region( 1959-60), it was concluded that of the 37 percent of the population which they estimated that minority group represented in Biafra, only 10% would favour continued association with the federal government".
The New York review of Books, Volume 14,Number 8. April 23, 1970

nonaira:
Wow. Thank you for this. Ironically it corresponded with what my breastfriend grandfather said for his people.

As for the bold, Ironically, it's the same thing they accused Nnamdi Kanu of doing despite the fact he asked for a referendum. If they are so sure minorities are for Nigeria why would you be afraid of a paper where they them themselves would say so. Only in a nation filled with illiterates would think a person asking for people to choose where they want to go as "forcefully taking".

I shudder whenever I remember we're cursed to share a nation with this bunch of dullards and imbeciles

Exactly. It's the same demonic wicked mentality that had kept the country a failed under developed hell hole , now lagging behind the likes of Kenya, Botswana, Ethiopia, etc in human development indices, let's not talk about RSA, those ones are out of sight.

In years to come, they (Igbophobic) Nigerians would also tell their children, stories of how Nnamdi Kanu failed because he tried to force Niger deltans and Ndiigbo into Biafra. They wouldn't make mention of Kanu demand for referendum, just like their parents don't make mention of Ojukwu demand for a plebiscite, these people are naturally crooked, and I had determined that no way in hell is Nigeria ever going to crawl out of its failed third world status, with these people still part of it.

We need to severe ties with these people ASAP.

If Gowon and Nigeria were so convinced that Ojukwu was forcefully annexing non Igbos in Biafra, common sense dictates that he would have favoured a plebiscite to disgrace Ojukwu more, before the whole world.

"The unprecedented mingling of all groups and settling of many minority people in the Ibo heartland during the course of the war was simply taken for granted. Nonetheless, the Biafran regime was unreservedly committed to plebiscites in any disputed areas within Biafra, or on borders, so that people involved could determine their allegiance. It was proposed that these plebiscites be conducted under international( UN or O.A.U)supervision, and with adequate safeguard against punitive retaliation The federal government rejected the plebiscite proposal, obviously because it implied the recognition of Biafra and the substitution of a democratic vote for force of arms. Had the plebiscite been held, a ceasefire would have had to be declared, neutral observers would have been on scene, and the secession would have been revealed as a people's movement".

The New York Review of Books, Volume 14, Number 8. April 23,1970.

In an authoritative and detailed memorandum on the background, cause and consequences of the Nigerian civil war issued in November 1968 by more than sixty British subjects, including Sir Robert Stapleton, the last British governor of the Eastern region( 1959-60), it was concluded that of the 37 percent of the population which they estimated that minority group represented in Biafra, only 10% would favour continued association with the federal government".
The New York review of Books, Volume 14,Number 8. April 23, 1970

Nowenuse:
Hausas are a lost tribe. No amount of insults you will give to them inspires any form of remorse from amongst them. The person you are talking to will most likely be a fulani.

Besides, I think Nigeria did not divide then in 1966 cos the Igbos were taking the Southern minorities against their wish. Why did most Eastern minorities betray the Igbos at that time?

On the contrary, Ojukwu offered Gowon and Nigeria, the option of a UN supervised plebiscite on all non Igbo speaking parts of Biafra to prove if Biafra was forcefully annexing the Eastern minorities.

Gowon following a research and advice from his British masters, who reliably informed him that such a plebiscite would lead to 2/3 of the minorities voting for Biafra while rejecting Nigeria, declined the offer.

So, No. At no point did Ojukwu forcefully annexed the minorities areas.

nonaira:
Take your wailing to the sai Buhari chanters. One thing I love about being Igbo is we adapt to anything thrown at us. We've dealth worse and came out on top and surviving each time. Even now, the Buhari backwards leadership is affecting the "sai Buhari" chanters the most. Like I said, I'll continue praying you lots continue suffering a miserable hell in that shithole. Enjoy your Giant of sh1t

You make every Igbo man proud, Ikechukwu.

CoolAmbience:
You know next to nothing about what you are talking.

Outstanding Anambrarians, from all works of life, put Ndigbo in general on the global map. Speak of globally acclaimed intellectuals like Chinua Achebe, Alex Ekwueme, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chimamanda Adichie, Emeka Anyaoku, Dora Akunyili, Innocent Chukwuma, Philip Emeagwali, Paul & Paul Okoye, John Mikel Obi etc.

Since when has been rash or aggressive been associated with nativity? Though you may want to argue further, but I make bold to say that no state in the entire SE has contributed more outstandingly to giving Ndigbo her pride of place in Nigeria than Anambra state, no one.

Name your so-called 'diplomatic' Enugu people and let's put them side by side with the few names I have reeled out here.

Don't be this naive.
Dude was fishing, and you fell hook, line and sinker
You need Ako na Uche, Nwanne.

For the role Yorubas and Awolowo played in the coup and in Biafra war.
Nigeria had remained an underdeveloped entity, forever to remain in RSA shadows and even now, Nations such as Kenya had surpassed her.

The whole British companies Yorubas inherited right after Awolowo masterminded indigenization policy in the early 70s , handed the public and private sector of the economy of Nigeria into Yoruba hands, which they mismanaged and rendered most of them moribund, setting the pace for the current high unemployment rate in the country.

Nigeria is a failed British colonial experiment, ran under ground by mismanagement of her private and public sectors by Yorubas, and her political structures eroded and rendered retrogressive by Arewa.

Only lost naive Igbo pesons dream of ruling a failed colonial entity like Nigeria.

Wise Igbos know better, and would fight till eternity, to severe any ties with bitter retrogressive groups that fill up the geographical entity called Nigeria.

Well informed Ndiigbo know that OBJ eight years in power never stopped Yorubaland from being a third world region with malnourished children, neither did GEJ 6yrs stop Niger delta from being polluted, exploited, and it's people living in third world environments, the North grip on power had not stopped the region from being educationally backward with poor ranking in the MDGS achievements.

Nigerian presidency would never do anything for the Igbo nation, it would never solve any of our problems, rather it would give Igbophobic entities that roam Nigeria, a platform to blame the Igbo nation and president, for the mismanagement of the colonial estate done by succession of Arewa and Yoruba rulers, from 1970-date.

So it's delusional for members of Igbophobic Nigerian groups to think that the average Igbo man is interested in becoming the president of Nigeria, a third world entity.

By the way, the 1966 coup was an Awolowo( Yoruba) masterminded coup and here is why:

1. Fajuyi, a Yoruba, was a mentor to the likes of Nzeogwu and not only supported their coup, but also made inputs on how they should go about it. This was why he was marked for death by the counter coup northern junta. To conceal this and sell their Igbo coup propaganda, the Yoruba print media launched the falsehood of Fajuyi begging for IronsI life being the reason for his death, but we know better.

2. Up until 1967, Awolowo was the only Nigerian who had once plotted to usurp a seating government, ala civilian coup, he had antecedents. He would also attempt a second civilian coup later against IBB which culminated to his death.

3. The coup plotters listed Awolowo as the man they had in mind to install as the president should the coup have been successful.

4. The coup plotters carefully eliminated Awolowo main rival, Akintola, who had already emasculated Awolowo and rendered him powerless in Yorubaland, alongside his accomplices in Saraduna and Balewa. This was needed to create a vacancy that Awolowo could fill right after the coup.

It's as simple as it is, without the coup plotters striking and eliminating Akintola, Balewa and Saraduna, Awo would have rot in prison and if he managed to come out, would have seen Akintola completely consolidate on his powers in Yorubaland with active help of Balewa and Saraduna.
The rate Akintola was spreading his wings in SW, with active connivance of Balewa and Saraduna, Awo knew that he had to get out of prison as fast as possible or slip into political oblivion forever.
The Biggest winner from the coup was Awolowo, co incidence?
I don't think so.

Jethrolite:
This is irrelevant to the discussion. Delta state is not a tribe besides Delta state only came into existence in 1991.

So, you are saying there are Igbos in Delta state, and Nzeogwu is one of them?

This is very relevant to the discussion, since you are pushing the Yoloboid propaganda that tagged Nzeogwu led coup, Igbo coup , it's important and irrelevant, we dissect the ethnicity of those who played key roles in the coup.

Jethrolite:
I wasn't born then even my dad was only 29 but from oral history and what has been made official history, it was an igbo coup. That same year, the hausa/fulani retaliated in a counter coup. The Igbos saw how they had been marginalised and chose secession led by Ojukwu. Gowon rebuked it, no such nonsense was going to happen under him and the civil war broke out.

That coup planned and executed by the Igbos is the reason Nigeria is how it is today - greatly divided among tribal lines and a great distrust never to allow an igbo person govern this country again.

Quick question for you.
Seeing as Nzeogwu the leader of the coup was from the present Delta state.

Can we now call the coup Deltan coup?

bigfrancis21:
Lol. Olukwumis have been present in Delta Igbo land for over 500 years? Not true. Their settlement in the area is quite recent - about 200 to 300 years or 4 to 5 generations ago, which explains why the language sort of survived till now.

Second, since the Olukwumis still remember where exactly in Ondo state they came from, they are always free to return to their ancestral land. No Igbo, be it on NL or in real life, has tried to 'force' them to be anything they aren't. If for nothing, we gave them space and succor when they fled their original hometown and landed in our area as refugees, and they should be grateful for that for letting them in when they needed safety the most. Over time, natural adaptation took its course and most of them became Igbonized and switched to Igbo language, name and culture. However, given the option to return to their ancestral Ondo state, I doubt if most would want to, except the fanatical minority who are deeply interested in that. Over 70% of these people are deeply as Igbo as any south-easterner in language, culture and names. Every single one of them speaks Igbo as first language or maybe some speak it as second language and a much lesser percentage (especially the elderly) are bilingual in Olukwumi or an Olukwumi-Igbo mix as well. As for suddenly giving up Igbo and speaking Olukwumi only I doubt if this is feasible because Igbo language is what connects them to the greater Anioma Igbo and deciding to let go of the language would not benefit them in any way, alienate them from the greater Anioma fold and remind them of their 'immigrant' status in Delta state.

Olukumis had fully assimilated into Enu-ani( Igbo) culture of their neighbors.
They are like those Igbo communities in Kogi, they have no option but to assimilate into the culture of of their neighbors, just like those Igbos became Igala, so did Olukumi become Igbo.

The first miss Nigeria of Igbo descent was miss Anyamelume Helen, who won the beauty pageant in 1958.
She was a proud Igbo woman,flaunted her Igbo ethnicity and was celebrated by the Igbo union then.
She was an Olukumi woman from the town of Ugbodu.


Some of them that suffer from identity crisis would at worst claim to be of Anioma ethinic group and might even claim to be natives of Issele ukwu, since Issele Ukwu is the biggest town in their vicinity.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/08/how-miss-nigeria-58-died/

Ibos were never an organised group of people under a king. The Parliamentarian systems was what was tenable in the ibo villages not until recent past.


This is what I hate about Yoloboid entities.

Are you infering that monarchical systems of government is a better organized system than republican system laced with Gerontocracy most Igbos ran?

If that is true, then why is the modern civilized world jettising the crude unsophisticated monarchical systems for republics and democracy?

Igbos didn't exist in villages, we existed in towns, made up of many villages.

Cooly100:
You deparately prefer one Nigeria than Igbo migration because of the advantage you have already because of the status of Lagos.

With Odua nation...and we with our own nation...the use of the embassies and multinational institutions there would reduce. The use of your ports would reduce by almost 78%. Your banking usage would reduce. The use of your airport would reduce by as much as 45%. The use of your borders would reduce. As these service would go else where, etc, etc...

This man takes no prisoners.



No truer words had ever been uttered in the history of mankind.

Ejjis:
Nonsense post... Odum is lion And Agu is Tiger...Stop confusing people please...

Tiger isn't indigenous to Africa.
Ancient Igbos had no contact with Tiger, and couldn't have had a name for an animal they never knew existed or saw.

Agu is leopard, Lion is Odum.

Obi1kenobi:
Interesting. I didn't know we already had a Biafran finance minister and chief economic strategist who has intimate knowledge of Biafran economic policy. How many multinationals has the Nigerian government ever forced to open production plants in Nigeria? All the years we had several manufacturing companies relocating to Ghana, how many did the Nigerian government force to open factories here. Nigeria with oyel money has no leverage to compel companies to manufacture in Nigeria, but you think your Biafran paradise with few resources of value would? The delusion is strong in you: that's all I can say really. And I'll reiterate you don't quite understand how regional economic free trade zones work.



You're talking about the national phenomenon of brain-drain to the North America and Europe. I'm talking of the regional phenomenon of a huge chunk of the Igbo industrialists and corporate executives and business elite leaving the SE to Lagos. Your average engineer who graduates from UNN or FUTO usually ends up in Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Ogun etc. So how exactly will your disintegration and resultant economic crisis from losing oyel money help the SE keep its professionals and entrepreneurs etc? I've told your ilk several times that the day Igbos are really serious about leaving Nigeria, it will gain real traction, starting from the relevant stakeholders pushing the aspirations. If you remain the most nomadic tribe in the country while shouting "Biafra! Biafra!!", nobody really takes you seriously. Israel as a modern nation was built by Zionists (mostly Ashkenazi Jews from Europe) who came from all over the world to build and fight for the nation. It wasn't built by noise-making Jews in Poland or Hungary or Russia making empty noise in their host communities about their agitations.



But Kebbi doesn't feature in your own link either. I thought they were the ones feeding the whole SW with rice? The one I posted had Kebbi in 3rd. Your own doesn't even have them in the top 8. Some reports have more credibility than others. Mine was developed by the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in conjunction with Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) and the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension and it was certified by the National Technical Committee on Agricultural Statistics. Your Naij.com report shows no source for its claims.

It's interesting to see that in your yoloboid brain, you believe Lagos and environs would be allowed to continue their FG designed stranglehold on the better south, once Nigeria disintegrates.
Shows how deluded some people can be.
The good thing is that your fellow Yolobas know better, which is why most of them develop trepidation at the mention of Nigeria disintegration, they know what's going to follow that.
Keep living in your fantasy world.

Lagos was carefully designed to be a monopolist, serving as the gateway(both air and sea) to the rest of Nigeria.
The moment Nigeria disintegrates, all those nonsense would end and Lagos would come to serve only SW, and maybe NW.
Companies would relocate to new countries they intend to serve, Jobs would relocate and the Lagos pull would end.
It's as simple as that.

You don't have any say on Igbo push for Independence, as a Yoruba man, so I wonder why that is giving you headache, other than your trepidation at what you stand to lose with Nigeria disintegration.
Igbo stake holders were all on the boat with Ojukwu in 1967-70, it ended up not being good enough, there is more to getting Biafra than waiting for those whose life sustenence depends on continued existence of Nigeria as an indivisible entity to lend credence to the struggle.

Nobody takes your failed Country (Nigeria) serious, you are mocked by entire Africa and now by men like Trump and Gates, I think you should focus on that, and worry less about the Igbo man dreams and aspirations for a functional independent nation.


The point is that you don't care about the credibility of any of the multiple useless stats you are posting for rice production, you don't mind if they contradict each other, so long as they are concocted to malign and belittle the SE, you are comfortable with that.
You were comfortable presenting a stat that presented SW state like Ogun as one of the leaders in Rice production, even when such stat failed to take note of Kebbi contribution, so long as it could help you belittle SE, you were comfortable.
I only highlighted that to prove that you are nothing but a biased Yoloboid Man feigning neutrality to propagate your Igbophobic agenda.

Stats in Nigeria are often time useless. Point still remains that SE imports no local rice from outside SE, something we can't say for SW who relies on Kebbi.
Anambra if everything go to plan, would turn out 600,000 metric tons this year, that would put it right at the top of the rice production stats.
https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2018/02/anambra-targets-600000mt-rice/amp/

[quote author= post=66215983]Ogun Red soil[/quote]Of course, we all know that SW is full of red soil, we just let them deceive themselves with their bitter concocted fake stats aimed at maligning the Igbo.
They speak like some of us haven't spent considerable amount of time in their region.

Obi1kenobi:
The emboldened is poor comprehension on your part. I said the red soil has nothing to do with the SE's agricultural output, not that red soil has nothing to do with agricultural output. One statement there is situational. The other is a generalized claim. There is not a single post I made where I disputed the nutrient/mineral constituent of red soil. I explicitly told you in one of my posts that my questioning of your source was genuine and I wanted to be sure you didn't drag it out of your arrse, so I never even disputed the "fact". My bone of contention is that the soil type has little to do with SE agricultural output compared to other factors like the tiny landmass and high population density and lower rural occupation and subsistence farming rate compared to Northern groups.

I reiterate my claim that SE land is "perfectly arable" and the fact you think your report contradicts the point indicates you didn't comprehend what you read very well.

Lol!

Running with the deers, while still hunting with the wolves.

Typical Yoloboid behavior.
Neither here nor there.

Obi1kenobi:
Clearly, you have serious problems understanding how regional free trade zones all over the world work. And keep regurgitating drivel about "dumping", when you don't know what dumping means.
Forget about your "afonja" obsession and focus on the massive professional brain drain from the SE. Bore us less with your Biafra delusions and focus on how sons from the SE can relocate their businesses and industries to their homeland and how all those wealthy individuals with homes in Festac, Ajah, Lekki etc can invest in the future of their homeland.



Because Kebbi had a collaboration with the Lagos state government means Kebbi "supplies the entire SW"?
Kebbi ranks 3rd in this survey and no South East state is anywhere to be found in the top with Abia finishing 36th in rice production:
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/03/01/survey-ranks-niger-leading-rice-producing-state-in-2017/
Argue with that one too, and while you're at it, bring us any survey showing us the quantity the SE produces in comparison with other regions. Meanwhile, let's cut this nonsense, cyclical back-and-forth short and get to the meat of the argument. Which region does the SE and SS produce more agric output than? Go ahead and tell us.

Clearly you are not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.

Multinationals who want their goods sold in Igbo country would have to open production plants in Igboland that would employ our people and remit tax to our government. That's how it would be.
The Lagos-Ibadan-Ogun axis would lose jobs, and tax revenues should Nigeria cease to exist. It's as simple as that.
You wouldn't be allowed to produce goods in odua and dump on us in Biafra. Get that into your brain.


There is brain drain all over the country to North America and Europe, so I don't know the point you are making with your Igbo brain drain angle.
Lagos -Agbara monopoly would cease to exist once Nigeria dies, and those jobs would be outsourced to various emergent nations down South, that alone would help us keep some of our brains down home, which is part of the reason we are agitating for the disintegration of the luggardian colonial estate.


You are shameless. Kebbi state doesn't feature in the stat your fellow Yoruba provided in that thread you posted, even when we know That Kebbi rice feed the entire Lagos and trickles into neighbouring SW states, that should tell you how dubious your Yoruba people are in fabricating stats to malign the Igbo.

Below is a link to the eight biggest producers of rice in Nigeria, I don't see a single SW state featuring there :https://www.naija.ng/1114914-nigeria-rice-production-statistics.html#1114914

On who SE has more agricultural output than in Nigeria, I obviously don't have interest in that, as it would be akin to a competition amongst obessed individual to find out who is the slimest amongst them. What's the point, when even the slimest amongst them is also obessed? We in SE has no interest in such stupid competition with backward groups, we would rather compete with the world, as a sovereign entity, than be enmeshed in mediocrity mud fight with bitter Nigerian groups.

Nigeria is a net importer of food. But Atleast, unlike SW, SE don't import local rice from Kebbi. We grow our local rice and supplement the shortfall with imported rice.

ZZ22:
I wonder what he means by the majority that hustle in Onitsha live in Asaba. Sounds dumb to me

What do you expect from a regular Yoruba man who spent few months in SE, and suddenly thinks he knows zilch about the region.

Obi1kenobi:
Keep deluding yourself. The reality is restrictionist policies cut both ways. Leveling big tariffs on imports and banning products from any place would bring about reverse tariffs and bans on your own products. If the SE as an independent country engages in a trade war with the bigger economies of the Nigerian SW or SS or the North, it will lose out far more in the grand scheme of things.



Your link shows nothing about the relative products of the zones. We're talking about who produces more and not whether the SE produces anything. Quit the silly strawman arguments.

Which Anambra rice? These are Nigeria's biggest rice producers:
https://www.nairaland.com/3969645/largest-rice-producing-states-geopolitical

Ebonyi produces the bulk of the SE's rice. Anambra is one of the bottom in the federation. You really don't even need stats to validate these things. Anyone who knows anything about Nigeria knows the SE ranks with the SS at the bottom of agricultiural production. That I'm arguing this basic fact with you is funny as fucckk.

You are the one deluding your Yoruba self.
No country would in the name of free trade allow itself to be used as dumping ground by neighbors, no country would allow it's citizens remain unemployed while multinationals take much needed jobs to neighbouring countries to produce goods they would dump on them, while paying tax to neighbouring countries and employing youths of neighboring countries.
Your Yoruba political class and even commoners know this, which is why you all hold tenaciously to One Nigeria and loathe anyone who calls for her disintegration.

And ofcourse, in your afonjaic nature, you found a way to also drag SS that is suffering from the same fate as SE, in terms of non oil multinationals into your post, to score cheap brownie points.


You are the one running on straw man here, you are posting a thread opened by a known Igbophobic Yoruba man, whose nonsense arguments many Igbo posters decimated on the same thread, as a testament to your delusional story of SE being agriculturally deficient?
Go through the thread you posted and see how the argument went there.

Even Kebbi that supply the entire SW with local rice via Lake rice was missing from the afonjaic stat the Yorubatic OP provided.

Reality on ground is that SE buys no local rice from anywhere outside SE. We produce enough local rice and augument with foreign rice.

Anyone who knows zilch about agriculture in Nigeria, would know that each Nigerian zones has crops they are dominant in, and that the entire Nigerian community is a net importer of staple food materials.

The joke is on you.

[b]Well, many Igbos love to claim the Igbo population is anything between 30 to 50 million. When your entire region is smaller than many individual states in the North, and about the size of Oyo, perhaps your geographic size is less than optimal. We're not Singapore. Look at what Singapore looks like in the pictures below. What we have are the chaotic urban messes like Onitsha and Aba: 2 hyper-chaotic, highly polluted cities that have stressed the hell out of me when I was there. No point comparing yourself to a 1st world, developed nation.
The SE is poor in natural resources. There is nothing substantial about the crude reserves of Imo and Abia. They have less crude combined than Ondo, nevermind the SS oil powerhouses. Imo and Anambra's gas reserves will earn a few drillers money. It is not nearly substantial enough to be a game changer to the economy. Most of the solid minerals in Nigeria is found in the North and the SE has little.
The SE is landlocked. Stop making yourself a laughingstock continuing to dispute that reality. A few rivers run through the SE. I'm sure some boats or ferries can run through them. No transatlantic ocean vessel will ever dock at any port in the SE. Ever.[/b]

Spoken like a true Afonja.

Again, it's not about size, if it were, Congo DR wouldn't have been ruled By Belgium.
What "We" are you speaking of? Lekwanu onye Yoruba nka!

Igboland is not Singapore, but nations like Singapore, had shown that size is never a limitation to achieving first world status, while Nations like Mongolia had shown that land space without human resources is a waste.

Igboland is big enough for Ndiigbo.

Aba and Onitsha are both Indigenous Igbo towns that were rebuilt by Ndiigbo after their demolition by Nigerians during the war , and had been victims of Nigerian Igbophobic economic and political policies meant at stagnating the entire SE.
They had done well, and are better off than places like Abeokuta, Ibadan, Sagamu, Ogbomosho, or whatever enclave your people do crawl out from on daily basis.
In an independent Igbo country, Onitsha and Aba would thrive and become better through central government favourable policies.

Imo and Abia were systematically stripped off their oil producing lands, as Egbema and Oyigbo were added to Rivers, While Ondo got helped with Delta oil producing lands.
Reverse that, and we get the true picture of things.

Nevertheless, Imo and Abia still have many untapped crude oil potentials that an aggressive SE nation can always exploit. And their current oil reserves, if left for them to control alone, would be more than they get from the FG on monthly basis.

Anambra and Imo sit on massive natural gas reserves, I know this is a sad news for people from your side. But it's the reality. It would be developed and harnessed by independent Igbo nation.
See this:
http://www.gasandoil.com/news/discoveries/d89bc98903f0500bdba5eca6bd2b8b9b
https://www.nairaland.com/826279/imo-over-7.8-trillion-scf

I think, you should stop making your Yoruba self a laughing stock, as you know next to nothing about SE.

SE is not landlocked, deal with it :

Obi1kenobi:
A lot of conjecture there. West Africa is a free trade zone. Agbara's products are distributed all across the region. It's delusional to believe your restrictionist policies could stop their products circulating in the SE. For starters, Unilever or UAC or Nestle or Cadbury or P&G or whoever won't suddenly just pack up their factories to the SE. There are several countries in West Africa where they don't manufacture, but merely distribute goods. Don't expect companies to start running to the SE in the event of such a disintegration.

I din't single out the SE in its low food production. Food security is a general problem in Nigeria. I stated the evident fact that the SE produces less in agriculture than any other region. Ebonyi is the most agrarian of the SE states, yet they probably wouldn't make the top 10 states in food production in Nigeria. Most of the beans and even rice (despite Ebonyi's best efforts) and yams and tomatoes and onions and pepper and beef you eat in the SE is not locally grown. That's a blatant falsehood. The SE along with the SS account for the lowest food production in the country. That is a fact.

I don't need to pretend to be Igbo to talk "thrash" about the zone. I'd be even more comfortable doing it as a Yoruba. I do it despite my discomfort because the chest-beating of many of you embarrasses me greatly. I feel obliged to repeat yet again that I couldn't care less where you think I'm from. I do not engage in petty tribal stewpidity and only those who do imagine anyone has the time to impersonate other groups.

SE independent country would not allow itself to be dumping ground for goods produced in Odua (Agbara) ,not when we have the human resources.
Companies who wouldn't comply would be subtly ran out of the country, while many eager companies, be they Indian or Chinese would happily take their place.
No company would be forced to pack to the SE.

Either way, Agbara would lose its SE market and with its attendant job cut and revenue loss.
This is the truth.

You keep reeling out stats out of thin air.

I had provided a link to a thread that debunked your SE not producing enough food lies, but your Yoruboid mentality would not allow you yield to facts.

SE produce enough food to sustain her, she doesn't need Nigeria,especially when Nigeria herself depends on food importation for most of her staple food crops,and we have stats to back this up.

On rice production, we produce rice in Ebonyi, Anambra, and Enugu.
We don't source our local rice from outside SE.
I currently eat Anambra rice, a bought a bag in Christmas, and it's still remaining.
There is Abakaliki and Adada /Ugbawka Rice as well.

SE is sufficient in local production and augument shortfalls with foreign rice.

Obi1kenobi:
Parasite - an organism which lives in or on another organism (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other's expense.

Your own definitions about so-called "sustainability" doesn't square with reality. For starters, that sustainability depends on deriving income you never earned. If you suddenly cut off the N40billion or so Anambra for example is receiving from Abuja, the state goes under from losing over 70% of its revenue. The SE is clinging as much to Nigeria as any other region in action even if not in words. Words are just false bravado from internet chest-beaters and braggarts. The real stakeholders know what they gain from the union. There is no governor in the SE who even cares about the so-called restructuring, nevermind secession. Umahi for example is vehemently opposed to restructuring. No surprises when his state generates just over N5 billion in IGR, but gets N35billion from Abuja.

You cannot be calling other people parasites when your region depends on Niger-Delta oyel. I don't know why many of you persist in this self-deception.

The reality is that SE dependency on the Nigerian federation is minimal as we earn less from the federation than anyone else.
The last time Nigeria suffered recession and allocations from the FG dwindled, we know it wasn't SE that suffered most in the federation from declining revenues, despite IGR figures some people keep parrying about, it was their regions that suffered more and currently are most indebted.

The south East has a very robust informal sector, and can easily weather the storm of loss of FG revenue, as long as we gain 100% full control of the income coming from Imo state and Abia State crude oil exports and not just the derivation value.

Umahi and co(Igbo politicians) are opposed to restructuring or distingeration because they want to hold unto the current personal gains they make from Nigeria current failed systems where they can make 30million monthly as senators and earn fat benefits and pension as past governors, and not because they care about the welfare of the Igbo masses.

SE, the masses, and not the corrupt political class want out of the federation, the masses from other regions of the country, don't want the same.

Yes. Short on industries. The Agbara industrial cluster alone probably has more industrial output than the whole SE combined. That you would argue about agriculture is asinine beyond belief. The SE is easily the least agrarian zone in the country by far seeing as the SE is the most densely clustered, hyper-urbanized zone in the country. What does Nigeria's importation of food have to do with the fact the SE produces the least of the food that Nigeria does produce?Why do many of you deluded chest-beating comedians love to live in denial of what anyone with eyes and a brain can easily discern?

Agbara is mostly a multinational corporations base. It's only relevant as long as Nigeria continues to exist as a single entity, as in case of Nigeria disintegration, each of the emerging sovereign nations would have their own Agbara and not allow multinational companies dump goods produced in Agbara(Odua nation) on them.

The multinationals would have to down size in Agbara and out source departments to establish presence in new emerging countries.
With resultant effect of reduction of employment opportunities and tax based income for odua.

In truth, the true parasites are those who currently benefit from the current status quo of Nigeria, and would have it continue. With advantages being the gateway to the most populous black nation, but yet are still down the sustainable index stats, they stand alot to lose from Nigeria disintegration.

On agriculture, I would refer you to this:https://www.nairaland.com/2522113/omitted-truth-debunking-lies...nigeria-states

Nigeria as a whole import food, so it's plain malicious singling SE out. Most of the local food we eat in SE are produced by local SE farmers, SE can feed herself, and argument the shortfall with importation, like Nigeria is currently doing.

Why exactly do Yorubas like you revel in claiming to be from SE so that you can talk trash about the zone? You think we are stupid not to see through your dubious antics of hunting with the wolves and running with the deers?

Any region that receives far more in allocation that it generates internally is "parasitic". Is that easy enough for you to digest?


Flawed statement.

States generate IGR to use for themselves and not to share with anyone else.
In this case, the true measure of a states parasitic nature lies not in how much it generates or receives from the FG, but in how sustainable the state is. It's ability to withstand external constraints such as decrease in FG allocations presents.

States with multinational companies and FG parastatals are better off implementing draconian tax laws to maximize profit and recirculate the wealth in the land amongst it's indigenes which ultimately means more IGR, where as states with little federal presence and non existent multinational corporations presence, are better off relaxing taxation policies to enable indigenous SME thrive and in turn result in better welfare of the indigenes.

The truth is that SE States receive relatively meagre federal government allocations in comparison to other zones, and our tax laws are purposely very minimal for obvious reasons. If need be, we can easily upgrade our IGR by implementing more draconian tax laws, and the relative meagre federal allocation means that we can easily survive without them, as can be seen in the sustainability index.

This isn't same for regions already receiving more FG allocations and whose tax laws are already draconian.

If you stop the flow of income from FG, they would feel the heat more, and wouldnt have any thing to fall back on, as their tax laws are already at its maximum.

What's more, these regions are already highly indebted and are clinging unto Nigeria continued existence for their sustainance.

The ultimate test of parasitism, is in its desperation to hold unto it's host violently , I don't see SE violently clinging unto one Nigeria, it's actually the other way round.
The parasites know themselves.

OKPARA is an urhobo word imported into your language due to proximity.

Now, this here exactly, is why I'm mad with Igbos that brought Ndiigbo into a topic that had nothing whatsoever to do with us.

Obi1kenobi:
Yes. The South East is parasitic. Short on industries. Short on agricultural output. It's the least naturally endowed region in the country when you look at the size, population, paucity of mineral or natural resources, landlocked location etc. On top of all this, it has easily the lowest level of Federal infrastructural or industrial investment. By far.

I wouldn't say we're as parasitic as the North. Only Kano and Kaduna out of the 13 "core North" states (i.e the real abokis in the NE and NW) raise up to N10billion a year in IGR, while 3 SE states out of 5 manage to do so. I'm surprised it's not 4 out of 5 as I'm shocked Imo can only raise just over N6billion in IGR in a year which puts them at the level of Ebonyi. Well done o, Okorocha.

What do you mean by saying that SE is parasitic?
Do you mind expanding that blatant statement?


Short on industries? Multinational industries you mean?
Short on agricultural output? Excuse me, how did you arrive at this? Isn't the entire Nigeria a net importer of staple food materials?

Least naturally endowed? Please, what exactly do you mean by this?

The Size? Look at the size of Rwanda in Africa for example, they are currently out doing the shithole, size had never been an issue, if it were, Kazakhistan would be a first world nation and not Singapore.
Population? Please explain what you mean by this, are you saying that the SE is poorly populated or densely populated?
SE is not poor on natural resources, Imo and Anambra are sitting on reasonable reserve of natural gas, Abia and Imo already have substantial crude oil reserves, which in an Independent Igbo nation would ensure we don't import crude oil. It would save us our forex.
Landlocked? That's debatable, we still have the Obuaku window.

Lowest level of federal allocation and investment, yes! This is the only point you made throughout this your post, the rest are invalid, congratulations!


Don't use "we" for SE, your SE origin is still up for debate, and for the records, SE is not parasitic, let alone dragging for who is more parasitic with the North, you need to get your basics right and stop pokenosing into issues you know nothing about.

koning:
This can NOT be a coincidence. This people are as Igbo as you can get. As usual, many of these Delta kingdoms and villages deny their Igboness, but if your village name is OKPARA, you are definitely Igboid. Q.E.D.

Why do you people like bringing Ndiigbo into unrelated topics and in so doing, bloating the ego of unrelated groups?

Okpara In Urhobo is not pronounced like the Okpara in Igbo, and they don't hold the same meaning.
Quit being obnoxious, quit pushing it, stop making these groups relevant by pokenosing into their affairs, stop it already.

Okpara people in Urhobo are Urhobo people, they don't speak Igbo related language in whatever form.

Onijagidijagan:
Are trying to tell me there are no Igbo migrants in river state?check d names they will tell you they r from Enugu, IMO, Owerri etc.

When a baby factory was busted in ONDO and Ekiti in d past, they were Igbo so what's ur point?

You are not making sense.

Ikwerre people answer Igbo names.

There is no separating the two by just names, except in few peculiar cases like the "nda" names and others.