₦airaland Forum

That must be the longest endoscopy procedure in human history.
someone get in touch with Guinness book of world record,fast.

donofdons: [size=18pt]endoscopy can be both diagnostic like in endoscopic retrograde choleangiopancreatography(ercp) and surgical like in laparascopic pancreatoduodonectomy with jejunogastroesophageal anastomosis.[/size]

I can see that Google is your best friend.

AjanleKoko: Am I missing something here?
Endoscopy no be operation na It's just a means of diagnosing ailments, kind of like a biopsy.
The governor has been out of the country this long to do an endoscopy?

This country sef. And people will keep saying they went to school.

Nigerian journalists are the worst set of illiterates in this country.
very soon they will call dialysis an operation too.
Even in their ignorance,they make a public show of it.
most times you read their articles and you can't make head nor tail of them.

women and money.
i can see love in the eyes of this woman. If Ribery was not rich i wonder if she would not get a restraining order against him?

different sides of the same coin.
Thankfully both the CAN and CCN do not represent all Christians.

surprised to hear that boy is past 17. hope he does not have growth hormonal issues? he looked like a 7 year old and whinged like a 2 year old girl.

Rio Ferdinand @rioferdy5

17 year old ball boy… is that a wind up!!? Is being a ball boy now a career move??

Ibime: No mind the boy. Pesin wey dey turn 18 this year want begin cry like small girl. Anyway, I no send. We werent playing with any speed and were never gonna win!!!

surprised to hear that boy is past 17. hope he does not have growth hormonal issues? he looked like a 7 year old and whinged like a 2 year old girl.

the second post was a response from a reader of the column.
That is the most unbiased comment on Amaechi i have read in a very long time.

Nelson from PH
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Mr. Amadi, thank you very much for this wonderful piece. Before I react
to it, I will equally toe your line by introducing myself first. I am
Nelson from Andoni where the Deputy Governor, Eng Tele Ikuru is from. I
needed to state this so that it won't be seen that I am working from the
opposition's camp.

I equally want to say that I am one of those
that 'cursing' the Ministry of Niger Delta because of the way it
abandoned the East West Road. And I join Niger Deltans to say that
Orubebe and GEJ shouldn't come back home should they fail to complete
that road before they leave office. Let's leave that for another day.

Now
to Amaechi. Yes, Amaechi Government tried by putting in place those
amenities you outlined in your article. But let me quickly point to you
that all those infrastructures you listed were built in his first term.
It will interest you to note that I was a fanatic of Amaechi. During the
last election, I was not based in Rivers State but I had to travel down
from my location to PH just to vote for Amaechi because I was excited
by the feat he had achieved.

However, my beloved brother, after
Amaechi won the last election, he went to sleep! Amaechi has not done
anything in Rivers State since he won the last election except jumping
to Abuja everyday. And this lays credence to the much rumoured ambition
he has for presidency. (I don't know how true this is).

In
Rivers State, we are not blessed with a long period of dry season. I
therefore imagine that the few 'dry months' we normally have should be
taken full advantage of to execute as many projects as possible.
However, you will agree with me that the past months in this dry season,
have been wasted because nothing was done. This again supports the
rumour that the state is broke. (Again, I dont know how true this is)

Permit me to list some of the very important projects that have been abandoned

a. Ada George Road - 50% completed and abandoned.
b. Artillery Road - 50% completed and abadoned
c. Ozuoba/Ogbogoro Road - Sketchy job done and abandoned
d.
Rumuokwuta/Choba Road - 100% completed but the road didn't last up to a
year. It has a lot of potholes now causing terrible hold ups here are
there.
e. Unity Road did not cover up to 30 communities you alleged
in your article but only about 5 communities. And again, abandoned. I
was home last Christmas.
f. Monorail, I do not think you are being
fair to Rivers people by listing this as part of Amaeche's achievement.
That project is dead on arrival. I passed there yesterday. That is the
height of waste of public fund.
Just to mention but a few.

I
will advise that Amaechi should not just hasten up effort to finish
these projects but he should ensure they are closely monitored so that
quality jobs can be delivered. I will also suggest that going forward,
all road constructions should be given to credible contractors like
Julius Berger (just like Akwa Ibom State).

What you stated about
wonderful primary and secondary school building is true. However, good
schools without quality teachers amount to wastes as well. Recently, the
government made effort to recruit teachers. After getting the
candidates to buy scratch cards and writing the aptitude test, the same
government through its legislative arm, stopped the process thereby
crashing all the candidates' hopes. N2,000 from over a million JOBLESS
CITIZENS OF RIVERS STATE gone down the drain!

Again recently,
Amaechi announced that he was going to build 1,000 housing units to
Rivers people. This is another source of wastage! Peter Odili did same
at Aggrey Road, up till now the housing units have not been occupied and
they are rotting way.Then Celestine Omehia came in and award another
set of housing unit at Rainbow Barracks which Amaechi later took over.
As I speak, as at the last time I visited that axis, that work has been
abandoned. So why talk about building another 1,000 housing units again
if not to waste public funds!

I can go on and on to demonstrate
that Amaechi has not done anything during his 2nd missionary journey
except to run from one end of the country to another.

I
therefore want to appeal to the governor to sit up and work. He should
replicate what he did in his first term. If he is nursing presidential
ambition, he can't achieve it by running up and down in his jet. Rather
he should develop the state and his works will speak volumes for him.

A word, they say, is enough for the wise!!!

First, let me state my credentials upfront, just so no one reads other motives into my intentions here. I am an indigene of Rivers state who had lived and worked abroad for some twenty-eight years, until I decided to return home two years ago, urged on by what I saw and believed to be an impressive attempt to transform my state. And although I am an Ikwerre indigene like Governor Rotimi Amaechi, I have never met the man and therefore have no reason to hold brief for him. I should also add that this diary was compiled over a three-month period, well before the recently reported face-off between the Governor and the Niger Delta Minister, Elder Godsday Orubebe. But naturally, in the face of that unfortunate exchange, the piece, originally written as part of a larger management report and a forthcoming book on governance in Nigeria, has had to be reviewed, somewhat.


It is also proper to state early that as an interested member of that broad family generally referred to as the Niger Delta, I believe that the exchange between the Governor and the Minister was most unnecessary. This is made even more so by the different nature of their jobs and the different mandates that they enjoy, as clearly defined in a federal structure. For, whereas the Governor enjoys the direct mandate of the people, the Minister serves at the pleasure of the President. In a proper federal structure, there is, and should not be a conflict. And I am also not aware that there is, or should be a competition between an elected state governor and an appointed Minister. Perhaps, as some politicians have argued, these are the early skirmishes of the battle for 2015! But, either way, the exchange was unnecessary.


That said, let me return to my set piece, which, as I earlier said, was originally inspired by my desire to attempt a review of Amaechi’s tenure, vis-a-vis my own desire to return home to Nigeria when I did, two years ago. Has it been worth it for me? Are there any regrets that I left a seemingly lucrative job in Manchester, in the United Kingdom to return to my state and to be a part of what appears an honest effort to transform our state?


Without question, based on the performance of Amaechi’s government, I believe it has been worth my while. What first struck me two years ago when I got back was the improved level of security in the state. Unlike an earlier experience, when I visited some six years ago, when the entire city of Port Harcourt was enveloped in a blanket of gun-trotting armed military men. It was most reassuring to find out that those days were gone and that the city was now a more stable and calmer environment that brought back memories of what it was like for me as a child.


But anyone who knows the city as well as I do, cannot fail to acknowledge that the sheer volume of development taking place, especially in the area of roads construction and urban renewal, is staggering. Knowing how Port Harcourt had ‘misdeveloped’ over the years, I would never have thought that it would be possible to dualise some of the key artery of roads within the city, as has been done. Who would have thought that the old Aba road, the famous Ikwerre road, the Oginigba-Rumumasi road and even the old Olu Obasanjo road could all be so beautifully dualised into six-lane roads.

It was also gratifying for me to discover that a 41-kilometre Unity Road complex from the Ogoni axis of the state to Andoni local government, connecting some 30 reverine communities to the rest of the state by road, was nearing completion. Apparently, the road had been started by the former Odili administration, but evidently expanded upon by the Amaechi administration. Even the famous Ada George road, which seemed ‘imcompleteable’, was virtually completed. I was also amazed to see that my old abode on Akwaka road, which used to be impassable and heavily flooded had also been rebuilt and upgraded.


However, I suspect that unlike me, others will argue that Amaechi’s most obvious achievement, which might well turn out to be his most enduring, has been in the Education sector. Let me illustrate this with a personal experience. I had the pleasure of once accompanying my eight-year old niece, Oroma, to her newly constructed primary school in Diobu. The experience was heart-warming. As someone whose consultancy work abroad had involved education, I knew that the standard I saw was as good as any, anywhere. For instance, the library unit and the Computer/IT rooms at that primary school were of very high standard indeed. And I have since found out that these units are all duplicated in the over 700 such primary schools that have been built in the past five years alone! It is therefore not surprising that the state has been consistently adjudged in the country as the best in the delivery of quality primary education in the past three years by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).


This monumental feat has been extended to secondary schools, where the standards are also of international nature, complete with imposing auditoriums, university-type living quarters and state-of-the-art teaching facilities. And to imagine that although education is entirely free at the primary and secondary school levels, complete with the supply of free books, shoes, bags and other items, quality of education is not in anyway compromised. These are rare feats indeed. And while all of this is going on, work has commenced on the relocation, and upgrading of the once prestigious, pioneer University of Science and Technology in the country, the Rivers State University of Science and Technology. The new site will now be within the Greater Port Harcourt City development scheme.


Yet, even with these achievements in education, there are those who insist that the Amaechi government has done more in other areas such as Health, Agriculture, Power generation, Job creation and Transportation. Obviously, each of these sectors could be the subject of separate papers because of the amount of quantifiable achievements attained in them. In summary, let us consider the Health sector, for instance, where 170 primary Healthcare centres have been built so far, each the size of a mini-hospital. What this means in reality is that for the first time in the history of the state, with a free-health scheme in place, the people have easier access to healthcare than ever before. This feat is also being duplicated in the Transportation sector where a 21-kilometre monorail project, the first of its type anywhere in the West-African sub-region, is nearing completion, and will hopefully, in the process, decongest the city and the frustratingly chaotic traffic that daily ties up the city in a knot!


But in my view, nothing could adequately decongest Port Harcourt better than the new Port Harcourt City, this is being literally created from nothing. Spread out over the Oyigbo-Okrika-Obio/Akpor and Etche local government areas, this new city project is conceived as a modern, comprehensively serviced urban area that would accelerate economic growth and development in the state. On paper, the project looks very good. But not being sure myself how this project will be funded, I am unable to articulate a position on the long-term viability of this project. But it is clear that a lot will depend on what happens after the life of the Amaechi administration, which leads me to the concluding part of my short intervention.


There is no question at all in my mind that the people of Rivers state are better served by the Amaechi administration. As an indigene who has a stake in the state and has taken time to study evolving events, I am immensely proud and even more proud of the fact that I came back home when I did. And I hope that my example will encourage others to follow in my footsteps.


Yet, deep inside one, I have fears, considering our antecedents in Rivers state. These fears have prompted me to ask myself a few pertinent questions: can the standards so eminently set up by the Amaechi administration be sustained, after the life of the administration? What guarantees are there to ensure continuity and sustainability after 2015? Did we not have farm settlements in the past, similar to the imposing current Songhai farms that the present regime has put in place? What happened to them? What if the next administration decides that Education is not its priority, will the current beautiful school structures not fall into disuse? The same applies to the Health Centres. Will there always be personnel to run and manage them? Will the newly completed multi-storey Niger Hospital (now called Kelsey Harrison Hospital) not be run down in 20 years time?


As a management Consultant by training, I worry that the management structures on ground today might not be enduring enough to cope with future challenges, especially if today’s passion is absent tomorrow. True, some effort has been made to address these problems, such as the establishment of Schools’ and Health Management Boards. But would these measures be enough? Is there not more that can be done? These, more than anything else, are perhaps the biggest challenges that the Governor must confront now before he commences the process two years away of handing over to a successor.


In ending, I should leave the Governor and his team with a piece of advice. They should never relent in their effort to finish the race strong, even stronger than when they started. They should not be detracted from completing the projects that can be completed. The Governor and his team should ensure that in the end, those who succeed them will have the love of the people at heart as they do. When they do that, Rivers state will be the better for it and their legacy as a team will be guaranteed.

Mr. Ihunda Amadi is a Management Consultant who lives both in Manchester, UK and Port Harcourt, Rivers State

http://www.thisdayonline.com/

Afolabs101: I'm so tired of this rubbish!!

"i had no interest in running for Governor/President/Chairman of Party until the people begged me and I just couldn't let them down. I'm doing it for the people and not for the opportunity to line my pockets and become stupendously wealthy at the detriment of these same people"

Politicians lie lie and lie!!! His wife said "no" She would turn down the opportunity to join the first lady's club??

The man lies as if he is talking to kids. Now he has left CBN he is busy writing thesis in Thisday every week. When he was in govt what did he do? Was it not under his watch that the likes of Aig, Akingbola and Ibru,not forgetting Atuche became demi gods and ran banking institutions like supermarkets? In saner societies men like him should be hiding in bunkers and writing apology letters. For all Sanusi's crudeness, lack of finesse, short sightedness and scatter gun approach, he arrested the bazaar and brazen robbery that Soludo ignored.

The same rubbish story we hear all the time; He was forced by his people to come and deliver them. When did Tony Anenih become a party to the deliverance of the masses?
You want to deliver your people and you choose to join forces with the likes of Tony Anenih? Leave matter for Mathias. You are as bad as the rest. All this grammar will not change that fact.

Amoda84: Like many Nigerians,I actually believed NIPOST was dead untill I tried them lately.I sent some documents to Finland which normally takes 4days by Fedex at the rate of 14,250 but when I went through NIPOST,it cost me just a meagre 300 naira and this mail got delivered in exactly 10days.infact I also had d opportunity of tracking the said mail.so I think NIPOST might have been dead before,they have suddenly woken up lately.u need to visit NIPOST at ikeja to confirm the level of work done there.

Welcome to the club.
Ever since the days of that Post Master General that died in the plane crash, NIPOST has been alive.
That man did well.
I send a Parcel to Down Under and it arrived after 10 working days. Regular surface mail.
I have enough testimonies.

Bebetter: [size=24pt]Sorry NIPOST the "Cheese" has moved! email rules... [/size]

attention seeking daftness.

Fame333: Nothing works in this country, I sent two different parcel domestic and international since on the 2nd
Of this month and non ha been delivered. I wonder why they av to collect when they are planning to go on strike.

The closure of the post offices were not done in sync. Some were still delivering and receiving while others were under lock and key. Besides,the workers thought govt would sort out their ex-colleagues within a day or two.
I have a parcel stuck in transit since the 28th of December.
these things happen,as bad as they are. No one else to blame but govt.

Mad Cow: But wait o!

Does NIPOST still work!?

Whenever I drive past their headquarters in Port Harcourt, the place looks dead.. I even thought squatters had taken over the place...

When was the last time anybody recieved a mail via NIPOST!?

If NIPOST still exists, what exactly do they do there because everybody now uses electronic mail for letters and courier services like DHL and UPS for packages..

Next think I will hear is that Water Works are on strike..

stop exposing your ignorance in public. Not only does NIPOST work and is the most efficient govt agency around, it is still used by a lot of people. I have been a faithful and regular user of its services over the last 15 years and i have never been disappointed. Infact its EMS services makes more sense than even DHL. NIPOST is tested and trusted. In saner societies the late Post Master General that dies in an air disaster would have been immortalized. The man did such good works that it has been impossible for his successors to undo.
While a parcel of mine is stuck in transit due to this strike,i remain a big fan of the organisation.Govt is dealing it a bad hand, yet they are doing well above average.

Most folks still do not understand our issues as a country.
We have never lacked good men with passion and sincerity.
What we lack is a good system.
As good as this man is, he might make no difference cos the system is structured to produce failure.
I wish him the best,anyway.

Dayokanu will not allow us rest again.
We don enter one chance.

Ibime: When Torres came on, the chant was "you don't know what you're doing"

Like I said, we will continue to boo him into oblivion, transfer or retirement!

The dye is cast. Torres has gone beyond the point of no return!!

This one don pass Winston Bogarde. Torres is just fleecing Chelsea of 150k a week.

emotional in a romantic way;
Not like crazy - Jill Scott
Goodbye my Lover - James Blunt
Brown Skin - India Arie

emotional in a spiritual way;
To know your name - Hillsong United
your love never fails - Jesus Culture
Dear God - smokie Norful

AjanleKoko: Yes, I know. I like him better than De Gea. That boy looks rather flaky to me.

the fear of SAF seems to be hurting DDG.
I think he will be fine in the long run. Playing behind that flaky defence is not helping matters. i just hope United stick with him. the long term result will be enormous.

AjanleKoko: De Gea can't possibly be considered as Barca keeper. Not good enough.
There are better young keepers in La Liga. I would prefer Courtois from Athletico Madrid.

Courtois is on loan from Chelsea.

[quote author=Mr_TA]I'd take myself ahead of Valencia at the moment.[/quote]If bought he will be at Selhurst park till the end of the season. That is the only condition in which crystal palace will sell.

I know he did not achieve much but having seen almost every one on that list and thousands more professional footballers of Nigerian origin, i never saw a more complete footballer than Kennedy Okogba. Little known beyond the Nigerian league in the very late 80s and most of the 90s but i still feel a chill recalling his ability on the ball. I never felt such watching the likes of Kanu and Okocha even with all their accolades.

kolexy: Most comments attribute to the "Jewel of inestimable value" are mere propaganda. This woman is old and well stricken in age. I think the son is just using his Mother to make money from these politicians.

Gbam!!!

Valencia is doing a very good job of helping Nani bargain for an improved contract. Valencia's case seems almost irredeemable. I will not be surprised to seem him leave in the summer.
Buttner is not better than Fabio, he is just fitter. We need a direct competition for Evra.
For all his hard work, Welbeck needs to be more incisive and direct as a striker.
Kagawa is still a work in progress. Rooney is out for another 2 weeks, he needs to step up.
Vidic did not do well enough.
Was that pass from Evans to RVP?

merengue: H.I.D Awolowo is just a glorified A.G.I.P (Any Government In Power)troll who has been feeding fat on her husband's legacy for her comments to be taken seriously. Every S.W governor of whatever hue or colour since 1999 have been greasing her palms to get a vote of confidence. I put her in the same category as people like Ojo Maduekwe, Jerry Gana, Emmanuel Iwanyanwu, Ebenezer Babatope and co.

God bless you

My whole family use shea butter and nothing else. I swear by it.

lalaosky: i've been following this saga and i must say it's baffling the extent that people take NL issues to.its shocking to say the least...

I'm an igbo boy.ezigbo nwa afor.ma nna mu ma nne mu bucha ndi igbo and here is my take on this

personally for me, i think that hall of shame thread should not be closed.ndi igbo tupu unu atagbuo mu, ge ihe mu choro ikwu first(my ibo brothers before you criticise me, hear me out first)

i say so cos chinua achebe nor I don't need a thread on NL as validation.inducting him into NL hall of shame out of bigotry doesn't reduce his achievement by one bit.it doesn't tarnish his image cos even those that voted him in that thread did so on personal hatred.it doesn't wipe out all his achievements,recognitions or countless awards he has scooped all his life in appreciation of his genius ways.if seun wants to close that thread(i understand where he's coming from), i think he should do a honourable thing by terminating this process entirely; both the forthcoming ones albeit closing that of last year's own cos by next year, when someone is voted into the hall of shame, his tribesmen will feel disgruntled and will cause chaos.so i insist that the thread should be opened or every subsequent threads of such be CLOSED.

I just don't get why people walk around with so much hatred in their hearts.if i was a yoruba boy, i won't be bothered with the stuff other tribes say about awolowo.they can say what they want to say but it won't faze me.same thing goes to when people call ojukwu names.i just click on such threads, read one and two comments and leave.i won't be caught dead hating a yoruba friend of mine or other yoruba friends i have on here cos a faceless fellow was insulting my hero, ojukwu.may God forbid such.

What has happened has happened, should i still carry malice in my heart for a good human cos of what happened when i was not born?.it makes no sense.i haven't read chinua achebe's book but when i read it, it won't stop me loving my yoruba friends.never!!.i respect him so much and i'm not against him writing about the war.heck, anybody can write his' and i still won't be bothered.

My main fear is that some of us don't know the power of internet.a kid reading this stuff(kids of nowadays, like a 7yr old can acess the net perfectly) can start harbouring hatred towards his friends or people from other tribes.please bigots(be it my tribe,yoruba,hausa or any other tribe) we need to stop this.it breeds hatred especially for our coming generations.never underestimate the impact that internet can have on someone.

As a christain/a sensible human, A HUMANBEING COMES FIRST BEFORE TRIBE!!.i love everybody that loves me and will treat me with kindenss just i would to him.so please my fellow igbo brothers, iwe iwezina unu, lets pay no mind to that thread.chinua achebe has forever engraved his steps in the sand of time and nothing, i repeat NOTHING, not even a threadon NL can change that

ka udo and oñu diri onye obuna no n'ebe a(may peace and joy be with everybody on here)......AMEN...AMIN....ISEEEEE!!!

nwanne ejiaga mba ka udo diri gi n'ekeresimesi a mana afa ohuru.
Ogaziere gi.