₦airaland Forum

discusant:
Bros,
Once modern water pipes are laid underground, they last for ages. The water pipes in Owerri and Okigwe are modern.

Perhaps you didn't know: there are huge water pipes under the grounds all over Owerri Municipal lga, extending to a few other lgas of Owerri zone.

there are also huge water pipes all the way from Imo River in Umuna, Onuimo lga, to Okigwe urban lga, and extending to a few other lgas in Okigwe senatorial zone.

Other water supply infrastructures are there in these two zones, but may have become non-serviceable by now.

Water treatment plants can also be established in Owerri and Okigwe zones once the regional water supply schemes of both zones are restarted.

Yeah, but you didn't answer my question. Where and when were they built? I left nigeria in the early eighties, and as far back as I can remember, there was no water running in major nigerian cities for ages now. Also, building water pipelines are not enough. You have to build the right ones, with the right pressure to pump water directly to people's kitchens and bathrooms. Owerri have probably tripled in size since it was made the state capital. My point is that whatever pipeline infrastructure you built ages ago are probably OBSOLETE by now.

InvertedHammer:
/


You are stating the obvious but you failed to tackle the problem I mentioned--corruption. Have you ever tried getting a building permit in US? By the way, there are millions of houses not built by real estate developers in US. Let's get that one out of the way. The only requirement is that the builder must be "licensed". And to be a licensed builder, there are requirements and prerequisites. This is how the cities exert control over its landscape. There are cities' codes that builders must abide by. There are inspectors that come to the sites at different stages of construction to make sure the builder is adhering to the specifications outlined.

In Nigeria, let's use Awka as an example. It started off as a sleepy town in Anambra state. Then it became elevated to the capital city of the new state. Should the whole city be razed and reduced to rubble in order to create a perfect city that you envision? Human beings will always be humans. Laws and regulations are put in place to check the excesses of humans. In a society like Nigeria where the gatekeepers can easily be compromised without repercussions, one gets the chaos that is the skylines that we have. Therein lies the problem.

/

Tackling corruption is the job of elected politicians. Electing politicians is the job of citizens. Citizens should elect those that can only do their bidding. If citizens vote in politicians who refuse to do their biddings, then citizens should continuously vote them out until they find the ones that can.
Now, you're right that there are millions of homes in the US built by private citizens, but you're wrong about prerequisite to build. The US is slightly bigger than west africa with thousands of rural districts. So, just like we have villages in nigeria, they also have villages in the US, even if they don't call it that. Most of the people that live in these rural part of the US are farmers that are farming on large hectares of land. Yes, these rural farmers and the small businesses that support these rural towns do build their own houses and their own shops. They can build whatever they like, even shacks, and don't need to be licensed as you suggested.
Well, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the more than 100 BIG CITIES IN THE US AND THEIR SUBURBS where 90% of americans live. Those cities and their suburbs were exclusively built by REAL ESTATE COMPANIES. Private individuals don't buy land anywhere near these places to build anything at all. If you lived in some of these developed countries, you'll know this, because when you come to an area of their town and suburbs, you'll notice the uniformity of everything like every single houses looking the same. The front yard covered with green houses all looking the same. The sidewalks that traverse the neighborhood all looking the same. The trees that lined the streets all planted in unison, that it looks like a tree was planted at every ten foot intervals. In short, everything is built SO WELL in such an ORGANIZED way that you'll know that one real estate company built it. Now, multiply this scenario I just described thousands of times in hundreds of their cities and tens of thousands of their neighborhood to imagine what I'm really talking about.
Unfortunately for us in nigeria, we never followed any best practices of anything. TRUST ME ON THIS, you nigerians do practically everything the wrong way. I just told someone about the exultations to people not to REINVENT THE WHEEL. Most things in the world, have already been invented that you can't be jumping up and down for reinventing the same thing that others have already invented. Somebody from say, enugu, cannot be shouting for joy because he was able build a car in his garage because that's have already been done more than 100 years ago. But, it's ok to copy. For best practices, visit places that have already done things to know how they are done. You can improve upon their inventions if you want to make further advances.
So yes, you have to uproot most of JUNK we built when we didn't have the knowledge and resources to do things the right way. If not, your towns and cities will be looking like shitholes forever. That's EXACTLY why I'm jumping for joy with okorocha's URBAN RENEWAL PROJECTS IN OWERRI. You don't seem to think that it's doable, but it is. The chinese have already accomplished this FEAT, and like I said, that's what Okorocha is doing in owerri. Okorocha's own, MIGHT be mediocre but at least he's doing, better than doing absolutely nothing, hoping against hope for something to happen. Nothing will happen. The government of every state/country have to have the imagination to make BOLD changes, dragging his people screaming and kicking in the process. They might curse and abuse him for not paying compensation, or disrupting people's livelihood, but in the end, they will appreciate him for lifting their CIVILIZATION AND SENSE OF WORTH/PRIDE to high level.
If you are an american, and went to school with igbos, you'll think that they must be the most intelligent people in the world. If the same Americans were to board a flight to the heart of igboland, Enugu, when they disembark and enter the terminal, they will go huuuuh. By the time they drive through abakpa nike with thousands of hawkers, with thousands of street traders, people selling things in the median strip and shoulders of our roads, they will begin to doubt their judgement on igbos. By the time the same Americans reach aba, they will run for their lives.

InvertedHammer:
I beg to differ. It boils down to lack of oversight by the gatekeepers. They approve any plan and anything. Giving lands to estate developers will create more problems because they cut corners and use inferior materials to maximize profit. Have you visited some estates in Nigeria? Sure the buildings are decent but the lack of landscapping finesse is still the same. What is the Ministry of Lands for? What are the duties and responsibilities of Urban and Regional planners?

/

Ok, so, the reason you don't want to give land to real estate developers is because they'll cut corners and use inferior materials? That's actually not a good reason. There are about 100 big cities in the US that are ten times better than Lagos, and they were all constructed by real estate developers. All the buildings in these 100 cities were constructed with BRICKS AND TILES, as opposed to BLOCK and CEMENT whose paints start to peel off after five years. Same goes for all the major cities in the world. There are no cities in civilized countries where individuals are allowed to buy a plot of land to build anything. There are no selling and buying land in developed countries like you have in igboland. That is 100% why our cities look like shitholes. You guys are fond of posting all these humongous imposing mansions with giant pillars in igboland, but that's all crap because the houses have absolutely no infrastructure. Block and cement houses with no running water, no gas piped through a central system, some of them have no roads and are surrounded by opotopoto, no electricity, most of them surrounded by high walls that make them look like prison, human waste dispossessed off in the backyard. All that is RUBBISH. Also, when you go to any country in the world and ask them to show you the skyline of their cities, they don't show you imposing Mansions were people live, but rather the skyline of the commercial business districts. So, all that huge mansions you guys show off here all the time is not what counts when the yardstick of any city is measured.

discusant:
Humans eat and drink before urinating and excretion.

We need to have pipe borne water before waste water treatment plants.

Under the grounds of Owerri and Okigwe zones lay huge water distribution pipes. The water supply schemes for each zone cost Imo state government tens of billions of Naira, beginning from Mbakwe administration to Udenwa's.

Any state government of Imo can start from those water pipes to restore pipe borne water to Owerri and Okigwe zones.

Ironically, the water supply project also proposed at the same period by Imo state government for the largest and most populated zone of Imo state - Orlu - is yet to be started.

It's hard to understand what you wrote at times... the reason is beyond the scope of this discourse.

I don't understand your logic! Because humans eat and drink first, they should die soon after drinking polluted water contaminated with faeces. Like I said, those two things (water and waste treatment plants) are built at the same time, side by side. When you guys build things, build them holistically instead of building one without the other. Don't build houses in an area, and then come back ten years later to build roads and water and gas pipelines. That's why all our cities look like shitholes. When you build, be sure to add everything that is needed. Cut your coat according to your size to what you can afford.
You said the underground of owerri and okigwe have water distribution pipes. Are you kidding? What year where they built? Which area were they built? This are serious issues we are talking about here. There's no water pipeline infrastructure built years ago that is relevant today. If you are building water treatment plants today, you must start from scratch to build the pipeline infrastructure to evacuate the water to people's residences and commercial buildings.

discusant:
Good. Now you seem to have come to the understanding of the issues at stake in Okorocha's Apartheid development policy, instead of you and others' belief that I have been wailing about Okorocha's abandonment of Orlu.

Once pipe borne water flows in any area, life goes to the area, modernity and urbanization shift to the area.

The waste water treatment issue you harped on is not difficult to procure once running water is provided.

Building eight lane stress in Owerri without first providing TREATED running water is most ridiculous.

Digging water boreholes at every 100 or so meters in Imo state is most dangerous.

Meanwhile, Owerri shouts "Owelle Mere yaa" for any eight lane streets and flyover in Owerri.

You seem to have misread everything I just posted up there, but let me try to repeat. I don't know the population of owerri or most of the other nigerian cities. My guess is that most nigerian cities are probably 200,000 thousand or above. Without pipeline infrastructure to distribute any water generated from the treatment plants, the whole thing will be a complete waste. When you go to civilized countries, water pipe lines are built smack in the middle of their roads. When you drive on their roads, all the bumps you encounter are from water pipeline manhole covers. Some other bumps are the gas pipeline covers that pipe gas directly to people's homes because they don't distribute gas with gas cylinders like it's done in nigeria. Basically, what I'm really trying to say, is that building water treatment plants without building water pipelines infrastructure doesn't make sense. To build water pipelines in an already built up city will be a complete nightmare. Of course, it's doable, but you have to dig up all the tarred roads, sidewalks, dig up people's pavements, front yard and back yards. Just too many diggings up, that it will be so costly and cumbersome that states may not have the resources to do that.

By the way, I'm writing here about all the infrastructural problems facing our people. I just didn't come here and start writing about it. I've thought through everything. I also have solutions. Yes I do, and you better believe it. After leaving nigeria to overseas and my first coming back after ten years, I was SHOCKED of how undeveloped nigeria was, and how everything is done the wrong way, I mean practically everything, that it was so mind boggling. I even begin to wonder if this was how nigeria was before I left, or that things have drastically changed to make the whole place look like Hiroshima after the atomic bomb blast.

discusant:
THE UGLY EFFECTS OF GOVT CONCENTRATING ON BUILDING ONE CITY FIRST BEFORE OTHERS IN A STATE.


A governor with the mindset of building Imo state capital city first may start a 2ND REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY SCHEME FOR OWERRI ZONE,

WHILE THE VAST MAJORITY OF IMO POPULATION LIVING IN OKIGWE AND ORLU ZONES ARE YET TO BENEFIT FROM IMSG PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY SCHEMES FOR THE THREE ZONES.


The first city grows into Mega City Status while other towns and communities in the state degenerate to squalid Status.
Imo state is now a classical example of this phenomenon.

For example: Owerri zone has benefited immensely from its share of the FIVE REGIONAL SURFACE WATER SUPPLY SCHEMES proposed by Imo state government for Aba, Okigwe, Orlu, Owerri and Umuahia - starting from Mbakwe administration. Aba and Umuahia benefited fully from the scheme.


Okigwe and Orlu zones yet to benefit.

Okigwe surface water supply scheme (like that of Owerri) cost tens of billions of Naira, and was completed during the administration of Gov. Udenwa, however, gov. Ohakim failed to do the final distribution aspects of pipe borne water from the scheme to Okigwe zone.

But the multi-billion Naira water supply infrastructures are still lying beneath the surface of both Owerri and Okigwe zones waiting for the next governor of Imo state who understands the import of pipe borne water to reactivate the water supply schemes for Owerri and Okigwe zones.

Mbakwe did not start Orlu regional water scheme because of his political differences with Ideato-born Collins Obih.
Orlu water supply scheme was designed to supply nearly all the 12 lgas in Orlu zone through Njaba/Orashi Rivers.

In fact, the availability of pipe borne water in Owerri contributed immensely to the rapid development and expansion of Owerri.



The federal government divided states into senatorial zones and local government areas purposely for uniform development of every state.

A state government that develops one city/zone first, (as is in Imo state) must subsequently channel most of its development funds to providing new infrastructure to match with the expanding city/zone.
At some point, the state government may not even afford money to fill pot holes on roads outside
the only expanding city.

Result: instead of providing for Orlu and Okigwe zonal regional water supply schemes, IMSG may start to think of a second water supply scheme for Owerri zone.

The importance of TREATED pipe borne water - not water from private water bore holes - cannot be over-emphasized.

Ok, so, you guys are calling it water schemes. Nothing really wrong with the name, but I think you are actually referring to WATER treatment plant. There's also WASTE treatment plants. Both of them go hand in hand, that they are usually referred to as water and waste treatment plants. I've been discussing on enugu thread with some folks about what are clearly missing on all our developmental strides and how we got it all wrong. WASTE and WATER treatment plants is a major one. As a matter of fact, those two things should be the FIRST thing you develop before you even begin to build any houses. Unfortunately, we did not do that. So, what we have all over nigeria, are cities with populations that are more than 200,000 people using boreholes for drinking water and septic tanks to discharge HUMAN WASTE. I've even seen boreholes that are a mere ten feet away from septic tanks. THIS IS THE MOTHER OF ALL ABOMINATIONS. So I'm shocked that you are talking about owerri water scheme which is a FLUKE as far as I'm concerned because it does not exist. Even if you build a water treatment plant to supply owerri with drinking water, the infrastructure that will be built to make it possible, for it to reach every owerri house hold, will cost too much that the state might not afford it. An infrastructural revolution have to take place in nigeria before we even begin to get it right. I don't know if you guys know this, but we are COMPLETELY bleeped UP in nigeria. This thing we do in nigeria where people SHIT in the toilet and flush it down to a septic tank that was dug in the backyard, is VERY VERY BAD, DANGEROUS AND UNHYGIENIC and is something that is not practiced in any civilized country of the world. What they have in civilized countries is water and waste treatment plants in all the major population centers. When you SHIT in Washington DC and flush it down the pipes, it goes into pipes which is then pumped to a waste treatment plant. When it gets to a waste treatment plants, the water is treated with chemicals to remove all it's IMPURITIES before it's discharged to a man made river or allowed to flow on a man made river. The isrealis use their treated waste for irrigation for example. That way, their are no leftover CONTAMINATED ground that have the possibility of contaminating ground water which will end up polluting and contaminating borehole water.

asha80:
you also have to take cognisance of the traditional igbo setllement pattern(which is a 'scattered' pattern)..what you are suggesting here might work in cities and towns but semi urban and villages?it will not be easy and cant be done by fiat

Agreed. You most definitely have to exempt our villages until they grow to about, say, 150,000 to 250,000 population. When they reach that level, the state should grant them city status with certain powers, like allowing them to elect their city mayors, and the right to raise their own revenues through taxation.

Abagworo:
Owerri cannot be a mega city any time soon but it is unarguably the most transformed city in the last one year. It is far more transformed than any other Nigerian city to an extent that if you were there last in May 2017 you may get confused with the city outlook this May 2018. It remains a shock to whoever visits whether from Port Harcourt, Malaysia or Afghanistan.

If you had read all my comments, you would have known that I already agreed about owerri's transformation. Mega city, though, is not a word to be bandied around loosely or carelessly.

discusant:
[Owerri has to be developed to Mega City status by Gov. Okorocha, and possibly his son-in-law, or by other future governors of Imo state, with the federal allocations to Imo state and its local government areas; it doesn't matter as Orlu and other local government areas of Imo state outside Owerri capital territory remain nearly a century of underdevelopment, as they are today, behind Owerri. Why? Because Owerri is capital of Imo state].

Sounds stupid, but the above is what you and others like you on this thread go for.

In Nigeria and in other countries of the world, there are too many state capitals that are less developed and less expansive than the other towns or cities in the same state.


There is no constitutional obligation on a state government that it must develop the state capital more than any other town in the same state.

It's rather obligatory on a state governor to pursue uniform development of the state.

Instead of continuing to swim in your ocean of ignorance, google:

"why are the capitals of many US states smaller and less developed than other cities of the state?"

Please don't make me laugh with your owerri as a MEGA CITY. Owerri, with whatever Okorocha is doing now, couldn't possibly be described as a mega city in the next hundred years.

whirlwind7:
C'mon, man!
Go easy with the exaggerations. Its giving me toothache!
You trying to buttress this point with a music video, shot in a cool part of the city doesn't cut it.
Not every part of that country looks the way it is seen in that video.

Stop talking like the US and some European countries haven't got untarred roads, pavements or walk paths. I've seen them myself. I'm not talking about videos or movies.
Yes, Nigeria's case is annoying, given the huge resources that has been squandered. Let's not dwell on the negatives. Such comparisons won't help much, either.

Please, don't argue what you don't know. I've lived in the US for more than thirty years, and is currently living there. The US and europe do 100% LANDSCAPING. YES, YES AND YES, unless it's indian country (native American land), almost all parts of the US is TARRED, you better believe it. I'm talking about wall to wall landscaping. Something I'll talk about later is how to transition from our current position to what's obtainable in developed countries. It's indeed achievable because CHINA have already accomplished that. I'll give you a hint by stating what contributed to this problem. It was a collosal mistake of monumental proportion to allow individuals to buy land and build whatever they want as opposed to leasing or selling the land wholesale to BIG real estate developers, something that's been going on since Independence. The antidote here is to reverse this trend and do the opposite. This is exactly why I'm applauding okorocha's urban renewal projects even though it's MEDIOCRE AND HALF BAKED. It's still better than nothing.

Xander85:
You sure bricks are a viable and cost-effective alternative to blocks/cement? If they are, how come their use hasn't gained enough traction since the Brits last widely used them to construct their houses in the GRAs spread across the country?

Though i have to admit, those brick houses they built do have charm and character....coupled with the fact that they don't need a coat of paint every now and again!

Of course they are viable. You know the saying that YOU DON'T HAVE TO REINVENT THE WHEEL. Western countries have already done the cost analysis and for the past three thousand years, ancient civilizations like Babylon, Rome, greece etc used bricks in the building constructions. That's why you can still see remnants of those civilizations till the present day. Western countries like the US and europe have been, and are still currently using bricks in their housing and construction. Cost analysis is only part of the problem, not the whole problem.
As for the adoption of cement over bricks; well, the answer to that is very simple. Block and cement is cheaper than bricks and tiles. There's one way though, to force nigerians to migrate to bricks and tiles. Pass a law in the state house of assemblies mandating home owners, and owners of commercial buildings to repaint their PLASTARD buildings every five or seven years, and brick buildings every two hundred years. With the huge cost of repainting, everybody will quickly start using bricks. This is what's prevalent in developed countries. They use REGULATIONS to force certain behaviors on their people. Currently, there are thousands and millions of REGULATIONS for practically everything in developed countries!! These regulations are seriously and vigorously ENFORCED on a daily basis like a heart attack.

discusant:
(1)
You stated earlier that [you seriously believe that gov. Rochas Okorocha is embezzling the IGR of Imo state].

FYI, since 1999, Okorocha is the only governor of Imo state no serious person has accused of embezzlement of Imo state government funds.

My grouse, and very deep grouse of many in Orlu, against Rochas Okorocha, is his colossal failure to pursue uniform development of entire Imo state.

It's illegal, foul play and unconstitutional for a state governor to use the development funds of the lgas to concentrate development infrastructures in the capital territory of the state.
Okorocha has gotten away with this illegality because of the type of legislators he filled IMHA with.

You and others like you who openly or tacitly support this Apartheid policy of Okorocha's government are FRAUDSTERS.


(2)
You say that you come from Orlu senatorial district but don't care about Okorocha's neglect of the district, including its principal town;

that you don't want to notice any beef that Orlu has with Okorocha on this thread.
My fiend, only a goat can believe your claim of coming from Orlu senatorial district.


(3)
This thread is not restricted to displaying Rochas Okorocha's edifices he builds in Owerri;

people can also ask questions about what Okorocha's government is supposed to have built, but did not build for example, in Dikenafai of Ideato South lga, in Awomamma of Oru West lga, in Ohaji of Ohaji/Egbema lga.


To crown himself as unrepentant for his lopsided development policy, with underdevelopment of Orlu as his major target, Okorocha established yet another IMSU campus in Owerri senatorial district which also hosts all the three public universities in Imo state.

There is no other state in Nigeria with this sort of concentration of development infrastructures in the state capital as is in Imo state.

YOU ARE WRONG ON ALL COUNTS.
It's ok for you to come here everyday to cry and wail about okorocha's developmental priorities, it's entirely different thing altogether when you start to create your own sets of facts.
You said it's ILLEGAL, and unconstitutional to develop owerri and abandon other regions of the state. For starters, this is totally and completely false. Okorocha have not abandoned other regions, rather have concentrated on owerri. Also, if you read my last post carefully, you'd seen where I advised you to take the man to court if you THOUGHT what he was doing was ILLEGAL AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Just coming here on nairaland to allege, is not enough. My hunch, is that you already think that you can't win the case, so you haven't tried.
Yes, I'm from orlu senatorial zone, and I care about the neglect of any region of imo state. But through successive governors, orlu have never changed much in the last fourty years. Even then, I wouldn't be surprised if okorocha's government accomplished more in orlu than all his predesessors.
Yes, it's true that people can ask questions on this thread about okorocha's developmental priorities, but ONLY DUMB AND STUPID people waist their time asking questions, that they know will not get any response, hence everybody's admonition to you to stop going around in circles.

"There's no other state in nigeria with this sort of concentration of development infrastructure in the state as is in imo state"
Your point here can only be adjudged to be correct if there's any other town in nigeria that have improved as fast as owerri. You see, I tried to explain that to you in my last post but you seem also to have glossed over it. Let me repeat that; okorocha's government could very easily have tarred a few roads here and there and still receive accolades as is evident in other states. I used obiano's anambra and Theodore orji's abia state as an example. Both men are receiving accolades even though their states or cities have not transformed the same way owerri has. The only reason you can come here and YAK YAK YAK about owerri's favouritism is because SOMETHING IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING IN OWERRI. There's is no way, in high havens you will be crying about orlu, if Okorocha had scantly developed owerri like his predesessors. So, your claim that that there's no other state were such is going on is RUBBISH because there's no town in nigeria that have advanced as fast as owerri has, in the last five years.

MXrap:
Hehehehe

Now i know you are drunk and deserves our pity.

Now let me tell you for free. Obiano's 3yrs in office has surpassed Okoroawusa wasted 8yrs. I am ready to match you picture for picture. Show us one single completed project by Okorocha despite indebting the useless imo state to the tune of over 200billion. Today Imo state is among the worthless and useless states in Nigeria courtesy of Okorocha.

Okorocha is the worst governor to emerge from the SE since 1999.


[s][/s]

I don't know if you noticed, but your SCRATCHY SCRATCHY work is only scratching out copies of my original posts. My original posts is still standing FOR THE WORLD TO SEE. So, stop waisting your time. By the way, what happened to your anambra thread on nairaland. You DUMB SUCKER abandoned it and created your own omambala, which you have also abandoned. Now, you are living on ebonyi, enugu and imo threads. USELESS PHSYCOTIC SICK AND MENTALLY DERANGED ANAMBRA BOYI.

Cjrane2:
Atlanta, Georgia, i truly miss you. A beautiful city like many others in USA.

The key take away is LANDSCAPING combined with good architecture is what makes a true mansion. When you build the BEST architectural masterpiece without flowers and trees, you have built an ugly concrete jungle. Which is what makes many homes in nigeria look distasteful despite the huge sums used in their construction. EXCEPT in Abuja and parts of Ikoyi where houses are adorned with adequate flowers and trees to beautify them into true mansions.While keeping the environment rich in oxygen and protecting the soil

My brother, I don't mince words when I tell you this; it brings tears to my eyes when I see so many humongous imposing mansions in igboland with hardly any landscaping. I just saw a picture of a building belonging to the nigerian labor congress on the imo state thread in nairaland, supposedly commissioned by okorocha's chief of staff. As far as I'm concerned, the structure looks unfinished because the landscaping have not been done. But yet, the building has already been commissioned. This is the MEDIOCRITY we have going on, in igboland. Igboland is practically littered with shoddy projects. SOMETHING HAVE TO BE DONE TO CHANGE OUR PEOPLE'S MINDSET ON HOW TO DO THINGS.

spyder880:
Wood vs blocks and concrete buildings.

I would have done a detailed comparison and analysed the likely costs of both, but we are thinking of building upwards of 5 or more floors. Our peculiar situation in the South East where we have an increasing population on a small landmass call for high rise buildings if we can have electricity to power the lifts. Wood may not help us much if we move towards this direction.

I buy your ideas about landscaping and greenery totally.

My comparison is definitely not WOOD vs CEMENT. The comparison should definitely be CEMENT vs BRICKS/TILES.

Xander85:
I used to watch a programme (on discovery channel i think it was) EXTREME MAKEOVER..HOME EDITION. What struck me was how they build their houses in the US: they use wood, panels, metal, plywood, etc, instead of the blocks and cement we use in Nigeria. Spyder may know better about the cost implications of the two choices, but i think a house built with blocks and cement would be more expensive.

Even if this is the case, i'd still prefer good old, trusty blocks and cement to flimsy wood and panels. I would imagine (given the ferocious tropical thunderstorms we have in southern Nigeria) that it's not beyond the realms of possibility for such a house built of wood to be blown away in a thunderstorm while i'm tucked up in bed, leaving me shivering, drenched and exposed to the elements! With blocks and cement i can sleep soundly with two eyes closed!

Another thing is FIRE! Watching news reports of forest fires in the US, i notice how easy it is for the fire to quickly take hold and burn down their houses to cinders, esp' in dry places like California. Now if the building were built with blocks and cement, it would be harder and take a much longer time for the fire to spread.

Having lived in the east coast and west coast, I can categorically tell you that California is mostly wood, with some bricks and cement while the east coast and most other regions are mostly bricks or tiles. The richest man in africa is known for one product, cement. But, how many cement billionaires do you have in western countries? Not any, is my guess. The reason is because while cement is 100% of buildings in nigeria, it's probably not upto 30% in the US. I have hardly ever seen a PLASTARD building anywhere in the US. It's either wood, bricks and tiles in the exterior and drywall in the interior. My estimate is that, about 95% of the exterior of their buildings are not PAINTED. Yes, you heard right. I've never seen anybody painting the exterior of their buildings in the US because the bricks and tiles they use can last for 200 years without a DROP OF PAINT. Now, I've seen some apartment buildings and home owners repainting their brick buildings. On close observation, one will notice that the bricks they are repainting are more than fifty years old. I've seen some 150 year brick houses that have never seen a drop of paint being repainted. This usually brings tears to my eyes, because those bricks age so gracefully even after hundreds of years. Ancient Roman caravan routes that were built with bricks are still there, after 3000 years. If you look closely at tekno miles video, you will see those brick houses. But us in nigeria are primarily using 100% block and cement in all our building and construction. The houses are then PLASTARD and PAINTED. As is obvious from traveling around nigerian cities, the paint start to wear off after five years. Can you imagine what nigerian cities look like, with 100% PLASTARD buildings, with paints that are peeling off. Places like onitsha and aba begin to look like Hiroshima after the atomic bomb blast. It's horrible that we built our houses with BLOCK AND CEMENT. It's even more horrible that we don't ORDER HOMEOWNERS TO REPAINT THEIR BLOCK AND CEMENT HOUSES AT LEAST EVERY FIVE, SEVEN OR TEN YEARS so that our cities don't look like shitholes.

Abagworo:
The sooner we stop playing self destructive politics the better for all igbos. It amazes me how some Igbos go out of their way to condemn Owerri because they hate Okorocha. Meanwhile Owerri today is one of Nigeria's most advanced cities and it happened between December 2016 and now still happening. God bless whoever sees the truth and says it the way it is.

EXACTLY. I call things the way I see it. If Okorocha is doing something good, I'll applaud, if he's doing something bad, I'll criticize. Same formula for everybody else except buhari because he's an exceptional case. There's no state government in nigeria that have the resources to develop everything in their state all at once. This idea that a governor of a nigerian state will come to power and rebuild all their cities and tar all the roads is nonsense. If that's possible, all the states in nigeria will be paradise. After all, Okorocha had predecessors who never accomplished such. As a matter of fact, Okorocha could have left owerri the same way he found it with minimal changes, and you could be rest assured that many people could still be applauding him. After all, obiano did not add a single structure in awka in the last five years and he just won re-election. Theordor orji absolutely did not build anything in his eight years rule in abia but his constituents promoted him to the senate.

discusant:
My friend, it's like you suggesting that a Nigerian president uses the development funds of the country to concentrate on developing Abuja as the gateway to Nigeria, so that foreigners entering Nigeria shall say Nigeria is great;

while other Nigerian cities including, your city, Owerri, wait; and remain a century of modernity behind Abuja.


It's exactly what Okorocha is playing out in State level in Imo state with his use of the federal allocations to Imo state and its local government areas in building whatever suits his fancy in Owerri,

while the lgas for whose development the federal government gives the allocations remain many centuries of modernity behind Owerri.


FYI, Rome was not built in a day, but Roman Emperors
built other Roman Empire cities like Paris, London, Damascus, Naples, etc., at the same time Rome was being built.


Sorry to burst your bubble:
1) YOU HAVE NO IOTA OF IDEA OF WHAT DEVELOPMENT OF A STATE IS ALL ABOUT.

2) I CAN BET ANYTHING TO SHOW THAT YOU ARE FROM OWERRI.


Fortunately, the votes of Owerri alone can't be enough for you people of Owerri to plant Okorocha's son-in-law to continue with your craving here that IMSG builds you a 'Tower of Babel' City in Owerri, while rest of Imo state remain nearly a century of modernity behind Owerri.


In Owerri, you don't even have pipe borne water which is the first obligation of government and necessity for a modern city. Yet you boast of urban renewal in Imo state.

That book you are writing sef... the book go get K-leg.

Look, I don't know how old you are, but I'm old enough to be somebody's grandfather ok. So, please don't come here and accuse me of lying about my area in imo state. I don't have time for childish games. I'm not even here to debate you on the choices made by okorocha on his developmental strides. I only came here to tell you to channel your anger against Okorocha somewhere else because this is the wrong medium for that. It should have been obvious to you by now that Okorocha could care less what you think about his priorities. Coming here everyday crying and wailing about lack of development in orlu doesn't seem to be yielding any results. I know you won't take my advice, but you should try somewhere else. Why don't you take the man to court if you think that his developmental priorities are ILLEGAL. Since you have not done that, I'll assume that you don't think you'll win the case. If you don't think you'll win the case, then the only option left for you is to vote him out. Why don't you concentrate on that since your public campaign on nairaland IS NOT YIELDING ANY FRUIT.

discusant:
You agreed with me, and restated here that Rochas Okorocha neglected Orlu zone.




You are from Orlu zone, lol; Rochas Okorocha is also from Orlu zone.


So what is your beef again with me? Or you want to see Okorocha works in Owerri only, in a thread meant for Imo state affairs?

No body expects Okorocha to come to Nairaland. By the way, do Rochas Okorocha and team read what people write about the government?

Thanks for highlighting where I stated that I'm from orlu zone. I did that so you don't think I'm from owerri. Okorocha is not perfect. I seriously think that he's embezzling the IGR of the state. I also agree with some other people that questioned his numerous SHODDY projects. I'm very very very very angry that he built 27 general hospitas and have not opened them for business. Instead, he saw it fit to donate one of the hospitals to the nigerian military. Two things that he will forever be remembered though, is his free education, and his urban renewal projects. Those are the two most important things that any government in nigeria should embark upon definitely two of the most important in my book. It looks like he's also decided to leave a legacy in owerri by making it a city the entire igbo nation should be proud of. Owerri is the only igbo city I feel good about whenever I visit the south east. As a matter of fact, it's probably the only igbo city I'll bring any of my foreign friends to. It's pretty obvious that he's trying to use owerri as a gateway to the entire igboland because the rest of the igbo cities and towns look like shitholes (excuse my language). Now, I agree with you about few projects in orlu. Honestly though, there's no state government with the exception of Lagos, delta, rivers and akwa ibom states that have the kinds of resources that will allow them to rebuilt three cities in four or eight years time. Just like chime concentrated his development in enugu, Okorocha is doing the same in owerri. Maybe, another governor will come in and sprinkle some in okigwe and orlu. And like I said before, I'm from orlu senatorial zone ( not orlu town) but I'm not unhappy with what Okorocha is doing in owerri. I actually applaud him for being the only igbo governor that came into power AND STARTED BUILDING STUFF. I am very happy that owerri looks ten times better today than before he came into power. I might even vote for his son in law if it means continuing okorocha's BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION. The pace of his building and construction should NEVER be interrupted. The only person most likely to continue his building and construction is his son in law. We need to BUILD BUILD BUILD in igboland. I really don't CARE where the building and construction is happening, be it in agbor, asaba, portharcourt, aba, okigwe, umuahia, orlu, onitsha, nnewi, awka or owerri.

Xander85:
Watching Teknos' video brought home the enormity of the challenge we face not just in the SE, but Nigeria in general. You hear Governors talk of how they want to build the next Dubai in their states yet they can't get the basics right first!

I'm happy i'm not the only one banging on about the lack of trees and equal lack of a consideration for aesthetics in our cities and towns.

Thank you my brother, for posting that music video. That's exactly what am talking about. All you see in the video everywhere you look is green. Lush green GRASSES all around. You see what I mean when I say "wooded" areas. Most of those wooded or forested areas that surrounds their suburbs are where the rain water that collects in those holes that go into pipes are emptied out. You did not see any gutter or any exposed or bared BROWN land anywhere while he was cruising around. Something I'll talk about later is what materials they use in building and construction. A close up look at the buildings on that music video will reveal another SHOCKING situation where most nigerian houses are constructed with BLOCK AND CEMENT. Not so much for most if not all buildings in civilsed countries. When I say that nigeria is 200 years behind, I might have understated the situation. They might actually be three hundred years behind most civilsed western countries.

discusant:
Owerri-Umuaka-Orlu road was rebuilt by Udenwa government through federal aid.
Before Udenwa, the road was nearly impossible.


Akokwa-Ogboko-Orlu road was nearly impassable for decades but was rebuilt by Udenwa government.
Before Udenwa, only a desperado from Orlu would contemplate going towards the road.

Udenwa built the Ihiala-Orlu-Nkwerre-Amaigbo road with spurs to Anara and Amaraku.

Udenwa built the Okporo-Omuma-Awo-Oguta lake road.

This nigeria labor congress building is not finished. The landscaping have not been done. This is what we are discussing on the Enugu thread. The igbos are not incorporating landscaping in their building and construction. How can you commission an unfinished project?

Cjrane2:
If you check the heaviest rain-forest belt of the world, parts of Igboland to Central Africa and IndoChina areas have the highest rainfall. It makes sense that there areas are not left without vegetation cover else the whole land will be washed off.

Our people rarely understand the principle of runoff leading to erosion and the need to prevent runoff on bare earth surfaces. Anywhere there is a flood plane with a concrete base to prevent leaching and runoff, will eventually turn into a big erosion site over a few years of the same thing repeating.

Each time we see flood water as brown or reddish in our clime, somebody's land is being washed off somewhere along the path of that flood water.

Landscaping isn't just for aesthetics, it is to protect the very land where your building stands. I truly wish our people will understand the nature of their environment and plant more trees.

Exactly. Landscaping is just LAND MANAGEMENT. If you don't manage your land very well, it will ultimately erode. Erosion simply means to erode. Land if not well protected after years of rainfall will start to erode. There's is one simple instrument that is used to prevent that. GRASSES. I have carefully watched building and construction in developed countries. In one case, I saw them build a HILL with excess sand that was excavated during construction. The simply piled the excess sand in a spot. They then sprayed the excess sand with grass. After a few days of watering the grass, the roots of the grass took shape. They then planted trees all over it and boozaa, you have a man made hill strong enough to withstand any snow and rain. The one single instrument that was used to achieve that was GRASS. It's like when I talk about DRAINAGE. Nigerians see gutter, and call it drainage. Gutters are not drainages. The only way gutters can be drainage is if you deploy them in a hilly place. Enugu city quickly comes to mind. Gutters will be OK in enugu city Building gutters in flat places like aba or owerri is a JOKE. All the water does is just sit there because it can't drain. Anything that cannot drain should not be called DRAINAGE. IF ANYBODY WANTS TO KNOW WHAT A DRAINAGE SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE, THEY SHOULD GO AND WATCH THE CONSTRUCTION VIDEO OF EKO ATLANTIC. Maybe, there's a drainage system in abuja, but other than eko atlantic, I've never seen any drainage system anywhere in nigeria, definitely not anywhere in the south east.

asha80:
i have lived in glasgow for 2 yrs and understand what you are trying to say but i also agree with what ofodirinwa wrote here especially the bold becasue evn far back reading books about igbo land the writers seem to always hammer on 'poor soil' of igbo land..some parts of igbo land started experiencing erosions as far back as 1940's far away from human settlements..how do you explain that?yes landscaping culture amongst igbos is an issue but not the 90% of the issue that caused erosion issues in the south east..

Poor soil? What do you mean by poor soil? Igboland does not have any poor soil, regardless of what anybody said in the 1940's. The problem of igbo soil is because we have a tendency to pull out grasses and shrubs that holds the soil together whenever it rains. If you leave the land bare which igbos do a lot, after five hundred years of rainfall, without the grass and shrubs to hold the exposed land together, it will begin to erode. That's why YOU WILL NEVER EVER SEE A BARE LAND ANYWHERE IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. As a matter of fact, it's ILLEGAL in the US to leave your land bare. You must either cement it or grass it. You can never leave it bare. There's no piece of land anywhere in the US where that piece of land is not designated for something. YOU WILL NEVER SEE ANY BROWN ANYWHERE IN THE U S LIKE YOU SEE ALL OVER NIGERIA. Green grass in developed countries are what they use to prevent erosion. When you drive around the US, all you see is green, mostly green lush grasses. Go and watch tekno miles music video "where" to see what I'm talking about.

discusant:
Okorocha came to office with mind already made up because of old inter-communal squabbles between him and some people from Orlu to execute a vendetta against anything Orlu.

Too many efforts of OPPOCA and Orluzurumee to broker peace between Rochas Okorocha and Orlu was botched by Okorocha. At one point, Okorocha's agents came to Orlu and damaged the canopies prepared to receive Okorocha for peace meeting.
Okorocha never turned up for the meeting.

In 2016, elders from Orlu zone went to Owerri, met with and pleaded with Okorocha to finish the roads he scrapped and abandoned in Orlu area.
Okorocha's response to the elders from Orlu was that they should rather migrate to Owerri and claim the capital of Imo state as theirs.

Watch one of the videos of Okorocha in 2012 where he said EVIL PEOPLE live in Orlu.

What you called wailing by Orlu people here is nothing but bringing to the notice of the public the war Okorocha is using the venerated office of a state governor to fight against Orlu.

People who are calling you out for your loquaciousness on the orlu issue are actually correct. I wholeheartedly support them against your approach. I, like them, come to this forum to find out things, anything that is going on in imo state. I'm very very dejected when I have to read your beef with Okorocha over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. I know that you are angry about the neglect that Okorocha have visited on orlu people and justifiable so. BUT CAN YOU PLEASE TAKE YOUR BEEF TO SOMEWHERE ELSE. Take it to Okorocha himself, like this guy suggested. Stop coming here everyday and keep complaining about okorocha's neglect of orlu. From all indications, YOUR WAILING HERE DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE REACHED THE GUY. By the way, I'm also from orlu senatorial zone.

asha80:
lack of landscaping is just one of the reasons for erosion not the main reason.. some of these sweeping statements people make can be quite funny

It's actually THE MAIN REASON, something like 95% reason. You can only say what you just said if you have never travelled to developed western countries. Landscaping is just another word for LAND MANAGEMENT. Having lived abroad for more than thirty years, it's obvious to the naked eye. It hit me like you hit somebody with a sledgehammer when I came back to nigeria after being away for about 10 years. It's sooooo obvious it's unbelievable. Landscaping is nothing but the assigning of every available inch of land a job. That is to say that every available inch of land is designated for something. There's no place you go to in america where you see a piece of land just sitting there doing nothing. So, what you see when you go to a housing estate on a big expanse of land are houses. The houses have paved driveway that leads to a garage closed or open. The front, sides and the back of the house is covered with green lush grass. There could be something like two trees in the back and two trees in the front. Of course, the roads are paved with drainages. The drainage systems in developed countries are not GUTTER. On both sides of their roads, you will see holes. The holes are collection points for rainwater. Whenever it rains, the rainwater will flow into those holes. When it enters the holes, it goes into PIPES which usually empties into ravines or wooded areas in the suburbs, or canals if it were in the cities. Western countries do 100% landscaping which is remarkable, especially countries like the US that is slightly bigger than west africa. There are highways in the US that is more than 3000 kilometers long. When they build roads, they plant grasses on both sides to give it a pleasant look. They also plant trees on the median strip and also on both sides of the road. Do you know that those grasses are cut and trimmed on a regular basis, to make it not look bushy, on this 3000 kilometers road. They also plant grasses and trees on millions of miles of their highways, roads, streets and parkways. My friend, I hate to break it to you, but nigerians and most of africa are 200 years behind in practically everything as opposed to what's obtainable in developed countries. I mean, in every single thing. Trust me, I'm not joking. If you lived abroad for a long time, like say 10 years, and you came back to nigeria, the first thing that hits you is how ABSOLUTELY AND COMPLETELY DISORGANIZED the whole place is. Words have nothing to describe it, plain and simple.

Cjrane2:
I don't know why it's so hard for these cheap contractors to appreciate that flowers and trees convert a concrete, prison looking structure into a conducive home environment. They will spend the same amount in construction, due to poor finishing without flowers,Paint color, their structure always look mediocre meant for a cheap hood.

They should go to Abuja and see how luxury flats are built and the environment lavished with flowers. Hopefully, they will still plant flowers and make the flats look like luxury apartments after they beef up the environment with flowers and trees.

Right now, the fact they will finish the area without any consideration to plant flower and trees to beautify, makes the concrete structure very very ugly. Another ugly concrete crap.

There's one word for planting trees and flowers. The one word for it is LANDSCAPING. Igbos are the worst offenders of this. Igbos absolutely don't do landscaping in their building and construction. This is why the south east is the most ravaged erosion geographical area in the entire world.

Cjrane2:
FINALLY,

Enugu Centenary & Golf City now selling!
I must buy a home there. It promises to be the few places to live inside Nigeria with facilities almost equal to a home abroad.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFEJPEDsdJQ



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-nIk4INT6Y




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW_5Wey9a04

Amazing. Gutter gutter everywhere. Build highways, and they build gutter. Build roads, and they build gutter. Build street, and they build gutter. Build housing estates, and they build gutter. Build anything anywhere and they build gutter. Gutter, gutter, gutter everywhere. Nigerians don't know what a drainage is! They build gutters and call it drainage! Very very shameful thing.

slimthugchimee2:
Why always the green and white....


Red and black should be appropria...........oh wait, hell no, let them not try it oh

Don't mind these useless south east governors. They want to be more nigerian than other nigerians. Can you believe painting ugly green white green on the brand new enugu state Secretariat. Thank God, okorocha have changed that in imo state. Until he tore down practically all the decaying imo state government buildings, almost all of them was decorated with green white green. Very very childish thing to do of painting national colours on everything.

Chiwude:
But it baffles me how imposters like those two have stood the test of time here. Methink both Nonsowow, Yeske and Chino are all operated by the same group who wants our disunity. But they've failed in their mission. Though they understand Igbo language quite well, but none of them are Igbo by blood. It's obvious that those trio are not even from Anambra state. I think it's high time Seun introduces real identification just like Facebook to enable us catch these imposter red handed.

Cowardly statements like yours is what gave this useless anambra BOYI the impetus to come here, day in and day and insult you people. Instead of you guys putting him in his place, you created a narrative that the guy must not be igbo, or that he was being provoked by abagworo. Of course he's igbo alright. There are actually some anambra people that think like him. This nonsense that abagworo is ikwerre and whatever name this other guy call himself is igala should stop henceforth. It's a diversion you guys created to avoid confronting this sick psychotic demented useless anambra BOYI. As far as I'm concerned, abagworo have not said or done anything to provoke anyone. The guy have a right to criticize anambra or any other igbo state. I've done it several times on the vanguard comment section. As a matter of fact, I'm the only one that post comments on issues regarding governance in the south east on the vanguard forum. In the last gubernatorial election in anambra state, I vehemently campaigned against the re-election of obiano for gross underperformance. The only thing that some of his supporters continuously pointed out was his payment of salaries as at, and when due. I was marvelled that the good people of anambra state was satisfied with such measly achievement. Other than that, there was really nothing on the ground since Peter Obi left almost five years ago.

Obi1kenobi:
Positive development, but I always feel sorry for the poor affected. The blame should be laid on the incompetent administrators who allow people erect illegal structures and build homes and livelihoods for themselves and their families on these illegal structures. It then becomes very painful when it is uprooted. But it should never have been set up in the first place.

Exactly right on point. The stupor of the bygone governments of the past allowed this culture to take root. This is why it should be stopped AND STOPPED RIGHT NOW and not allowed to fester. I'm not bragging when I say that I have an idea on the way foward. Something needs to be done, no question about it.

laudate:
Again, I say thank you for your words. I had to separate your post into paragraphs ,and highlight some of the salient points you made, so that it can be more visible to everyone.

Your points are quite valid, but not everyone has your courage to say it like it is. They feel their so-called 'enemies' will use it as a way to pull them down. May God help us all to see the truth and say it, in order to improve our various societies.

So called enemies indeed!!

laudate:
Only God knows. But everyone knows that there are shanties in Lagos. Hopefully, Ambode will find a permanent solution to those shanties soon. However, it is interesting to see that you managed to find a picture of the shanties in Lagos, but when you kept posting pictures about Anambra, you could not find any pictures depicting the shanties in the entire state?



Nwoke m, thank you. May God increase the wisdom He has deposited in your life. A lot of people like ignoring the truth, and attacking the messenger of the truth. Keep speaking truth to power, my brother. And see how God will increase His blessings in your life!

No problem. I'm an igboman. I don't make any apologies for that. This thing were somebody is discussing issues concerning the south east or the igbos, and next thing you know, some people jump in and start talking about abeokuta, lokoja or lafia is beyond me. Though I'm nigerian, my primary focus is what's happening in igbo cities. We should all be frank enough to discuss how they are without worrying what somebody from the south west or the north is saying about them. Of course, I'm also worried about the largest commercial town in nigeria which is Lagos, and Abuja, it's capital. All well meaning igbo sons and daughters all over the world though should find a way to contribute to the betterment of all these shitty looking igbo cities. Am happy and glad about igbo enterprises, but unchecked run amock, try to make it by all means type of mindset have reduced all their cities to complete an utter disorganization and mayhem where everything under the sun has been allowed to take root. The keke people are all over the place driving through every nook and cranny, against and beside traffic. There are absolutely no traffic rules. Traffic usually happens,99% of the time because somebody have deviated by trying to force their way through. My biggest ANGER is why the igbo intelligencia are SILENT about these ills. How is it, that they will drive through aba or portharcourt and not say a word about their observation. Why are other igbos like the ones on nairaland so much hyped about makoko or any other town in nigeria, when they should concentrate on what to do about all the shitty looking igbo cities, is beyond me.