₦airaland Forum

onye_ngbu:
I really admire the way this FL Gators babe is drawing multiple paragraph replies from dudes here with her simple one liners.

Thats impressive, I'll say.

Gators enjoys special concession from me, so don't lionize her unnecessarily. I wouldn't indulge just any other characters here.
She enjoys my soft side because idiots from her part of Nigeria castigate her because of her approach to issues.

[size=14pt]Nigerian Law Makers in Free for All Fight[/size]


[flash=480,385]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeS102JrTvA&hl=en_US&fs=1&[/flash]

FL Gators:
Is sth wrong with the question?

Can you ask the question again.

FL Gators:
And the other question?

Do you honestly expect me to answer that?

Chineke me!

mbulela:
Dude, what are you talking about?
Have you been to Abia state?
the man is inept beyond redemption.
He should be tied to a stake and same should be done to Orji uzor and his mother.
You can not use ideology and these barbarians in the same sentence.
The only ideology these men know is excellence in loting and mediocrity in  public service.

Dude, did you read my comment or did you just shoot from the hip without reading?
Who said anything about PPA and ideology?

For your information, Dr Chris Ngige was just like T.A. Orji in Anambra state in 2003. Exactly the same!

No one ever dreamed that Ngige could do anything good for Anambra state until he fell out with Chris Uba.

The new Ngige transformed beyond belief.

So T.A Orji may be wanting to shed Orji Uzor Kalu and PPA before he can deliver dividends of democracy to Abia state citizens.

I don't think you can ever compare APGA with PPA or PDP in terms of corruption.

FL Gators:
Aha, well excuseeeee me.

Do you think if I could, I wouldnt. Dude, you have the resources and connections (?).

Am still in my babysteps. When I get there, I'd surely do sth. Dont judge me, please.

I f you dont mind me asking; Are you part of the MASSOB group? How are you helping? [sincere questions]

Amen, everybody has enemies nowadays

NO, I cannot be a MASSOB. I appreciate their wishes for Igboland but I have personal reasons why I would not be a MASSOB member.

There are other Igbo groups that are also interested in defending the dignity of Igboland.

Therefore I charge every Igbo son to first think about a REAL SOLUTION to our problems rather than echoing opinions of our enemies.
Before jumping into the blame "the Igbo love of money" bandwagon, sit down first, recall where we have come from and all the challenges we've had to overcome on our way. Then, look with pride at our achievements in Nigeria despite all these odds.
All we need is to remind ourselves and be proud as always, laughing our enemies to scorn!

FL Gators:
Wow, such believe, such optimism. Now thatz what I'm talking about.

Anywaz, am not totally certain how Nigeria works, so I cannot accurately make a judgment on what you just said. But it does make sense.

I'm going to sit back, and hope for the best. . . . thatz all I can really do now.

It's okay to sit back and watch from a safe distance.

I am more interested in seeking solutions to my problems.

I cannot sleep if my enemies are burning the midnight oil.

Onlytruth:
[size=14pt]

It was believed that Orji would join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) given his close relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan. But analysts say it is not that easy. One of the governor’s aides who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “[b]Leaving PPA for PDP would be antamount to jumping from frying pan to fire.”

He said the crisis in Abia PDP has made it politically unwise for the governor to go there. “You know Abia PDP has over 10 active camps. You have Ojo Maduekwe on one side, Onyema Ugochukwu, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Vincent Ogbulafor, Empire Kanu, Steve Ihedigbo, etc. Each of these people do not see eye to eye with one another and they are all gladiators in the Abia State chapter of the party.

“To have them all support you, you have to make them promises and reach compromises with them. By the time you finish reaching compromises with all these power brokers, you will have little space left to manoeuvre on your own which is probably the case with PPA currently.

“So, you see that it doesn’t make much political sense to leave PPA for PDP. APGA is a progressive party and the party of Ndigbo, so it will be easier to settle down in APGA with zero or little forces to contend with than enter the lion’s den that is the PDP.”
If and when he officially announces his exit from the party, Orji would be the second PPA governor to leave the party owing to political differences with Kalu. Imo State Governor Ikedi Ohakim who was elected on the platform of the PPA has joined the PDP. The same could be said of  other states where the state chief executives left their party for many reasons including unbearable influence of their godfathers.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=177095

If he wants to survive at all politically, he must move to APGA as soon as possible. We will have a free and fair elections (at least outside of the presidential race ).
APGA will win in Abia because PDP is a den of thieves and PPA is not much better.

He must endeavor to move with members of the house. Abia state deserves a truly ideological party.

ReachRich:
This news is false.T A Orji has not decamped to APGA.in a public forum where he was called up to speak,he said he is 1 of the founding members of PPA and dat nobody can kick him out of PPA.His campaign posters still carry PPA logo.He is just having probs with his godfather OUK,which may be resolved soon.

[size=14pt]
Abia Governor Heads for APGA[/size]

From Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia and Kunle Akogun in Abuja, 06.30.2010

Unable to reconcile political differences with his party the Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA), Abia State Governor may have concluded plans to move to the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

This comes as the members of the state House of Assembly yesterday passed a vote of confidence on him.
Orji dumped the PPA following months of intense power struggle between him and his predecessor and Chairman Board of Trustees (BoT) of PPA Chief Orji Uzor Kalu.

Although, the governor’s camp has refused to confirm his exit from the party, THISDAY gathered that the Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, elected on the platform of APGA, is giving Orji huge support at this crucial time.
Senior Special Assistant General Duties to the Abia governor, Mr. Sam Hart, said in a telephone interview last night that the governor would make his move known in a week.

“The governor is still consulting with the people of Abia State on whose behalf he took the decisions he has taken so far. In a week’s time, His Excellency will make public the party he is going to join.
“Whatever decision he takes will be in the best interest of the good people of Abia State,” said Hart.
On Monday, the party leadership had ordered him to pay all outstanding salaries as well as make effort to reconcile with Kalu and the Deputy Governor Comrade Chris Akomas.

But the governor through his spokesman said he had never been given the opportunity to tell his own side of the story.
The governor has asked the PPA to make public his written response to the issues raised against him. He has transmitted his resignation letter to the party chairman of his ward (Ugba ward II).

The Chief of Staff to the governor, who is the junior brother to Kalu, Mr. Mascot Uzor Kalu, has also resigned. He is said to have resigned on grounds that he can not bear “the moral burden” of staying in government.
But Abia State lawmakers, while reviewing their activities at the end of the third anniversary of the fourth legislative session of the House, took a divergent position from the PPA leadership.
They argued that Orji has performed well given the resources available to him. He has managed the affairs of the state in a mature manner, they added.

The tone for the commendation of the governor was set by the member representing Bende South state constituency, Hon Princewill Onyegbu, who invited his fellow lawmakers to commend the governor for saving Abia from total collapse.
He said the insecurity in the state was beyond the sate government since the governor has no control of security agencies. He added that Orji has done his best to tackle the problem, before getting both the Presidency and the police high command to assist in managing the situation.

Other lawmakers spoke in the same manner.  Special Adviser to the governor on Electronic Media Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue slammed the National Working Committee (NWC) of PPA for not giving Orji a chance to defend himself.
According to him, when Orji got the letter of summon dated June 15, 2010, inviting him to appear before the NWC to respond to the petition against him, Orji wrote back, explaining that he was indisposed and asked for two weeks grace.

He said that the governor followed up his request by sending a written response to the allegations against him and wondered why the party leadership failed to make public the document before issuing their order and ultimatum.
“The Governor of Abia State, T.A. Orji wants them (NWC) to make open the letters so that people could see the true picture of things,” Emezue said.

The governor’s spokesman faulted the NWC, saying that the PPA national leadership has deliberately feigned ignorance of developments in Abia by issuing ultimatum on salary arrears that had already been cleared.
“No civil servant, including teachers, is owed salary in Abia,” he maintained.

It was believed that Orji would join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) given his close relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan. But analysts say it is not that easy. One of the governor’s aides who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “Leaving PPA for PDP would be antamount to jumping from frying pan to fire.”

He said the crisis in Abia PDP has made it politically unwise for the governor to go there. “You know Abia PDP has over 10 active camps. You have Ojo Maduekwe on one side, Onyema Ugochukwu, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Vincent Ogbulafor, Empire Kanu, Steve Ihedigbo, etc. Each of these people do not see eye to eye with one another and they are all gladiators in the Abia State chapter of the party.

“To have them all support you, you have to make them promises and reach compromises with them. By the time you finish reaching compromises with all these power brokers, you will have little space left to manoeuvre on your own which is probably the case with PPA currently.

“So, you see that it doesn’t make much political sense to leave PPA for PDP. APGA is a progressive party and the party of Ndigbo, so it will be easier to settle down in APGA with zero or little forces to contend with than enter the lion’s den that is the PDP.”
If and when he officially announces his exit from the party, Orji would be the second PPA governor to leave the party owing to political differences with Kalu. Imo State Governor Ikedi Ohakim who was elected on the platform of the PPA has joined the PDP. The same could be said of  other states where the state chief executives left their party for many reasons including unbearable influence of their godfathers.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=177095

PapaBrowne:
^^^^^
Alright! Its all good. I think they are doing pretty good in disseminating info, even though it might not be as you expect. As with most projects of this nature, the project is not fully defined at this point as it appears they would like to allow for some flexibility so that potential investors can have adequate input in the eventual outcome of the projject.
Probably as the project evolves more specific info (that might suit you) would be available.

What type of consultancy are you into??

Planning and development consulting. Everything that must be developed on land is my field, you name it.

FL Gators:
@OnlyTruthMy culture. The only thing that gives me hope when I think about Nigeria.

Sadly everything is "quick money" nowadays. . . . across every culture. Even if we employ local police, the only thing that can change "quick money" is if we change our mindset and if the Govt starts doing its job. Sadly, the govt wont change light years from now. . .  so, basically. . .you know what I'm saying.
There's no doubt about this. Wasnt it just recently that a police weapon was found at the scene of a bank robbery?

The problem with Nigeria is that most things are upside down. Duties that should be executed at the local level of authority are hijacked by the federal government, example policing, education and power generation/distribution; while things that federal government should do like interstate roads (federal roads) have been abandoned by the federal government (at least in Igbo land), the state governors now repair and manage federal roads. Why don't we have local police forces and power generation and distribution?

Let me use my town Nnewi again as an example; I can assure you that if the town union decides to hire and equip just 200 policemen, there will be no kidnapper or armed robber in Nnewi, and we can afford it. Do you know the type of policemen a salary of N300,000 per month can recruit? It will fetch the best. The whole thing will cost N720 million annually. This is not up to 50% of the amount paid to kidnappers every year in that town. I know for sure that if you task my town to raise funds for such a task, you will not get less than N10 billion. I know my town.

Every town in Igboland will be ready to pay into such police fund in return for real peace and safety. We are a very busy and enterprising people. Therefore the toll of this kidnapping thing in Igbo land runs into tens, if not hundreds, of billions of Naira.

That is why I believe that the Nigerian police is our number one problem. Remove them and we would provide our own police.

PapaBrowne:
@onlytruth
After you wrote this^^^, I sent  a basic inquiry email to the handlers of Eko Atlantic City. I got a good reply in less than 24 hours directly from a top shot in the company that owns the project- one of the Chagouris.
Any information I need would be given me and they wouldn't mind scheduling a meet-up. So I don't know why they didn't respond to you.
They probably didn't see you as a potential investor . I no be potential investor, but them treat me well well!

Below is the mail.

I've been through that stage before and eventually hit a dead end in terms of the actionable information obtainable from a distance. Not to worry I will visit Nigeria soon (though not because of this project). While there I will drop in on them. My interest in the project is actually consultancy and it is long term, so I'm not too worried about time. I just want to have information available (like similar projects elsewhere in the world) online. That is the essence of transparency in PPP projects.

A project this big located in Nigeria needs it.

FL Gators:
I see.

What I find funny is that warnings were given multiple times and yet nothing was done.

I'm beginning to suspect the security of the bank itself.

You would be likely correct, unless the security men died in the raid too. If they survived by whatever means, they remain suspect in my own views as well.

From what I've read and learned on NL, I think it's safer to bury my money in my backyard. . . . its safer there.

Don't worry Gators, this will pass as well. My main concern is the toll it would take (in terms of culture destroyed) before it passes. I don't know about your culture, but Igbo culture is not regenerating for the better unlike before. These days, evil is far more convenient to copy than good. I still recall when a rich man was ostracized in my town because his source of income was suspect. Such persons were usually greeted with a shunning "Tufiakwa!" no matter how highly placed.

I still believe that the Nigerian police force plays a BIG role in the kidnapping. Several reports cite cases where men in police uniforms stopped a busload of people and simply "cherry picked" their victims.
With the number of police check points in Igboland, you cannot help but wonder how kidnappers move around freely.

[size=14pt]Gov Orji dumps PPA[/size]

By Anayo Okoli Jun 30, 2010

Umuahia— SEQUEL to the face-off between him and his party, the Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA, Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State, has resigned his membership of the party, saying the interest of the people who voted for him into power was no longer protected.

In a letter entitled “Withdrawal of membership”, personally signed by the Governor and addressed to his ward chairman and copied to the local government, state and national chairman of the party, Orji said that the decision was “irrevocable”.

“I write to inform you and other members of PPA of the withdrawal of my membership of PPA”, the letter said. He said that the “irrevocable decision” was in respect to pressure from the people whom he said , “no longer feel protected within the confines of PPA”.

It is not confirmed which party the Governor will join, though there are strong indications that he may join APGA.

Other sources are linking him with Action Congress, while one of his aides said no fewer than 32 political parties were already wooing the governor.

Governor Orji was earlier said to have challenged his party, the PPA, to make public his written reaction to the allegations leveled against him by the National Working Committee, NWC.

Shortly after the Governor failed to appear before the committee to answer the allegation on ground of ill health, and requested for another date, the party wrote him again directing him to pay all arrears of salaries to workers, repair roads in Aba, fight crimes in the state, and release all alleged withheld statutory allowances due the Deputy Governor, Comrade Chris Akomas.

The party gave him an ultimatum of between August and December to accomplish these things.
Meanwhile, Abia State House of Assembly has passed a vote of confidence on the Governor, an action that will soon pitch the House against the party and the party’s BOT Cairman, Chief Orji Kalu, believed to have great influence on all the members of the party in the House.

The House, which also at its plenary session yesterday deliberated on the draft of the amended 1999 Constitution, threw its support for the Governor.

Political observers had earlier thought that the House would follow the line of the party and BOT chairman, as there are speculations among the people here that the former Governor had a hand in putting most of them in the House.
But with the position of the House, it is not known yet what the reaction of the party will be.

Tension is rising in the state as security had been beefed up around Government House, Umuahia. Visitors to the place are now thoroughly questioned before they are allowed in. Security operatives at the Government House are on the alert.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed report yesterday said that the Governor’s Chief of Staff, Mr. Mascot Orji Kalu, who is the younger brother of the former Governor, has resigned from the government in reaction to the on-going crisis. Governor Orji had dissolved his cabinet on Monday but said that the Chief of Staff and few others should continue with their duty.

Reacting to the ultimatum given him, Orji challenged the party to make public his defence of the allegations leveled against him by the party, saying it would be unfair for the party to make public its own position without allowing the public to know what his own position is.

Speaking through his Media Adviser, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue, the Governor said that no civil servant in the state is presently owed any salary. According to him, by that position, it portrayed the party as being behind the events because according to him, all the workers have been paid up to last month.

On the issue of security, Orji maintained that his administration has done a lot, including proclaiming amnesty to criminals, especially kidnappers and their sponsors. He also said that the party should realize that the Federal Government has waded into the issue of insecurity in the state and made it a national issue, and that the situation was returning to normal.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/06/30/gov-orji-dumps-ppa/

FL Gators:
I get what you're saying.

Back in the days, one can leave their house with the doors unlocked. . . . nowadays one fears been attacked in their own home.

I dont think Nigeria in general used to be like that. . . . desperate time comes for desperate measures to survive. PERIOD.

Dont think we'll ever be sure of it's "origin" or where Igboland "imported" it from.

The origin is really important. If we can't be sure of the origin, then, no one can ever be sure of the possible solution.

Methinks that the origin is many -former Niger delta militants, Nigerian police, political thugs and former armed robbers.

I read an article on Sahara reporters written by a guy who visited Igboland in December of last year. In it, he claims that the kidnappers are former Niger delta militants of Igbo extraction who helped MEND, only not to be added to the amnesty program, according to him pushed aside by their Ijaw brothers when the money showed up. As tendentious as that may sound, it may be true.

My concern really is how to stop it because it is adding to our problems in Nigeria.

FL Gators:
Is employment going to increase too?

If not. . . .

I happen to come from a school of thought which believes that violent crime can be reduced through measured violent response.
If fact that works most of the time. I know that unemployment is bad, but it does not explain or justify kidnapping your neighbor or killing innocent folks in a bank (like happened in Aba last week). These things never used to happen in Igboland. It was imported. A murderer is a murderer.

In the days of our fathers, thieves never had guns. They waited until the owner of the house left and they moved in to pilfer few stuffs like food and clothes. There days, thieves want to be RICH and they are prepared to do ANYTHING to be rich. This is a strange culture and must be fought to a standstill. Our fathers worked hard and they thought us hard work, discipline and focus.

Covetous foreigners sent to do police work in Igboland started with road blocks and migrated to open armed robbery and kidnapping.

FL Gators:
Pull your defense wall down.

I'd rather reserve my comment on this.

BTW, Nigerian police are corrupt, true. And you think local polices are going to be different?

If you remove Nigerian police from Igboland and let every locality that can fund a police force do so -States, Local government areas, or Cities, crime rate will drop drastically. If your crime rate fails to drop, you simply fire your police boss and hire another. Simple.
When he knows that his job is on the line, he would deliver. But, why would you hire a police boss whose record is not stellar?

Nigerian police is not a force for good in this fight.

FL Gators:
My assumption was correct. I predicted your reply before you posted.

Lol I feel ya tho

Yea, Nigerian police force is criminally corrupt and inept.

Some kidnappers in Anambra operate in police uniforms with police issued firearms.

What do you want me to conclude?

FL Gators:
I see. . . .

I noticed how you changed from a possessive form to a Non-possessive form [NIGERIAN POLICE].

Care to explain that? I feel like. . .  you know, there's an explanation there.

BTW, dont towns own their own police in Nigeria? Really?

I deliberately used it because frankly that is the mindset of the police posted in Igboland. They operate as if they are still fighting the civil war. When they mount roadblocks (supposedly to search and arrest criminals), they only extort money from innocent drivers and commuters.

When you deny them that, they form cohorts with criminals involved in armed robbery and kidnapping.
We can't win with that force in Igboland.

So the REAL SOLUTION is LOCAL POLICE,
and NO, towns don't have police formations in Nigeria.

FL Gators:
A re you assuming that kidnapping has only  one [/b]base that can be solved?

[b]I'm having a hard time seeing how local policing would work/curb kidnapping  without honesty in the legal system.

Ok, look at it this way; the states make criminal laws, right? How can they enforce those laws when the law enforcement is NOT in their hands?

Let me tell you, if my town Nnewi is allowed to create and equip a police force for itself, we would recruit and arm THE BEST even if we have to recruit them from Abroad.

200 well trained and armed policemen can ROUT all the so called armed robbers operating anywhere near my town.

Their modus operandi would be to take the war to the criminals. Pure intelligence based LOCAL policing.

The criminals would know that the war is over only after they are dead.
We have laws, we only need to enforce them. Anambra state has capital punishment for kidnapping, but the NIGERIAN POLICE is part of the kidnapping in Anambra state. So who would enforce that law?

If towns form their own local police, this thing will stop. It has NOTHING to do with the so called Igbo love of money.

Nigeria is just decaying, and nobody at the center cares.

bk/babe97:
Jesus!!! Shrek [/b]and Princess Fiona!!! Well, they were always meant to be together!

I couldn't help noticing that this thread went all the way to four pages without any Igbo coming here to insult the Yoruba. Open an Igbo thread now and see what will happen.

It still took the same Yoruba scoundrel calling itself [b]bk/babe97 to introduce abuse here.

A mad dog bites everyone, even the owner.  

FL Gators:
Anywaz, OnlyTruth, you're always welcome to my state

Thanks.

However, I never run from challenges no matter how dire. Believe me this kidnapping thing is very easy to solve.
The whole thing is simmering though, soon it will either be solved or it will blow into a full scale war.

I really don't see this as a purely social problem like Mr Ndibe put it in his article. I believe it is a socio-political and economic problem. I heard that most of the initial kidnappers were university graduates would couldn't find jobs after graduating.

If I would blame Ndigbo for anything, it is that we are not defying the federal government enough on issues that concern us. We should just tell the federal government that we need local police. If they refuse, we should simply arm Bakassi or MASSOB to give us security. You cannot refuse to provide us security and still reject our providing same for ourselves.

All the deprivation of Igboland is gradually coming together, from people who were schemed out of the military to those who were schemed out of federal government jobs.
These people need livelihood.
We should confront this problem frontally rather than the usual "blame the victim" mindset.

This is what happens in a country that truly love football. In Nigeria, we only pay lip service by allowing thieves and charlatans to ruin our football.

When will Lulu and his 40 thieves leave NFF?

[size=14pt]French FA boss resigns
[/size]
Written by Funmi Erinle Tuesday, 29 June 2010

PRESIDENT of the French Football Federation, Jean-Pierre Escalettes has resigned from the post in the wake of the national team's crisis hit World Cup 2010 campaign.


Internal strife wrecked the nation's tournament, with the camp exploding after Nicolas Anelka was sent home after verbally abusing head coach, Raymond Domenech.


The players refused to train the day after the event and were roundly criticised for their actions after they finished bottom of Group A.


In a statement released on Monday, Escalettes announced the end of his five-year stay. It said: "I consider that it is my duty to resign from my role as president of the French Football Federation."

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/sports/7517-french-fa-boss-resigns

I was in a meeting over the weekend about this issue and the consensus was that thing will only get worse until we get LOCAL POLICING.

If my town has only 200 policemen (we can pay them ), I can assure you that no kidnapper will operate there. The key to stopping this is not responding when they strike, it is to find them BEFORE they strike. Igboland is not difficult to police. We know ourselves and foreigners are easy to spot.

Nigeria is killing Igboland slowly using incompetent Federal police.

Why do governors get the appellation of "chief security officer" when they cannot even sack a police officer.

Okey Ndibe enjoys my respect, but I am a little disappointed that he failed to ask hard questions.

I have a question which remain unanswered on this insecurity situation in Nigeria and Igboland in particular. Nigerians are so dumb these days that they hardly ask intelligent questions. All they do is to echo and re-echo news of problems without even trying to think about a possible solution.
My question is this:

Assuming a state governor wants to solve armed robbery or kidnapping, what can he do, when the police is NOT answerable to him?

He cannot sack the state police commissioner, or any police officer in his state. All policemen answer to the IG at Abuja.

What can a state governor do?


CURRENT NIGERIA'S SECURITY PROBLEMS ARE MAINLY TRACEABLE TO THE CIVIL WAR of 1967 -1970.

FL Gators:
Abi, esp with the Govt and senators chopping million and billions of nairas  from left to right.

Make I send money home for some ppl to chop, then for me to be drinking gari and epa over here

lmao!

Ok here is a project I really love in the same Lagos:

[b]
Monday, 28 June 2010 00:00   By Chinedum Uwaegbulam, Assistant Housing & Environment Editor

The Victoria Mall Plaza, a commercial and residential facility has been unveiled by UPDC as part of efforts to upgrade the Victoria Island neighbourhood. The scheme on completion would be a success story in physical development and planning for liveable cities

FOLLOWING the review of the Ikoyi-Victoria Island Model city plan, frontline estate development firm, UACN Property Development Company Plc (UPDC), has launched an urban regeneration scheme in the heart of Victoria Island that is set to transform Bishop Aboyade Street into a monumental real estate neighbourhood.

The mixed-use development backed by the Lagos authorities, owners of the land and World Bank’s lending arm, International Finance Corporation (IFC) through a corporate loan of $40 million, occupies 16,700 square metres land expected to harbour commercial and residential accommodation.

Modelled after major cities central business districts, the project, christened Victoria Mall Plaza (VMP) is coming in four phases characterised by luxury living and upscale neigbourhoods. Work has commenced on the first and second phases while the ground-breaking ceremony for the third VMP was conducted last week by the state Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Franciso Abosede and UACN Managing Director, Mr. Larry Ettah.

Under the VMP scheme, the first and second phases comprise 12- storey residential block of luxury apartments and ultramodern office block on 15 levels respectively. Both properties have already been fully leased out to two multi-national companies. Essentially, the residential scheme consists of 24 units of three bedroom flats, 12 units of three bedroom maisonettes and 12 units of studio flats while the office complex consists of floor area of 10,138 square metres.

Designed by the architectural firm, Inchscape.Ki, all apartments come with fully fitted kitchens and air conditioners. The first phase is expected to be delivered next month and facilities include swimming pool, lawn tennis and squash courts, gymnasium, standby generators and water and waste treatment plants. The office complex has a 2011 delivery date.

The VMP phase 1 costing about N4.4 billion, funded through IFC loan was undertaken by Messrs. Cappa & D’Alberto as the main contractors and Elektrint Nigeria Limited (M & E Contractors). Consultants are AIMS Consultants (mechanical, electrical and structural engineers), Metalum Nigeria Limited (aluminium works), Otis (elevators), Popham Walter Odusote and Company (project managers), Tillyard Nigeria Limited (quantity surveyors) and Frontline Consultants (town planners). The second phase is been partly bankrolled by First Bank Plc, which has granted a N3 billion loan.

UPDC senior officials disclosed that the proceeds of the N30 billion bond launched by the firm would be used in financing the VMP III. The 3-in-1 projects consist of 49 luxury apartments in a 15-storey block, three-storey shopping mall, and five level commercial car parks for 390 cars.

Abosede said that the government has put in place policies for the regeneration of Victoria Island along with other parts of the state in conformity with the master and model city plans. He noted that the present administration has provided good enabling environment for investment in properties and modalities are being put in place to facilitate as well as fast track physical development processes.

He said the company has lived up to its corporate social responsibility through the construction of a drainage channel at the Itirin canal and enjoined the company to replicate the model to other parts of the state.

The UPDC managing director, Mr. Hakeem Ogunniran, disclosed that construction work on VMP II is at the seventh level and completion date is due in September 2011 while VMP III will be completed in 2013. “We will also continue to ensure that our activities do not impact negatively on the environment,” he said.

The Manager, Engineering and Quantity Survey at Aim Consultants, Mr. Yusuf Dumiye said the challenges faced included transforming and restoring the canal area, which was original sandfilled and designing a foundation that wuld stand the test of time.

He also disclosed that the structure complied with the modern trend in less use of carbon that will damage the environment.[/b]

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/

You have the CORE actionable information you need.

slap1:
APGA is relatively weak in about all the South-East states, they need to step up their game.

@slap1

Are you really in Uturu? Could you help us with rough information about APGA in Imo and Abia? Thanks.

One of the things I admired most about Chekwas Okorie was that he was a rabble rouser who knew how to market APGA. Victor Umeh is not like him.
I hope APGA is still waxing strong in Imo and Abia.

udezue:
Can't APGA find a better man to represent them in Abia? Yes its good they expanding but at the sametime they should be careful to not tarnish their image in their bid to expand across the East. Its good thing but I also see the negatives. Well hopefully he does better but uhm I hope his move to APGA ensures that APGA has a stronghold in Abia

Exactly my fears

I am worried that he may dent APGA.
I'm not in Abia state and I really don't know Orji as a person. All I know of him is that he is like the Ngige before his kidnapping by Chris Uba which changed him. I'm holding my breath that maybe, just maybe Orji wants to liberate himself and Abia state from the stranglehold of Kalu.
Nobody knew that Ngige could do anything good for Anamabra state until he dumped his godfather. My prayer is that Orji turns out to be like Ngige in Abia state. APGA is already popular in Igboland (never mind PDP lies). In any free and fair elections in Igboland, APGA stands a chance, unless the candidate is irredeemably notorious.

slap1:
The only thing the Abia people need is a governor that will stop the 'mamacracy' currently practised there. I dislike the PDP, but decamping therein is the best thing T.A. Orji can do for Abians, at least most of his decisions would be made independently. Going to APGA is akin to leaving the state for Kalu and his incredibly strange mother.

lol! I don't know much about Abia state politics. My happiness about Orji's possible move to APGA is because I trust APGA more than any other party in Nigeria. Until Nigeria changes (which I doubt really ) other parties cannot be that good for Abia state. PDP will answer to Abuja more than Abia people. PPA will answer to Kalu family. APGA answers to Ndigbo.
The sooner we have all south east governors in APGA the sooner we would get that regional master plan thinking of balancing development in the whole south east.