₦airaland Forum

chino11: Yes, I believe that is the first step to have an airport that can be upgraded anytime. Its the same reason they moved it from Oba to the new site now in Anambra North (Otuocha), because found out that Oba site does not have room for expansion, but Otuocha area has limitless room for any form of expansion to any level due to massive land in that region.

The airport is about 15min to Onitsha via GRA, 25 min to Awka and about 40-45min to Nnewi which makes is confluence Cargo/Passenger airport that can also connect people in Kogi, Benue and Nsukka via the new road that is being constructed by FG that will be linking Anambra to Abuja directly via Kogi. Am sure with the airport done, the next step is to get it internationally recognized for international flight.

On the area of roads, like I have kept informing you here on NL, but you have deliberately ignored it, am happy that someone else is corroborating my earlier position. lol. Am happy that at least you can now believe in Peter Obi. lol

I know for sure By His Grace the airport will be up and running before Obi leaves in 2014, because from all indications he is using his good relationship with GEJ to better SE and particularly Anambra.

My brother I always tell you that pictures are worth a thousand words.
How can anyone believe anything here without any pictorial proof, especially with political opponents falling over one another to discredit one another? But Nna kedu ife melu na unu enwero digital camera ebe ahu sef? What does it take to take pictures of roads and post it here? Even my cellphone has a super camera that can take pictures anywhere. You people at home should always feed us with pictures from home. That is your edge over us.
Nna o si kwa ike, i gwam ka m gotalu gi digital camera ebe a. Nke ahu aburo kwa big deal.

lagcity: just scratch that Soludo/El rufai ticket. it aint happening. Is El Rufai that heavy in the North? If El Rufai goes against Shekarau or Sule Lamido, El rufai will get slaughtered in a bad way i swear. Even Soludo sef is not the heaviest in the East. take that.

I agree that Sule Lamido is an embedded politician in NW, and can attract support among the whole North. I personally think that Soludo stands a chance if he accepts the role mentally. It all begins with self belief. He only has to imbibe the Orji Kalu type of courage and swagger. He is smart enough and can outperform most other candidates both in debates and in vision for the whole country. Nigerian presidency resembles US presidency in a way. There is no prior experience that prepares anyone for the job. You just have to learn on the job. My smart money would be on an intelligent guy anyday. I believe that the younger generation of Nigerians should start to slowly move away from all these "heavy" politicians in Nigeria. We need smart, visionary, ambitious and talented young leaders to jolt Nigeria out of this seemingly recalcitrant and recidivist comatose.

lagcity: I really don't think the war generation has to die off. Nigeria is a very funny country. An Igbo became VP just 9 yrs after the war. nothing is impossible in Naija.

lol, I know he knows. He is only playing mind games as usual.

Sam_Ikenna: Nigerian president is a little more than a gate keeper who makes sure no body (no group) leaves the house (breaks away from Nigeria) whether they're happy or not - if you doubt it show me what significant good has come to the region that produced the presidency.

Let me put it this way - the amount of time any given region produces the president is inversely proportional to the progress of that region.

hehehe!
My brother you are right on the first bolded.
The second bolded reminds me of my days in physics and chemistry classes. I don't know if I agree with it though.

alj harem: Before which Civil war ? That was the worse political series of mistakes any region could make !!! My friend that was not good politics.

It is NOW I mean after GEJ presidency people are starting to respect Igbo politics and not before any civil war. Moreover that respect starts and ends people likes of me and you not with the main populist.

Before the civil war, the NCNC was a political behemoth stretching across Nigeria from East to West to even parts of the North,
In that period, our politics was solid. It all came crashing with the Nzeogwu mistake of Jan 1966. These are facts.
Since then, we've had to battle many things, including moles and political trojan horses in Igboland planted there by civil war foes.
Anyway, the GEJ elections ushered in a new era similar to before the war.

ndu_chucks: The point I was hoping to drive home is that, my Igbo brothers are not savvy at all in the political game. They do not have the necessary skills required to win a Presidential race. No one disputes the fact that every Nigerian has a right to contest, but no one will give any particular person or tribe the Presidency for nothing. Igbo politicians need to forge meaningful alliances with the SW or the North, else, no Igboman will ever be President in Nigeria.

The alternative to playing the game is to continue to wish that the country fails and disintegrates so that an Igboman can rule in Biafra. This is the sad truth. Tell me, which governor in the SE can one honestly say is a good candidate for the job? N[b]gige will not be the ACN flagbearer except if he wants to be used as a bargaining chip the same way Ribadu was used. Soludo could not even win the governor's race in his state, how will he become the President?
[/b]

You raised some points here but the points were raise as if they are chiseled on stone and unchangeable. You should at least admit that before the Nigerian civil war, that we were good in politics. So, it is a myth to say that we are not good in politics. Like someone stated earlier, would anyone have believed that Igbo could have voted for one candidate the way they voted for Jonathan? Of course not.
One thing you must know about the Igbo is that we are a very dynamic tribe. We never stick to something that don't work. We quickly drop failed ideas. That is part of why we quickly stopped slave trade, and killing of twins; while many other tribes still continued similarly primitive practice even till this day. So, don't count us out yet!

Make no mistake, those two politicians -Ngige and Soludo, remain among the best political materials in Igbo land. All they need is massive Igbo support, and they can take flight. Don't confuse Anambra politics with Nigerian politics. Anambra state can produce 36 Nigerian presidents. Soludo for one is a candidate who can redefine Nigeria and give us a sense of pride and direction as a country. Ngige is a DEFT and INTELLIGENT politician who has fanatical support among the Igbo, and he is easy to belittle, but would upstage the opponent. An Ngige president would also raise Nigerian infrastructure to first world levels.

I would admit that you are right (though you were merely echoing my position) that only through a political alliance with a major voting block eg SW or Northwest, could make the journey easier. The SS owe us a political debt.

onila: How To know An African From Another African!
"African IDENTITY" saw this online grin

Surely everybody knows that the loud, boisterous and cocky ones are the West Africans; the brooding and sly ones are the North and Southern Africans; [size=14pt]the East Africans always say yes even when they disagree vehemently[/size]. No wonder there has been very few coups in this region.


If you want to be more specific,[size=14pt] the Cameroonians will borrow money to buy champagne. They can even sell a hole in their pockets to ape the bourgeois.[/size]

hehehe! I didn't know they have Yoruba in East Africa and Cameroun.
Please laugh for once today!

beneli: @ Nduchuks,

One is not ignorant of the lingering triumphalism that makes a section of the country to continue believing that they are the ‘powers that be’. After all, for decades – since they defeated Ndigbo in war - that section of the country has continued to determine whom power is given to.

What I think should merit more than superficial concern for those people who think that it is their birthright to decide who rules Nigeria, is the fact that the outcome of the 2011 presidential elections was certainly not what they anticipated. This would suggest to me that the political landscape of Nigeria - and indeed the power structures within Nigeria - has changed. And a new reality has dawned upon us . . .

Would this not suggest therefore that the ‘powers that be’ have been demystified and are no longer as powerful as they’d like people to believe they are? I would certainly think so.

In view of this emerging reality, one would suggest that people start shedding themselves of whatever delusions assumptions of grandeur they have about the ownership of Nigeria. It is no longer tenable.

Nigeria belongs to all of us equally . . . and that including the Igbos ‘who are 60 and above’ . . .

Thank you my brother.
Your comment is stuff of genius!

An irresponsible country where rich and highly placed people don't pay tax, but the tax men would hound poor people all over the place seeking to collect tax from them.
Well, at least Jonathan may stop that if he sticks to this policy designed by Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala.

[size=16pt]Jonathan frowns at failure by highly placed Nigerians to pay tax[/size]

Abuja – President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday decried the failure by highly placed Nigerians to pay tax and pledged the commitment of his administration to institutionalise tax culture amongst Nigerians.

Jonathan stated this at the formal flag-off of the National Tax Policy (NTP) and the Unique Tax Identification Number (UTIN) at the State House.

The flag-off of the two projects preceded the National Economic Council meeting, which is statutorily chaired by the Vice President with all State Governors in attendance.

The President noted that many Nigerians, particularly the highly placed, do not pay tax.

He said the situation was more worrisome because tax defaulters were those in the vanguard of criticising government officials of misuse of public funds.

Jonathan said the National Tax Policy and the Unique Tax Identification Number were revolutionary tools for tax administration that would expand the nation’s tax base to ensure that every eligible Nigerians pay tax.

He said the policies would lay the foundation for a concrete transformation of the Nigeria’s tax system and ensure its conformity to global best practices.

The President urged Nigerians to see themselves as custodians of the tax they paid.

`Overall, what we seek to achieve with the introduction of the national tax policy is to have a nation and a people who see taxation as a partnership with government.

“Of course in this country, most of the social critics who come on television and radio stations and talk in the newspapers don’t pay tax.

“If at all because they want to buy land or one thing or the other and the governors insist they must pay tax, they undervalue themselves.

“Somebody will be travelling abroad almost every month, travel first class but the tax he will pay is not up to the tax of a Grade level four officer pays in government.

“In other countries, those are criminal offences, but here, such people are celebrated as heroes.

“We want to create a participatory system of taxation where the tax payers and other stakeholders all see that they all have equal stakes in the tax system.

“We want to create an economy that is self sufficient and does not depend wholly on resource wealth to bring development to the people.

“Over and above all, we want to institutionalise a tax culture among Nigerians such that we see ourselves as custodians of the tax system and our commonwealth.’’

Jonathan commended the Ministry of Finance, the state governments, and the Joint Tax Board for their collaborative efforts on the project.

He also commended the Federal Inland Revenue and its chief executive, who doubles as the Chairman of the Joint Tax Board, Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okaro, for overseeing the projects to fruition.

Earlier in her remarks, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said it was the first time Nigeria would have a formal policy direction for taxation.

She said that the National Tax Policy was conceived when she was a Minister of Finance under President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

According to her , the Tax Identification Number is a nationwide electronic database system for the registration and storage of data of tax payers in the country.

Okonjo-Iweala added that the revolutionary system has the potential of putting Nigeria’s tax system at par with the most developed system.

The minister noted that the new tax policies demonstrated the commitment of the Jonathan’s administration to socio-economic transformation of the country in all sectors of the economy.

The President, Vice President Namadi Sambo and the Chairman of Governors Forum and Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, officially registered at the event and were given their tax identification numbers.
Governors Peter Obi of Anambra, Babangida Aliyu of Niger, Idris Wada of Kogi Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun were also presented with their tax Identity card by the President. (NAN)

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/04/jonathan-frowns-at-failure-by-highly-placed-nigerians-to-pay-tax/

ndu_chucks: I think you mean El Rufai/Soludo ticket for any party, and Fashola/Ngige ticket for ACN.

I don't believe anyone would be able to stop a El Rufai/Soludo ticket, but the likelihood of such a ticket is probably 0.00001%

Sadly, the powers that be are not yet ready for a Igbo President, we'll have to wait for the civil war generation (60 years and above) to die off before we can have a Igbo President. That is , unless there is a divine intervention.

The civil war generation is already being replaced by a far more militant generation. Only an irresponsible fool like you would think that they can ever die off.
Any Nigerian with any brains would know that Nigeria's question is really one of to be or not to be.
I am hopeful that there are educated Northerners left who know that Nigeria is racing towards a violent disintegration unless there is an Igbo president. The situation is even assuming some level of fierce urgency as 2015 approaches.
Only an Igbo president can keep Nigeria one.

PointB: Oga keep quiet there! Why do you need to be mischievous. This thread is about South East and 2015 presidency not 2015 Vice Presidency!

For avoidance of doubt, Eze Onlytruth MEANS:

Soludo for PRESIDENT/El Rufai as Vice P, and Ngige for President/Fashola as Vice.

I may have my reservation about certain character(s) in the combo, but if Ohaneze say so for greater good, who I am to complain!

Thank you my brother!
That guy is just hopeless. I have tried over the years to educate him, but he remains incorrigible.
The future of Nigeria as one can only happen after Igbo produces a Nigerian president. He will soon learn that lesson.

I'll throw in two quick examples.
Now, imagine a Soludo/El Rufai ticket for any party, and Ngige/Fashola ticket for ACN (I believe that if we play deft politics, the Ngige/Fashola ticket can happen), or Rochas Okorocha/another core Northerner for APGA.
These three are possible. All we need to do is adopt ONE of such ticket and work for it!
We can produce the president.

Obiagu1: Nigeria is far from ideal and from all indications can never tend towards being ideal.
So any Igbo that still have that line of thought is a complete efulefu.

My brother I have come to agree that idealism is really another name for efulefuism in politics.
There is really no ideal political system any where in the world.
All political systems simply cater to vested human interests be they fair or not.
If you know any political system anywhere in the world that operates purely on "fairness", please show me.
It is all about majority rule. FACT.

That is why a majority tribe such as Ndigbo should not be begging for fairness.
We can approach another big tribe in Nigeria and seek a political understanding and go from there.
Simple and short.

13volts: April 4, 2012 - 22:06 — siteadmin
By Saharareporters, New York
One person was killed and several others seriously
injured, and houses burnt as Fulani herdsmen
clashed with Hausa farmers in Sokoto State
yesterday.
The dispute occurred last night in Fargaba District of
Wurno local government area of the State.
The Sokoto State Police Command confirmed the
occurrence of the clash to reporters.
The violence left the town deserted as hundreds of
residents and Fulani herdsmen fled into refuge
following the bloody clash.
Alhaji Umaru Shehu, a traditional ruler who who
witnessed the clash the area said “There had been a
problem between Fulani farmers and Hausa farmers,
until last night when a young man was attacked, and
the rest got angry and the whole town got agog with
the violence.
One person was killed in the violence and several
others injured, and houses burnt. Many people are in
the bush scared of coming back. We have gone to
Wurno, and the chairman of local government has
ordered that police be drafted to the area.”

This proves once more that there is really nothing like Hausa/Fulani.
It is a fraud designed to dominate Nigerian national politics.
Soon, everybody will answer his fathers name in the North.

chino11: That is why Anambra and Orient Petroleum are now intensifying efforts in developing a world class Anambra Cargo/Passenger Airport, then subsequently FG will be forced to tag it International airport for it to be albe receive international flights directly due to huge economic activities within Onitsha and Nnewi zone.

Is that airport local or international cargo airport?
I wish that the Peter Obi admin will finish it before his exit in 2014 so that the next governor (hopefully a Soludo) would take it to the next level -FULL INTERNATIONAL STATUS.

BTW I got some good endorsement from home (from a very reliable source) that Peter Obi is showing a new sense of urgency in construction/reconstruction of roads.
If we get that international airport at Onitsha, the economy of SE would simply explode!

These guys don't seem like robbers. They appear to be after police.
Well, lets wait and see.

Okay, here is my take.

I believe that our destiny remains firmly in our hands, if we understand that fact. What I've seen so far is that the Igbo mindset needs a little shake up to wake us up to the reality of life in Nigeria, and to force us to think in ways that enhance our survival as Ndigbo in Nigeria.
So far on this thread, I already see some Igbo making irresponsible statements as if they are in a civilized country: "oh I don't care who emerges president, provided blah this blah that". Like duh!
How many years have we lived by this mindset, and what has it fetched us in Nigeria? Take a careful look at Nigeria, the SE is by far the most marginalized zone in Nigeria; and this is a zone that is the heartbeat of the Nigerian nation. Why then are our federal roads and other federal projects neglected?
As a major tribe in Nigeria, why do we have the least representation at the federal level owing to being the only zone with 5 states in Nigeria? All these happened in the period between 1967 and today - a whopping 45 years! In that period there have been 11 Nigerian presidents! Yet none of them have treated us fairly comparative to other zones. Jonathan has been in office for about one year, so I would wait till December this year to judge him.

So, hear me loud and clear, going by Nigeria's past, IT IS HIGHLY IRRESPONSIBLE FOR ANY IGBO TO SAY THAT HE DOES NOT CARE WHETHER WE PRODUCE A PRESIDENT OR NOT OR WHERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT WOULD COME FROM (I used to think like that, but I have since dropped that mindset too). Please quote me on that.

Now on this topic,

I believe that Jonathan promised not to contest the 2015 elections. So, in that scenario, the only thing we can do now is to rally round ONE party as Ndigbo. We are arguably the single biggest tribe in Nigeria; and by Ndigbo I mean ALL IGBO from SE and SS. We should coalesce round one party by at least 90%. We can remain in other parties in little numbers. And the time for the groundwork that leads to that is NOW. I don't like PDP mainly because the party has not demonstrated enough care for Igbo interests in Nigeria. Once we dominate one party, we can then use our BLOCK VOTE which we demonstrated with Jonathans election, to put forward our own candidate and pick a VP from another block voting zone in Nigeria. We can get it based on these, irrespective of what the occupant of Aso rock wants. I personally do not believe that Nigerian elections would be getting worse. I believe the courts have demonstrated that they can rise to the occasion in recent times. So, I predict that soon, a president would emerge irrespective of Aso rock support. So, we need to give it a shot in 2015. If we fail, we try again with refined strategy in 2019. I believe that we will get it.
This is what we need to do.
Our destiny is in our hands!

Here I stand!

Yours truly

Onlytruth, Ndu di n'eziokwu 1 of Igboland, Eze Ndigbo Nairaland.

I'll be back!v

manny4life: Eze, you're somewhat right; however, though the Sovereign Government of a nation holds the sole authority to grant preliminary license and approval plans to build and design, and operate an airport, however, ALL airports which are designated for international purposes (international flights and cargo etc) must be classified and pass certification standard test by the International Civil Aviation Organization. That a government classifies its airports and or adds "international" to its name doesn't mean the airport is an internationally ICAO certified airport, however, when ICAO does finally grant certification, classification does come with it.

In other words, regardless of what the home government classifies or tags the airport, EVERY and ALL international airports must earn the right by ICAO to be called international. U.S and Europe, Asia and Middle East International airports have ICAO designations and classes they belong to. Take it like someone who spent their investment going to law school or medical school, at the end of the day, when you graduate, you still have to go through the rigorous testing, licensing, or certification process of passing your bar exams or your medical board exams. Now some professional boards will have different classifications for their members. You went to law school don't mean you can practice law, you have to earn the right to be called a lawyer/attorney by passing your bar exams, same rule applies.

My brother thank you for the information.
Madu adighi abu omacha ncha.
I don't know whether this explains what happened to Jerry Rawlings as he was entering Nigeria for Ojukwu's funeral, though I highly doubt that. His must be that Enugu is yet to be authorized by FG to receive international flights. His flight was a private flight, and he can very well decide to land in the worst airport in the world straight from Ghana.
Well, let us get those airports first.
If I were Anambra state governor, I will kit up that Onitsha international cargo airport so well that when I head for Aso rock to seek FULL international status, Jona will have no choice.
I know about three people from my town Nnewi who can build that airport from their pockets, and share profits from it with the state/federal government. Onitsha has no need to lie prostrate. This city is also a mega city in its own right.

The source said this picture is somewhere close to Awomama. Is this true. If so, I like the quality.

But this is Onitsha GRA (Niger drive specifically).

So, it is a city of countrasts

The Onitsha main market is perhaps the densest market in Nigeria. The amount of cash exchanging hands in this market dwarfs most in other Nigerian markets.
Here is the Bright Street view.

^^
The picture above shows "Head brigde Market", with "Fegge" township to the far upper right of it.

The more I research it, the more I reach the conclusion that Onitsha deserves an international airport on it own merit.
This city is big and growing fast. It needs international class urban planning, the skills level of which is non-existant in Nigeria.
This city needs DIRECT international interaction.
It is a latent MEGA city.

It is an open sore on Nigeria's conscience (assuming there is any, lol) if it doesn't get its deserved international airport.

While searching for something else, I ran into this old thread (approx one year old).

alj_harem, stop posting links of lies here. The link you posted insulted Ndigbo. Just stop.
This is a direct order from Eze Ndigbo.

On a serious note, isn't it very curious that Yorubas are more interested in dissecting Igbo land than claiming their own land? Very curious.
I think I can now see inside the typical Yoruba mindset. Their war strategy is basically this: first disorganize your opponent, then move in for the kill. Well, I think we Ndigbo should implement that on them.
By the time we are done, only Ife would remain Yoruba.

Umu Igbo here I leave the thread for now.
I'll be back later.
Signing off,
Yours truly

Onlytruth.

bittyend: The only place you guys can claim in SS is Anioma, and probably Ika and Port Harcourt to an extent. Aside that, Igbos don't belong there.

Please, embrace the Bight of River Niger!

The most laughable thing is when you Yorubas come to the East to tell Igbo her boundaries. hehe
Let me tell you, if a war starts in Nigeria, don't be surprised if Gen Ihejirika or someone in his mold comes to show you your boundaries in the West. Una too dey talk.

Beaf: In many ways, the SE is just getting vital structures and much needed rebuilding. Be patient, bro; it should all come good in a year or two.

Anyway, I believe I have conveyed the concerns of most Igbo.
Let's just wait and see how things shape.

bittyend: Why do you guys always lay claim to what don't you belong to you guys? Be happy with Igbo land, all your access to the Atlantic ocean are owned by Ijaws, Ogonis, Efiks, and Ibibio.. Embrace River Niger, and don't go about causing unnecessary trouble. It seems you guys didn't learn from Ojukwu's mistake.

I am VERY HAPPY with Igboland - a complete Igboland, not a butchered, diced and balkanized one.
No one will be allowed to do that again. It happened before in 1967 because we did not know who the enemy is.
It will NEVER happen again.

dayokanu: Onlym0r0n.

Answer these questions

Is Delta state in the SS?

Do we have Ilajes in Delta State?

Are Ilajes not Yorubas?

M0r0n. No wonder you are eze Igbos, they choose the dumbest ppl for that title just like the dead Ike-eba wuruwuru

Ilages are Ijoid group. They live on water like the rest of Ijaw.
I would not tell you that because you will have to fight with the rest of Ijaw to claim it.
Bottom line is that you should face whatever is your claim and not be obsessed with my own claim.

You odiocy is increasing with your every single post on Nairaland.

Beaf: The SE held their own economic summit in September last year, but they did not invite the SS.
These things are mere regional groupings, I wouldn't read anything into it.

BRACE has been going on since 2009 it isn't something new. Such cooperation as you are thinking would ideally be between the organisers of the two groups. Indeed, there are too many developmental and cultural overlaps between SE/SS for there not to be future cooperation.

Obviously BRACE started before SE economic summit. Hmm.
Well, I would have kept quiet if I trusted current Igbo leaders. But having said that, let's keep watching.
As a youth of that region, I don't want anyone to make mistakes that would cost both regions badly.
That's all.