War destroys cities:
Every Nigeria City or aspiring city should learn something from the Collapse of Warri as Oil City👇👇👇

Warri was a big industrial hub in the 70's - 90's.

Warri Refinery, NNPC, DSC, Delta Glass, Shell, Chevron, Schlumberger, Dunlop, Agip, Saipem, Halliburton were in full operation back then. Escravos & Forcados were at their peak.

The city thrived. The city was full of zeal and zestful activities. People living outside hardcore Warri called themselves Wafarians because of propinquity to Warri even though they were not Wafarians. To be a Wafarian was to belong to supposedly a unique lifestyle.

Multinational/Local Banks were present Citibank, FBN, ACB, Savannah Bank.

Business activities thrived. Warri port was a beehive of economic activities

Entertainment/Night life was at its peak, Musicians, Live bands at Palmgroove Hotel, Comedians held their sway: Fela, legendary Don Baker, Majek Fashek, Emma Grey, Oritz Wiliki, Rex Lawson were a few of many of the entertainers that made Warri ebullient. Lido, Zina, etc were comparable to their ilks anywhere.

The town was full of life and it thrived.

McDermot road was busy with Maritime activities and contractors. Kingsway Mall offered anything sold in Lagos at that time.

Joma & Mosheshe were big fish distributors across the Niger Delta.

Rubber produced locally, was used to produce plastics and tyres.

The town grew in size and became a conurbation with people coming from all over the country to settle down in Warri for economic activities.

The Airports were super busy, Escravos, Forcados & Warri Airport. The Warri Airport was even relocated to Osubi for expansion.

Warri was revelling in its glory. Warri Port was fully operational and served as an economic booster for the city. It served businesses in Warri, Benin, Asaba & Onitsha. The Port created huge employment opportunities for locals and the state.

Things started to go downhill from the late 90's. The community leaders and youth chairmen began to fight themselves over control/sharing formula for royalties that came from oil & businesses from settlers.

Itsekiri, Urhobo & Ijaw leaders & youths started fighting each other. The bloody fight started around 1999 and lasted for years till 2003/2004.

The community leaders started imposing local taxes called "Deve" on all companies, industries and local businesses, buildings & projects.

Little by little, the companies frustrated, started leaving.

This continued throughout the early 2000's till 2010. The companies kept on leaving, one after the other. The companies layed off their employees. Unemployment rose.

More companies left for PH, Lagos, Akwa Ibom. They layed off more staff. Unemployment increased still.

Today all that is left in Warri, is a shadow of its glorious past.

95% of all the big companies in Warri had either left or closed down.

Most of the young people have left Warri.

The ones left are driving Keke, doing P.O.S, Spa or Boutique, Beer parlour or doing hookup.

There's peace now, but the damage the greedy community leaders did to Warri, still lingers on and is almost irredeemable at this point.

Do not assume that your city can not be destroyed if it toes the same route Warri followed. Warri leaders did not ever believe that Warri will be this economically empty today while they were fighting then. Learn from Warri and protect our economies

Have you asked why big eeconomies like US, China,etc will never allow war in their countries?

We must learn and avoid things that will trigger war in our country no matter how strong we believe we are. Businesses and investors go where there is peace than where there is war.

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Sad

Very true bro. I miss the good old days. Now agbero has the highest employment in Warri.. its such a shame it had to come to this.

The glory has departed

There are some businesses that thrive during wartime. Lobbying for one

Very interesting read. Let's see if some people will learn from this.

tomitrace

In America, cities that faced serious riots or some parts of the cities that bore the brunt of riots never recover.

You have the Los Angeles riots of 1992 and the Minneapolis riots in 2020 over George Floyd's death/

Many shops and businesses never reopen. You can not blame them as riots and mass looting can not be divorced.

Warri can rise again. For that to happen, the Delta state government must provide incentives for the old companies to either return or new companies setting up for the first time.

tomitrace:
War destroys cities:
Every Nigeria City or aspiring city should learn something from the Collapse of Warri as Oil City👇👇👇

Warri was a big industrial hub in the 70's - 90's.

Warri Refinery, NNPC, DSC, Delta Glass, Shell, Chevron, Schlumberger, Dunlop, Agip, Saipem, Halliburton were in full operation back then. Escravos & Forcados were at their peak.

The city thrived. The city was full of zeal and zestful activities. People living outside hardcore Warri called themselves Wafarians because of propinquity to Warri even though they were not Wafarians. To be a Wafarian was to belong to supposedly a unique lifestyle.

Multinational/Local Banks were present Citibank, FBN, ACB, Savannah Bank.

Business activities thrived. Warri port was a beehive of economic activities

Entertainment/Night life was at its peak, Musicians, Live bands at Palmgroove Hotel, Comedians held their sway: Fela, legendary Don Baker, Majek Fashek, Emma Grey, Oritz Wiliki, Rex Lawson were a few of many of the entertainers that made Warri ebullient. Lido, Zina, etc were comparable to their ilks anywhere.

The town was full of life and it thrived.

McDermot road was busy with Maritime activities and contractors. Kingsway Mall offered anything sold in Lagos at that time.

Joma & Mosheshe were big fish distributors across the Niger Delta.

Rubber produced locally, was used to produce plastics and tyres.

The town grew in size and became a conurbation with people coming from all over the country to settle down in Warri for economic activities.

The Airports were super busy, Escravos, Forcados & Warri Airport. The Warri Airport was even relocated to Osubi for expansion.

Warri was revelling in its glory. Warri Port was fully operational and served as an economic booster for the city. It served businesses in Warri, Benin, Asaba & Onitsha. The Port created huge employment opportunities for locals and the state.

Things started to go downhill from the late 90's. The community leaders and youth chairmen began to fight themselves over control/sharing formula for royalties that came from oil & businesses from settlers.

Itsekiri, Urhobo & Ijaw leaders & youths started fighting each other. The bloody fight started around 1999 and lasted for years till 2003/2004.

The community leaders started imposing local taxes called "Deve" on all companies, industries and local businesses, buildings & projects.

Little by little, the companies frustrated, started leaving.

This continued throughout the early 2000's till 2010. The companies kept on leaving, one after the other. The companies layed off their employees. Unemployment rose.

More companies left for PH, Lagos, Akwa Ibom. They layed off more staff. Unemployment increased still.

Today all that is left in Warri, is a shadow of its glorious past.

95% of all the big companies in Warri had either left or closed down.

Most of the young people have left Warri.

The ones left are driving Keke, doing P.O.S, Spa or Boutique, Beer parlour or doing hookup.

There's peace now, but the damage the greedy community leaders did to Warri, still lingers on and is almost irredeemable at this point.

Do not assume that your city can not be destroyed if it toes the same route Warri followed. Warri leaders did not ever believe that Warri will be this economically empty today while they were fighting then. Learn from Warri and protect our economies

Have you asked why big eeconomies like US, China,etc will never allow war in their countries?

We must learn and avoid things that will trigger war in our country no matter how strong we believe we are. Businesses and investors go where there is peace than where there is war.

Follow us on This Is Nigeria

Well said but at least give credit to the writer by mentioning them.

Warri the City I've never visited.

In Nigerias Dog eat Dog society, Warri's loss is another city's gain.

This is very very correct 💯

Though I wasn't in Warri at the time all this happened. But I can see the shadows of the Glorious past.


Whenever I drive through DSC and its township I can't help but imagine what life was like then.

Or is it the Enerhe axis, Macdermoth, refinery, old airport and Osubi.

When you hear locals discuss what Warri was like, you'll know it was a city with great potentials killed by "deve".


PH almost towed same line with their "marching ground", "bush entry" and other crazy taxation by the indigenes. The saviour is that no war erupted, but it affected some companies to the point that govt at some point had to intervene.


Modified:

We must learn a lesson in Asari Dokubo's voice.


Keke riding is the major business in waff-town today, for graduates and undergraduates alike. So sad 😭😢😢

Nice,interesting and educational write up you have there op.
....
....
..... Those clammoring and beating the drum of war don't know the scars it leaves..

.... Too much of traditional rulers plays a role in war starting in nigeria...traditional power tussle,land disputes,taxes on companies by village heads can make war springup in communities thus generating war. My opinion though from my observation in recent times.

Food for thought. Even formidable empires, city states and kingdoms have collapsed in the past as a result of wars and insecurity. Look at Ukraine, a thriving, prosperous country being systematically reduced to rubble. Russia itself will eventually face catastrophic economic decline, no thanks to biting sanctions by the West. That's why ipob/esn/ugm must not be allowed to overrun the SE. The violence those criminals are perpetrating would eventually create the Warri scenario in cities and communities across the SE if allowed to continue. Those who criticise Buhari because of the capture of Nnamdi Kanu, who is the mastermind of the violence consuming the SE, forget that Kanu is a British citizen and as we have seen had and, even now, has japa plans to flee alaigbo to the safety of Britain where his wife, children and girlfriends live.

RF think life is about badness. You forgot Farm Kitchen close to old airport when mentioning entertainment spots.

Warri ti lule. Casted city.

Omihanifa:
The glory has departed

geographical yahoo?

Warri has gone the way of sapele. The last time I was there, hmmm....it was an eyesore. A shell of its former self

The most annoying thing is the "deve" and the agitation of the youths

People who do not want to work hard but want to live large because a company is in your locality

They were quick to say to those companies if you are not paying deve, leave!!. Now they have left. Who is suffering the brunt

Like what someone said, one man's loss it another's gain.

It would take a miracle for warri to get back to its former glory

Unfortunately successive delta government has not been pulling their weight in development in warri.

Nice write up

Greed, bigotry and injustice can destroy any city and country.
There's a reason developed economies gives everyone equal opportunity and treats all equally.

Ichabod

mu2sa2:
Food for thought. Even formidable empires, city states and kingdoms have collapsed in the past as a result of wars and insecurity. Look at Ukraine, a thriving, prosperous country being systematically reduced to rubble. Russia itself will eventually face catastrophic economic decline, no thanks to biting sanctions by the West. That's why ipob/esn/ugm must not be allowed to undermine the SE. The violence those criminals are perpetrating would eventually create the Warri scenario in cities and communities across the SE if allowed to continue. Those who criticise Buhari because of the capture of Nnamdi Kanu, the mastermind of the violence consuming the SE, forget that Kanu is a British citizen and as we have seen has japa plans even now to flee alaigbo to the safety of Britain where his wife, children and girlfriends live.

Really?
You couldn't relate the write up also to Lagos on account of what happened in the last election and threats to non natives and their businesses?

The bigotry in you won't let you?

grandstar:
tomitrace

In America, cities that face serious riots or some parts of the cities that bore the brunt of the riots never recover.

You have the Los Angeles riots of 1992 and the Minneapolis riots that happened some years ago.

Many shops and businesses never reopen. You can not blame them as riots and mass looting can not be divorced.

Warri can rise again. For that to happen, the Delta state government must provide incentives for the old companies to either return or new companies setting up for the first time.

Bro, let be truthful to ourselves, it will be very difficult for Warri to regain her lost glory because most of the reasons for the down-falled or collapsed of Warri stated by the OP is still very rampant to this day.

FOOD for THOUGHT bro!!!

The same attitude of deve grow up in Benin when youths and community heads made buying of land and building houses a though of war, Thanks to the Omo no oba,if not Benin could have been a brown roof city by now.

My friend from Warri told me told me this much. Up to five different factions will be on the companies' neck demanding for their share of the levies. By the time the companies are heaving a sigh of relief that they have seen the last of them, another set will emerge and make more demands. As the fathers are demanding for money, the sons are stealing equipments belonging to these companies, destroying their sites and demanding for their own. Now all the companies have left their land for them and unemployment is now the order of the day. This is what greed and lack of foresight does to people.

James Ibori vs Bola Ahmed Tinubu

When Econet came to Nigeria, they met with the political class to help them facilitate their operation lisence and Set-up

They met James Ibori who insisted on collecting millions of dollars as bribe

They met Bola Ahmed Tinubu who invested Lagos revenue in their company helping them setup and making profits in billions for Lagos State

When ExxonMobil wanted to build an headquarters, Bola Ahmed Tinubu quickly made available land in Lekki and as the company treasurer he ensured the building was constructed in Lagos

Sometimes it takes strong leadership like that of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Jagaban of Borgu GCFR to control wayward youths and engage them like they did with MC Oluomo and his goons in Lagos

.

Deve things😂

Sapele is very similar. In the 90s we had eternit, flour mill, ATP, BATA, mayflower, power generating company, a mini seaport, cinema at Olympia, athletic club with a standard golf course and several others. But today, none of that exist. The only company there is seplat(and there are indications that the intend to move operational base away). Insecurity had increase because of no job, na everyday dem dey kidnap person. All the beautiful estate built in those days done cast, infact, sapele na dead zone now.

How sad, I watched a video documentary on this where the presenter said the only jobs in Warri now is Keke Napep and Hookup. All the companies ran away in the past.

Lawlessness
-our land
-our oyel
-na we get this town

Absolutely right, and that's what some so called indegines are doing to settlers in their domain, always telling them to go back to their place. The fortunate thing is that the settlers are heeding to their calls and most are currently moving their investments back home...




Warri finally carry last! 😢