Cjrane2:


All these agriculture based products should be encouraged. Also building factories to package these things in modern packaging packets for sale in Super Markets in Nigeria and abroad should be taken seriously to make the product of high quality even for export. That is how to make a business good paying and sustainable.

Oga honestly onweghi nke na imaghi at all you too much

ifyalways:

Achi ofe I tinye "ke" nke a gbasalu gi

Ify dey o like dei-dei. Kedu ije? Udo.

ify nke anyi, anyi nno ofuma, kedu ije Nwanyioma, a mam na udo di?

Udo dikwara gi.

horsepower101:


Agro-proceessing is the way to go. For all of us here that plan to venture into agriculture, make sure you have plans for processing your products.

My brother and I had a long conversation 2 days ago and we finally decided to invest in 2 places; Real estate and agriculture.

As for the agriculture part, we plan not just to be mere farmers but to also process our crops and animals for sales at local supermarket.

I agree with you bro. Agro Processing is clear path to the future of food sustainability . The cleaner the better because with GMO foods being packaged and sold to unsuspecting public,all "legit" players will have an unfettered market. Still on this line,i am beginning to believe those who propose that Nigerian elites are imbued with congenital short-sightedness. For instance,the entire middle belt of Nigeria produces almost 90% perishable fruits and vegetable we consume locally and even a modest for export into the neighbouring countries,the gist is that this section of the country is home to some of the biggest money bags who have their hands glued to to Niger-Delta petrodollars yet there is no SINGLE fruit extracting and processing factory in the entire northern Nigeria. A sizeable amount of these fruits perish at the farm gate and the rest sold at give away prices. This sad cycle is more than a century old! I can't explain it! Or can one say this inertia is a black man's malady too because I recall my last trip by road from Accra to Takoradi,i drove for 3 and half hours and all through Cape Coast,Central Region,Eastern and Western region were large farms of water melons and pineapples more than I've seen anywhere else. On a sad note too,i was informed by my guide no single juice extracting factory exist in the aforementioned regions. These fruits are displayed along the road for retailers to buy and much perish after a while. It is well.

Handsomegod:
I agree with you bro. Agro Processing is clear path to the future of food sustainability . The cleaner the better because with GMO foods being packaged and sold to unsuspecting public,all "legit" players will have an unfettered market. Still on this line,i am beginning to believe those who propose that Nigerian elites are imbued with congenital short-sightedness. For instance,the entire middle belt of Nigeria produces almost 90% perishable fruits and vegetable we consume locally and even a modest for export into the neighbouring countries,the gist is that this section of the country is home to some of the biggest money bags who have their hands glued to to Niger-Delta petrodollars yet there is no SINGLE fruit extracting and processing factory in the entire northern Nigeria. A sizeable amount of these fruits perish at the farm gate and the rest sold at give away prices. This sad cycle is more than a century old! I can't explain it! Or can one say this inertia is a black man's malady too because I recall my last trip by road from Accra to Takoradi,i drove for 3 and half hours and all through Cape Coast,Central Region,Eastern and Western region were large farms of water melons and pineapples more than I've seen anywhere else. On a sad note too,i was informed by my guide no single juice extracting factory exist in the aforementioned regions. These fruits are displayed along the road for retailers to buy and much perish after a while. It is well.

Crude oil is a curse to development in Nigeria, not until the oil is no more Nigeria and most importantly Northern Nigeria will have no significant development.

Chef2000:

Oga honestly onweghi nke na imaghi at all you too much

Okwa ihe ndi bekee n'akpo "research". Oburu na iguru akwokwo n'obodo oyibo, i ga amuta ka ha si eme research were choputa ihe bu nsogbu mbge obula.

Ebigom n'obodo oyibo, bikwa were nwayo muta ka si eme ihe.

Nsogbu anyi na alaigbo bu na anyi achoghi ime ihe obula nke oma.

Mgbe obula anyi bidoro mebe ihe ka ndi ocha, anyi ga aka ha nma.

Handsomegod:
I agree with you bro. Agro Processing is clear path to the future of food sustainability . The cleaner the better because with GMO foods being packaged and sold to unsuspecting public,all "legit" players will have an unfettered market. Still on this line,i am beginning to believe those who propose that Nigerian elites are imbued with congenital short-sightedness. For instance,the entire middle belt of Nigeria produces almost 90% perishable fruits and vegetable we consume locally and even a modest for export into the neighbouring countries,the gist is that this section of the country is home to some of the biggest money bags who have their hands glued to to Niger-Delta petrodollars yet there is no SINGLE fruit extracting and processing factory in the entire northern Nigeria. A sizeable amount of these fruits perish at the farm gate and the rest sold at give away prices. This sad cycle is more than a century old! I can't explain it! Or can one say this inertia is a black man's malady too because I recall my last trip by road from Accra to Takoradi,i drove for 3 and half hours and all through Cape Coast,Central Region,Eastern and Western region were large farms of water melons and pineapples more than I've seen anywhere else. On a sad note too,i was informed by my guide no single juice extracting factory exist in the aforementioned regions. These fruits are displayed along the road for retailers to buy and much perish after a while. It is well.

We need to capitalize on these opportunities now that others are still looking at crude oil. By the time oil becomes worthless, we would have captured most of the food processing industries in Nigeria. Now is the time my brothers.

And finally, please nobody should build any factory outside igboland. This is the most important.

horsepower101:


We need to capitalize on these opportunities now that others are still looking at crude oil. By the time oil becomes worthless, we would have captured most of the food processing industries in Nigeria. Now is the time my brothers.

And finally, please nobody should build any factory outside igboland. This is the most important.

VERY VERY IMPORTANT.

horsepower101:


We need to capitalize on these opportunities now that others are still looking at crude oil. By the time oil becomes worthless, we would have captured most of the food processing industries in Nigeria. Now is the time my brothers.

And finally, please nobody should build any factory outside igboland. This is the most important.

For us to build and fully take advantage of these fruit processing and extraction opportunities lying fallow in the middle belt means we must have to divest into large scale production and planting of these fruits (raw materials). Aside market,access to raw materials and labour are key considerations for industrial location. Presently,we don't have enough raw materials within to sustain such ventures. Citing the industries within igboland means we have to develop a raw materials supply chain that will deliver them from middle belt to Alaigbo. Is it sustainable in the medium term given the kind of atavistic and strangulating politics deployed in Nigeria for all things that concern Igbos??. We don't have to repeat the irrational economic drive of Nigeria where a cost intensive refinery is located in Kaduna without a drop of oil! Maybe it is time to start asking what and how much we are managing the palm oil resources in Imo,Cocoa in Imo and Abia,Cashew in Enugu etc.

Handsomegod:
For us to build and fully take advantage of these fruit processing and extraction opportunities lying fallow in the middle belt means we must have to divest into large scale production and planting of these fruits (raw materials). Aside market,access to raw materials and labour are key considerations for industrial location. Presently,we don't have enough raw materials within to sustain such ventures. Citing the industries within igboland means we have to develop a raw materials supply chain that will deliver them from middle belt to Alaigbo. Is it sustainable in the medium term given the kind of atavistic and strangulating politics deployed in Nigeria for all things that concern Igbos??. We don't have to repeat the irrational economic drive of Nigeria where a cost intensive refinery is located in Kaduna without a drop of oil! Maybe it is time to start asking what and how much we are managing the palm oil resources in Imo,Cocoa in Imo and Abia,Cashew in Enugu etc.

I believe we should start going into processing, I.e building processing factories here that will cater for the people here and outside nigeria.

but we need to dredge our ports too so we can target exports. and we also need a great population to drive that industry. let's try to stop our women from taking morning after pills, this pills destroy the womb and let's stop all this NGO from giving us free condoms when we know they can do better than that.

they are doing better in the north, let them replicate it here too. they should educate our women that some barrenness can be treated with IVF.

I don't know if there's an end to family planning if the NGO achieve their aims or it just goes on and on and on.

the north have a problem, their birth rate is a disadvantage to them because they have beggars all over the country, and they don't contribute to the country(most of them) they should be encouraged to have less children.

it has worked on us. this NGO were sent by US to the north but they don't want to function there because family planning has been rejected there, so they bring those condoms here and distribute them thereby causing our shrinking population.

Handsomegod:
I agree with you bro. Agro Processing is clear path to the future of food sustainability . The cleaner the better because with GMO foods being packaged and sold to unsuspecting public,all "legit" players will have an unfettered market. Still on this line,i am beginning to believe those who propose that Nigerian elites are imbued with congenital short-sightedness. For instance,the entire middle belt of Nigeria produces almost 90% perishable fruits and vegetable we consume locally and even a modest for export into the neighbouring countries,the gist is that this section of the country is home to some of the biggest money bags who have their hands glued to to Niger-Delta petrodollars yet there is no SINGLE fruit extracting and processing factory in the entire northern Nigeria. A sizeable amount of these fruits perish at the farm gate and the rest sold at give away prices. This sad cycle is more than a century old! I can't explain it! Or can one say this inertia is a black man's malady too because I recall my last trip by road from Accra to Takoradi,i drove for 3 and half hours and all through Cape Coast,Central Region,Eastern and Western region were large farms of water melons and pineapples more than I've seen anywhere else. On a sad note too,i was informed by my guide no single juice extracting factory exist in the aforementioned regions. These fruits are displayed along the road for retailers to buy and much perish after a while. It is well.

I spoke about many of these things as far back as 2015 in this forum but many people thought I was going colonial. We cannot have everything done in igboland because there is no space to do everything. We need to capitalize on the ignorance of the people in those region and turn it to our advantage. If eventually these people get it right, it will be difficult for us to penetrate them.

Many of these fruits go straight to the north who in turn send it down to the south and many of the fruits perish on the way and the rest sold at exorbitant prices. If we can channel those products in kogi, benue, nassarawa, taraba and jos to the east, we will control the food in the country. We can buy these things at a relatively very low prices and make bigger things with it. But like we are seeing it today, we dont have the economic and political will to colonize these things and its not going to favour us in the future.

I met an igbo man in Gwanara area of kwara state close to the border town of Oyo (forgotten the name of that popular area). He was an exporter of agricultural products using the land borders there and shipping it through the neighbouring country of benin republic. He exports yam, charcoal and some other agricultural products. He told me that he exports these products every two weeks and makes alot of money from it. The funniest part is that he gets those products at a very low price e.g, he buys a tuber of yam from the local yam farms at the rate of 100naira per big tuber and when he exports them, he sells them like 900 to a thousand naira each putting the export duty and transportation into consideration. He thought me how to do the business that time but I was so young and broke then that I couldn't delve into the business at the time.

What am I driving at, we can get to any extent in agricultural fulfillment without going into intensive agriculture like they do. We can crash the prices of agricultural products in the east if we make them re-channel those products from the north to the east.

We as individuals are trying our best to live as comfortably as possible no matter the situation we find ourselves. But as a people we are living in total denial of what makes us a people. We tend not to agree much on a singular pursuit and it has made us a laughing stock. The whole country and the politics therein, we can see that we are not playing any singular role in either getting favour from the centre or coming together and making ourselves better than what the center can offer.

As we can see, the country keeps leaving big holes that needs only a people who plan to get it right to fill and make so much money from it. We are not fighting to be president, we are not fighting for infrastructure in our region, we are not fighting for a better economic space for our people, we are not still fighting for the security of our people all over the country. The question is, what is the igbo people fighting for in this country apart from breaking away (which has died down in recent times).

If we choose to exempt ourselves from the federal power play in this country, we can still channel those energy to making the region better and an envy of all. We all know that times are changing and making a strong point at this point is the solution to the impending danger we might find ourselves if the country resources go south. With a high percentage of our people living outside it shores and the increase of hate against our people, the reduction in the resources in the country will only make the state governments adjust themselves to favour the locals at the expense of the other people.

We need as a matter of urgency work on the tourism, education, commerce, entertainment, agriculture, industrialization, health care and pharmaceuticals in our region. We are blessed with an immediate 70 million market strong which we can utilize for ourselves. We can change the tide only if we are serious about this.

If there is any place Ndigbo need to throw big money into its food processing, cement and steel Mills. The demand for steel products in South East is highest because of the structures they build there, but its unfortunate that nobody wants to grab the opportunity. There is no working steel mill in SE, the one Chinese are building in Aba is taking forever to be completed.

Guys can we review this interview granted by the President Enugu Diaspora Organisation. He clearly captured all we have discussed and been discussing both on this thread and other Igbo development thread/fora online and offline.

Dr Ayobanna Ikeanumba[/b], [/b][/b]president of the Enugu Diaspora Organisation (EDO), in this interview with REGIS ANUKWUOJI, explains the organisation’s plan to revitalise moribund companies in the state; the group’s 70,000-book donation to IMT, among other issues. Excerpts:

 What does Enugu Diaspora Organisation mean?

It is an association of Enugu people (Ndi Enugu) to start with; secondly it is the coordinating organisation of all Enugu associations all over the world. Though they are not our branches or chapters, we all work together for the overall development of the state. We have Enugu U.S.A with more 15,000 registered members, Enugu Malaysia, Enugu UK, Enugu Ireland, South Africa, Enugu Germany, Enugu Italy, Enugu Brazil, Enugu Spain and many others. There are over 68 known and registered Enugu associations all over the world with a combined population of 219,000 members.

My organisation works hand-in-hand with all these associations to bring about development in Enugu State. The real process of coordination and co-operation has been triggered and has taken off. The result is now showing. We also work very closely with the state government, through many of her departments but especially the office of the Special Adviser to the State Governor on Diaspora Matters.

In other words, we have many members all over the world, some are here in Enugu and in other parts of Nigeria, because for you to be a member of our organisation, you must have lived or still live overseas, and you must be somebody with vested interest in the Diaspora. In funding our projects, we raise funds through our members, other persons and agencies that believe in what we do. We do not raise funds for keeping; we target projects, get the funds and do the project. We are a project driven organisation purely aiming to invest in critical sectors of the economy of Enugu State. We do charity but it’s not our motivation, our motivation is to get profit in what we do and in turn, use part of the profit to do charity. Profit first before charity.

 May we know some of the critical sectors of the economy you have affected or intend to work in?

Actually, when I came on board to lead the organisation, I had to take concrete steps to change the narrative of the organisation; before now it functioned as a beggarly organisation, moving cap in hand, looking for people to donate funds for charity work. In the days we live, things should not really work like that. You make profit before you do charity. Charity costs money. This is our method as I have said earlier.

We are mindful of what we do, so we don’t cross the moral line. To answer your question, we have three critical areas we want to achieve in the shortest possible time. We made these promises to our people and we must deliver.

First is to facilitate to build a Diaspora Estate in Enugu for our members and other persons who might be interested. Second is the Diaspora Library Project and third is the Diaspora Fund Project. These three critical areas are achievable and we must achieve them in order of achievability.

The Diaspora estate was embarked upon to challenge the frustration of our members who have tried but failed over the years to get genuine real estate in Enugu. Sometimes these people run into trouble when they send funds home to their relations and contractors to acquire real estate for them. The funds are either mismanaged or out-rightly stolen, with little or no consequences. In order to check this, as an organisation, we are moving fast to acquire land in partnership with communities or land owners in Enugu, develop the infrastructure through complex technical partnerships and then avail it to our members at affordable options. At the moment, we are working with the Enugu State Housing Development Corporation in a particular estate of theirs with 140 serviced plots of land along the Enugu Port-Harcourt Express Way. They call it Rangers Estate. We call it Rangers Diaspora Village.

This is genuine and straight. As we speak, our members are fast acquiring the plots and are starting full development. At the rate of N7m per plot including full infrastructure, you cannot get it cheaper anywhere of such location in Enugu. This is the foreign direct investment I am talking about- simple and direct. Seven million naira for 140 units is a lot of money and our members are doing it. This fund is coming direct into Enugu and it is changing gradually the economic indices of the stakeholders. Gradually we are getting somewhere promising. We aim to get at least 1,000 of such plots in the next 24 months for our members.

The interesting thing is that people are bringing money home and the multiple effect is there to see; when people bring money effectively in such orderly manner as we are doing now, you will find out that the impact on the economy of the state will be felt in the immediate and extend workers’ remuneration in increments- the traders who supply building materials, the architects who are producing drawings, different types of engineers, even government agencies that approve some of the work, get paid- all have impacts. By this we have and will continue to create a huge market for our people and the state- money from Enugu people for Enugu people.

 We have advanced in the library project. At the moment, we have signed a collaboration agreement with IMT Enugu to re-stock her library.

We have engaged and are relying on our partner associations in the USA and UK to achieve this. In response, they are sending, as we speak 70,000 books to be delivered to IMT. This is unprecedented, especially as the books are coming through direct funding, entirely by our members and partners. Surely, by the end of August this year the batches will start arriving Enugu, sorted and delivered to the school. These are contemporary, purely academic and brand new books, valued at more than N140million. We approached other schools in Enugu, including ESUT but IMT has shown commitment and passion. The rector, Prof. Nweze and his team are people of great character, desirous to do things differently. In order to avoid the pitfalls of the past, we have signed a five year collaboration agreement with the school, to ensure total compliance and usage of the materials for the best interest of the students. This will ensure the books are not diverted or sold by some elements in the school.

In addition to this, we are already in touch with some Enugu indigenes who are lecturers overseas, to assist IMT as academic partners or resource persons. They will assist the school in areas of teaching and research and will also be on hand to assist the lecturers in oversea academic pursuit. So, things are looking good for the school with EDO.

On the Diaspora fund, not in the sense of CBN Diaspora fund programmes, we want to do what we have to do to encourage our people to pool their funds and do something in the state. For instance, we are aiming to invest directly in some critical infrastructures and establishments that are not functioning well at the moment in Enugu- the international conference center, Enugu water Corporation, Enugu Waste Management Authority and others- these establishments are functioning far below expectation. In getting involved, we are currently working in collaboration with all our people in every part of the world to create a pool of funds to get these places to work better. Mechanisms have been activated to raise $500 million of direct funding in the next ten years to achieve this.

It is not impossible to deliver pipe borne water to every home in Enugu. There are millions of persons in Enugu city that need water daily. Statistically, there are about three million persons living in the city with an average daily water usage of ten litres. Our plan will provide good water to this mass of people at minimal fee. This is not rocket science, its common sense.

Water can flow to anywhere, so long as there are pipes and pressure. So the idea of water reaching a part of the city and not reaching the other is strange and dubious. Giving three million persons good water daily at a small fee N5/liter is achievable in Enugu. This will make money for our people, the state and every other person that is involved.

We are also taking aim at the Presidential Hotel, Nike Lake Resort Hotels, Enugu Waste Management Agency, Premier Cashew Limited and plenty other such establishments that have defied redemption. EDO will redeem them and bring them to profitability. We are not unaware of the legal and many other challenges facing these great establishments but we will navigate them out of the woods. We have advanced discussion with reputable globally acclaimed fund manager to handle this project.

Apart the three projects which you have explained, is your organisation thinking of attracting foreign investors into Enugu that will go into manufacturing?

What we intend to do is not necessarily to go scouting for foreign investors as in the common sense of it but foreign-based Enugu investors. Surely we are going to have both local and foreign technical partners in handling a venture of this kind of Diaspora fund project but we are not losing sight of what we want to achieve in the end.

In order to get it right, one needs to know some of the key challenges that might face investors coming into this part of the country. My personal experience tells me that investment partners prefer to land in Lagos and do their businesses there and leave with ease, because they see Lagos as an investor friendly state. They do not see Lagos as other Nigerian states that are always marred in unnecessary bureaucracy and mundane interferences in peoples businesses by government and government persons. Investors don’t like things like that; they will want to know if there are five star hotel brands in the locality like Protea, Southern Sun, Sun International, Marriot etc. They will want to know the safety

of their lives and properties. Big investors want to be safe where ever they go. Enugu for instance, does not have a four star hotel or direct flight to any other country except Ethiopia. How can you command investor respect with such a situation? It is hard if you ask me. Therefore reasonable and profound investors will hardly put huge sums of money in such a place. They would rather prefer to put it in Lagos, where they know they simply get down at Ikeja and fly away and the government won’t truncate their investments. This is why Lagos state is doing everything it can to maintain the mini Nigeria status it has acquired for herself. Nothing goes for free there; you pay for everything and the government makes money to meet the needs of the people- good infrastructure, good services, smart administration and global partnerships. Lagos works like business, it does not work like normal government establishments in Nigeria. I used this as a case study because I have the experiences of many states in Nigeria, including Enugu, with painful consequences. Enugu must begin to run like business for it to be prosperous.

The state cannot run well with the small allocation from the Federal Government or the small N2billion monthly IGR it generates and expect industrialisation and economic explosion, no, the administrators of the state must start thinking outside the box and take nothing for granted. You can’t have a crop of people tagged with no track record of business and administrative achievements to run a state and expect prosperity.

It’s a square hole and must have square peg, nothing more nothing less. We must do away with mediocres and get tested hands to get things going. Political patronage should not be for the business of the state. China and South Africa are good examples, where investors businesses don’t marry with politics. Enugu is capable of borrowing some ideas from these places. EDO is leading the way.

The entire South East Nigeria must get to work. What on earth is wrong with the governments of this part of Nigeria? No single five star hotel in a region with the largest number of billionaires in black Africa.

No direct flights from a region that controls trade and commerce of Nigeria with daily trading volume of little over $US1b. What is wrong? The question can go on and on but the answer lies with us. We must have direct flights from the entire South East of Nigeria to America, South Africa, China, Japan and other countries where our people are trading; this is an area of our strength in the Nigeria formation, we control almost 100percent of the trading capacity of this nation both formal and informal, yet we have not strategically used this to any advantage.

The last I checked, a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet costs US$239m. This is no money for Igbo billionaires, of which we have plenty. What stops ten of them from pooling resources and get this airplane? Perhaps they don’t know it’s possible; someone should tell them. What they need do is pool funds together, buy the plane and lease to a reputable global brand like South African Airways, Virgin, even KLM to fly our people right from Enugu to Johannesburg, London, Europe, China etc. This is what we need. This is what we can do. They can even consider a smaller plane like the Boeing 777. Enugu cannot handle Airbus, so it’s out of the picture. Whatever Ethiopian Airlines are doing to lift from Enugu, every other airline should be encouraged to do the same. South East governments should step in here. There are plenty things these guys can do to shoot Igbo land to the global stage without talking too much. My organisation must get Enugu going in this direction within the time frame we have set for ourselves.Ayobanna Ikeanumba, president of the Enugu Diaspora Organisation (EDO), in this interview with REGIS ANUKWUOJI, explains the organisation’s plan to revitalise moribund companies in the state; the group’s 70,000-book donation to IMT, among other issues. Excerpts:

DawatNama:
If there is any place Ndigbo need to throw big money into its food processing, cement and steel Mills. The demand for steel products in South East is highest because of the structures they build there, but its unfortunate that nobody wants to grab the opportunity. There is no working steel mill in SE, the one Chinese are building in Aba is taking forever to be completed.

I do not know what you are aware of but i know for sure the only two fully functional steel mills in Nigeria are in Nnewi (affiliated to Innoson and serves Nnewi industrial cluster) and Aba (forgotten the name of the man that owns it). Just to buttress this further,i know Igbos provide the core of indigenous technical aspect of oil servicing/services operations. Most indigenous fabrication of tools and implements including tank farms,tankers,local drillers etc are all produced in Aba. Indigenous technology which would have kick-start Nigeria drive to development rests with us but am sure no mainstream media will tell the story.

horsepower101:
Spyder880 as a real estate guy on the ground, I would like to get your opinion on this.

In major eastern cities, I see a lot of buildings from 70s, 80s and 90s that are old but in good condition. Why is it that people are not buying theses buildings and upgrading/renovating them instead of building new ones?

Wouldn’t it be cheaper to do so instead of building a brand new one?

/
In order to buy, the owner must be willing to sell.

Some owners have sentimental attachments to the buildings while for some, that is the only guaranteed pension plan they have.

The last but not the least, the children are already salivating over the rent and the opportunity to become "oga landlord" when the parents die.

/

Otito dili Jesu, na ndu ebighi ebi, Amen.

Handsomegod:
I do not know what you are aware of but i know for sure the only two fully functional steel mills in Nigeria are in Nnewi (affiliated to Innoson and serves Nnewi industrial cluster) and Aba (forgotten the name of the man that owns it). Just to buttress this further,i know Igbos provide the core of indigenous technical aspect of oil servicing/services operations. Most indigenous fabrication of tools and implements including tank farms,tankers,local drillers etc are all produced in Aba. Indigenous technology which would have kick-start Nigeria drive to development rests with us but am sure no mainstream media will tell the story.

I don't know if you are right, but i sure hope what you have said is true.

Since 1970, the northern dominated federal government has tried to deny SE of two industries CEMENT Industry & STEEL ROLLING MILLS

They always wanted construction in the SE to use northern Nigeria cement and steel, even when SE has abundant Limestone deposit (Cement) and Niger Steel.

I am hoping that the steel mills in Asaba and Onitsha are actually functional and supplying the Eastern market with high quality steel products such as rods for durable construction.

I have told people that all the houses built in the 1970s and 1980s in the SE have not collapsed due the the quality of Nigercem cement and Niger steel products used in them. Today we are told that Dangote is giving us 42.5 R portland Cement which nobody has tested to know why buildings built with that cement usually collapse during construction or shortly after. Nigerian government will not investigate, because it is in their interest that no alternative quality cement be found for the SE market.

Otito diri nu Onye nwe anyi Jesu Christi, na ndu ebighebi, Amin.

Word Bank housing Estate, Owerri, Imo state.

spyder880:
Word Bank housing Estate, Owerri, Imo state.

ntn is showing

Summary of Dr Ayobanna Ikeanumba, president of the Enugu Diaspora Organization (EDO) Interview

1) EDO is an umbrella diaspora organization focused on Enugu indigenes.

2) Their main goal is to bring development to Enugu state by mobilizing funds in the diaspora.

3) They target specific developmental project and raise funds for it.

4) They also work closely with the Enugu state government for project implementation

5) They are “profit driven” at the core of their initiatives but they also use the proceeds of their profits for charity work.

6) They have 3 pilot projects that they are currently embarking on:
a) Diaspora Estate in Enugu
b) Diaspora Library Project
c) Diaspora Fund Project

7) The goal of the Diaspora fund is to invest in critical infracture such as; The international conference center, Enugu water Corporation, Enugu Waste Management Authority, Presidential Hotel, Nike Lake Resort Hotels, Premier Cashew Limited etc.

8*) Their goal is to raise $500 million in the next 10 years for various projects in Enugu.

9) In addition, they are working on attracting FDI for industries in Enugu

10) They hope that this idea is also implemented in all the south-east states



In my opinion, this man is my hero. I want to give him a big hug. He is doing basically what all of us have been hoping that the IGBO diaspora community will start doing. God bless Enugu Diaspora Organization and its Visionary leadership.

horsepower101:
Summary of Dr Ayobanna Ikeanumba, president of the Enugu Diaspora Organization (EDO) Interview

1) EDO is an umbrella diaspora organization focused on Enugu indigenes.

2) Their main goal is to bring development to Enugu state by mobilizing funds in the diaspora.

3) They target specific developmental project and raise funds for it.

4) They also work closely with the Enugu state government for project implementation

5) They are “profit driven” at the core of their initiatives but they also use the proceeds of their profits for charity work.

6) They have 3 pilot projects that they are currently embarking on:
a) Diaspora Estate in Enugu
b) Diaspora Library Project
c) Diaspora Fund Project

7) The goal of the Diaspora fund is to invest in critical infracture such as; The international conference center, Enugu water Corporation, Enugu Waste Management Authority, Presidential Hotel, Nike Lake Resort Hotels, Premier Cashew Limited etc.

8*) Their goal is to raise $500 million in the next 10 years for various projects in Enugu.

9) In addition, they are working on attracting FDI for industries in Enugu

10) They hope that this idea is also implemented in all the south-east states



In my opinion, this man is my hero. I want to give him a big hug. He is doing basically what all of us have been hoping that the IGBO diaspora community will start doing. God bless Enugu Diaspora Organization and its Visionary leadership.

He is on point pooling resources together to develop our land is what we need. Yes 3 Igbo billionaires can get a 777 plane

horsepower101:
Summary of Dr Ayobanna Ikeanumba, president of the Enugu Diaspora Organization (EDO) Interview

1) EDO is an umbrella diaspora organization focused on Enugu indigenes.

2) Their main goal is to bring development to Enugu state by mobilizing funds in the diaspora.

3) They target specific developmental project and raise funds for it.

4) They also work closely with the Enugu state government for project implementation

5) They are “profit driven” at the core of their initiatives but they also use the proceeds of their profits for charity work.

6) They have 3 pilot projects that they are currently embarking on:
a) Diaspora Estate in Enugu
b) Diaspora Library Project
c) Diaspora Fund Project

7) The goal of the Diaspora fund is to invest in critical infracture such as; The international conference center, Enugu water Corporation, Enugu Waste Management Authority, Presidential Hotel, Nike Lake Resort Hotels, Premier Cashew Limited etc.

8*) Their goal is to raise $500 million in the next 10 years for various projects in Enugu.

9) In addition, they are working on attracting FDI for industries in Enugu

10) They hope that this idea is also implemented in all the south-east states



In my opinion, this man is my hero. I want to give him a big hug. He is doing basically what all of us have been hoping that the IGBO diaspora community will start doing. God bless Enugu Diaspora Organization and its Visionary leadership.

I have a feeling Dr Ikeanumba has been following this thread! Like you said, he's going along with most of our suggestions these past few months. Just goes to show that what we're doing here isn't a wasted effort.

I would like to see all umbrella state diaspora associations to key into what their Enugu kinsfolk are doing. First on a state level, and the on a Pan-Igbo level. The pan-Igbo one could be concerned with generally promoting Igbo social, economic and political interests and values. This could include promotion of the Igbo language; a intra-state rail network; linking the SE by rail to at least one seaport, and supporting/part-financing at least one economic enabler in each state (like coal or gas fed power stations, airports, inland river ports, improving tourist potentials, agriculture, etc).

Also, i think it would be better if they used the stock market as a platform to raise the money they need. The way they're doing it now, it's only open to a few thousand people who are members of the respective diaspora organisations, and this would limit the amount they're able to raise. But if they were to raise the money via the stock market, it could then be open to not just the diaspora organisation members abroad, but millions of Igbos both at home and abroad. Doing it via the stock market would also engender confidence and the money would be secure and managed better. If there's enough publicity and confidence in the scheme, it could raise at least $5 Billion in ten years, and it would also be easier to enter partnerships with bodies like the World Bank and countries with billions of dollars of spare funds to invest like China.

Xander85:


I have a feeling Dr Ikeanumba has been following this thread! Like you said, he's going along with most of our suggestions these past few months. Just goes to show that what we're doing here isn't a wasted effort.

I would like to see all umbrella state diaspora associations to key into what their Enugu kinsfolk are doing. First on a state level, and the on a Pan-Igbo level. The pan-Igbo one could be concerned with generally promoting Igbo social, economic and political interests and values. This could include promotion of the Igbo language; a intra-state rail network; linking the SE by rail to at least one seaport, and supporting/part-financing at least one economic enabler in each state (like coal or gas fed power stations, airports, inland river ports, improving tourist potentials, agriculture, etc).

Also, i think it would be better if they used the stock market as a platform to raise the money they need. The way they're doing it now, it's only open to a few thousand people who are members of the respective diaspora organisations, and this would limit the amount they're able to raise. But if they were to raise the money via the stock market, it could then be open to not just the diaspora organisation members abroad, but millions of Igbos both at home and abroad. Doing it via the stock market would also engender confidence and the money would be secure and managed better. If there's enough publicity and confidence in the scheme, it could raise at least $5 Billion in ten years, and it would also be easier to enter partnerships with bodies like the World Bank and countries with billions of dollars of spare funds to invest like China.

If he is following the thread, it shows he is a great leader.

Part of the reason for poor leadership in Igboland has been very poor vision of its leaders. Poor vision starts with the mindset that you alone know it all and know all the answers to the world's problems. You will simply end up like Buhari trying to restrict dollar flow and almost crashing the country's economy because he thought he knew international trade, but in truth he knew just as mush as a goat would understand economics and economic planning.

Vision comes from both inspiration and developing other peoples' ideas into practicable forms. Most Igbo leaders often think of themselves as all knowing and omnipotent to even learn any concrete ideas from anyone. So they waste their time in leadership position eating bitterleaf soup and chopping goat head pepper soup, and doing one tiny project, like Mbadinuju that always went to Onitsha main market to pray every Monday morning, as if that is all to life.

I thank God for a bold visionary leader like Obiano. In just 4 years, Anambra is now a state known with flyovers and high quality of finished products like hotels and mall.Investors are helped so that they can come into the state. Enugu, Ebonyi and to some extent Imo are also lucky with bold visionary leaders at last. Especially Governors of Enugu and Ebonyi states. Leaders who think big in developing what the state needs to prosper. Not leaders who would call a party because they donated 20 textbooks to an elementary school.

My Abia which should be a natural leader in SE business, innovation, investment, solid infrastructure, education and boom of new housing layout has sadly taken a back seat in these matters for far too long. Aba which is arguably the Kano of the SE has failed to lead the region in business and manufacturing basically due to decayed infrastructure within the city. Onitsha has since taken over as the undisputed economic powerhouse of the SE.
Abia seems to have gotten a fair leader finally, but the problems he inherited from the 2 Kalus that ruined the state for 16 solid years has made my Abia to remain the backward one in current trend to development.

OreMI22:


If he is following the thread, it shows he is a great leader.

Part of the reason for poor leadership in Igboland has been very poor vision of its leaders. Poor vision starts with the mindset that you alone know it all and know all the answers to the world's problems. You will simply end up like Buhari trying to restrict dollar flow and almost crashing the country's economy because he thought he knew international trade, but in truth he knew just as mush as a goat would understand economics and economic planning.

Vision comes from both inspiration and developing other peoples' ideas into practicable forms. Most Igbo leaders often think of themselves as all knowing and omnipotent to even learn any concrete ideas from anyone. So they waste their time in leadership position eating bitterleaf soup and chopping goat head pepper soup, and doing one tiny project, like Mbadinuju that always went to Onitsha main market to pray every Monday morning, as if that is all to life.

I thank God for a bold visionary leader like Obiano. In just 4 years, Anambra is now a state known with flyovers and high quality of finished products like hotels and mall.Investors are helped so that they can come into the state. Enugu, Ebonyi and to some extent Imo are also lucky with bold visionary leaders at last. Especially Governors of Enugu and Ebonyi states. Leaders who think big in developing what the state needs to prosper. Not leaders who would call a party because they donated 20 textbooks to an elementary school.

My Abia which should be a natural leader in SE business, innovation, investment, solid infrastructure, education and boom of new housing layout has sadly taken a back seat in these matters for far too long. Aba which is arguably the Kano of the SE has failed to lead the region in business and manufacturing basically due to decayed infrastructure within the city. Onitsha has since taken over as the undisputed economic powerhouse of the SE.
Abia seems to have gotten a fair leader finally, but the problems he inherited from the 2 Kalus that ruined the state for 16 solid years has made my Abia to remain the backward one in current trend to development.

If you want to fix Abia State, fix Aba first. It is the heart beat of that state. 16 years of neglect is no joke. BUT Inspite of everything Aba has been through, I am very optimistic about its future. Aba still has the fundamentals of a successful city and economy. It has manufacturing and retail on point.

Once Aba gets its infrastructure challenges right, it will have one of the biggest economic revitalization that we have ever withnessed in Nigeria.

The Proposed Enyimba Economic City will give it the energy boost that it desperately needs. The plan looks solid. I hope to happens as planned.

World Bank housing estate Owerri, Imo state.

The greenery has a cooling effect on the atmosphere here......

spyder880:
World Bank housing estate Owerri, Imo state.

One thing Rochas will be remembered for is the new Owerri area which he implemented to the letter according to the master plan and tarring of the World bank housing area.

Personally, i don't think Imo state did badly under Rochas. He was definitely better than Ohakim, Udenwa or other visionless folks the state had produced since 1999. Although i am not aware if Rochas accumulated debts for the state. But, nobody can deny that Rochas left Imo state better than he met it.

Ikemba Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu tunnel, Owerri

horsepower101:


If you want to fix Abia State, fix Aba first. It is the heart beat of that state. 16 years of neglect is no joke. BUT Inspite of everything Aba has been through, I am very optimistic about its future. Aba still has the fundamentals of a successful city and economy. It has manufacturing and retail on point.

Once Aba gets its infrastructure challenges right, it will have one of the biggest economic revitalization that we have ever withnessed in Nigeria.

The Proposed Enyimba Economic City will give it the energy boost that it desperately needs. The plan looks solid. I hope to happens as planned.

I hope Aba recovers and pulls Abia state up to become the giant it was meant to be.

One unfortunate mindset of Abia rulers had been to neglect Aba in preference to Umuahia, which had no industrial or economic capacity possessed by Aba.

I hope the successive governments of Abia will recognize that Aba is where they need to fix to pull the state up. Just like Anambra recognized that Onitsha was very important in pulling the state up than Awka. Imagine if Onitsha was abandoned as a sh*thole and Awka is made a London, the entire state would still be a sh*thole because its biggest city is terrible.

Aba must be planned in a way that all it's roads are tarred with gutters on both sides of the road.Trees and greenery must return to Aba the way Owerri has taken greenery with planting of trees seriously for a few years now. If we eliminate the flooded streets of Aba due to lack of gutter system, and make the entire city accessible and decent, the people will naturally reclaim their manufacturing ingenuity and enterprise.

To fix Aba might require two or more dedicated construction companies permanently stationed there to go from street to street repairing the roads and fixing gutters that are well interconnected to other gutter systems of adjoining streets. Tarring one street and leaving the town isn't a strategy to fix Aba because of the many decades of neglect the city has suffered.

Inside Owerri streets.......