₦airaland Forum

I wonder how you guys fall to the temptation of answering mxre8.... From all indications, that guys is a murderer and his conscience is not giving him rest at all... He uses Nairaland as a consolation to his dead conscience, he is humanly dead, has no conscience, he can kill and yes he can kill, he is highly possessed with terrible spirits.... He is a forbidden soul.... Hell is real heaven is real...Mxr8 ... Repent of your sins and go for deliverance now.... your comments on Nairaland has been submitted to The Nigerian Police Force... You will soon be caught... You are a kidnapper, you kill, you rape... It's all over you... IMO is not your problem at all... We love I'm state too much.. but your problem is the evil you have done to people.... Repent now Jesus will accept you... Nevermind all the atrcocities you have done in the past, His blooed will cleanse you. For years you have been using demonic words on people you don't know..... Repent now

Why is this one crying and foaming in the mouth?

ScotMisile:
I wonder how you guys fall to the temptation of answering mxre8.... From all indications, that guys is a murderer and his conscience is not giving him rest at all... He uses Nairaland as a consolation to his dead conscience, he is humanly dead, has no conscience, he can kill and yes he can kill, he is highly possessed with terrible spirits.... He is a forbidden soul.... Hell is real heaven is real...Mxr8 ... Repent of your sins and go for deliverance now.... your comments on Nairaland has been submitted to The Nigerian Police Force... You will soon be caught... You are a kidnapper, you kill, you rape... It's all over you... IMO is not your problem at all... We love I'm state too much.. but your problem is the evil you have done to people.... Repent now Jesus will accept you... Nevermind all the atrcocities you have done in the past, His blooed will cleanse you. For years you have been using demonic words on people you don't know..... Repent now

Imo1stson:
Okorocha today commissioned the best State judiciary complex in Nigeria located at New Owerri. The keyword is "best".

No pics of the inside?

Xander85:
No pics of the inside?

you fear it may be empty right?

Xander85:
No pics of the inside?

you fear it may be empty right?

Xander85:
No pics of the inside?

More photos

More

Unbiased1:
you fear it may be empty right?

Oh boy... See demonic mindset... Shebi we have all seen the pictures... Guy has not even started posting, you have raised a point to critic that the inside in empty... Wow Nairaland is full of emptiness and joblessness

Late Sam Mbakwe built four regional surface water supply systems in four years in Aba, Umuahia, Owerri and Okigwe zones. Most expensive.

Okorocha is building Prisons, Police Headquarters and Court in Owerri.
Are Imolites criminals?

Water to drink is the first thing any reasonable governor gives to his subjects.

We are not all foolish in Imo state.

How many days to end Iberiberism governance in Imo state?

More photos

Looks impressive! The inside looks ok as well! Can also see they made a half-hearted attempt at landscaping as well!

Hope the building has lifts....every modern storied public building has lifts!

All these projects, aren’t they federal? I know they’re located in Imo and all that, but is the federal gov’t going to offset at least part of the cost of these projects Imo State is building for them? Few weeks ago i saw on the news where the federal gov’t was talking of plans to build a prison in Kano, so Rochas should talk whoever is in charge to see if Imo will get reimbursed for all these projects they’re building for the federal gov’t!

Inside the buildings are well finished like the hospitals.

The lanscaping is excellent even though the photos aren't detailed.

There are also dozens of courtrooms.

More from inside

I’m impressed with the interior! They should bring in some potted plants as well, to soften the ambience of the interior!

Another Nigerian Victoria Obaze becomes Mayor in UK




Mrs Victoria Obaze, a Nigerian from Imo State made history on Wednesday after she was sworn into office as the first black female Civic Mayor of London Borough of Tower Hamlets, United Kingdom (UK).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obaze’s inauguration on Wednesday is the latest in turn of events that have seen Nigerians emerge as Mayors in their area councils of residence in the UK.

It will be recalled that Mr Ernest Ezeajughi, and Mrs Kate Anorue, both from Anambra State, were recently sworn into office as Mayors of London Borough of Brent and Enfield, respectively.

Obaze who contested three previous councillorship elections in 2010, 2014 as well as 2016 and failed, eventually succeeded in an election conducted on May 5, 2018 in Whitechapel Ward.



She later became the Council’s Deputy Speaker following her nomination by her Councillor Colleagues from where she took over the mantle as Mayor of London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

A statement containing brief history of Obaze obtained by NAN from her close associate and UK Chapter Coordinator, Ugonwanne Social Club Nigeria Int’l, a Nigerian socio-cultural group in UK, Ms Blessing Chijekwu, revealed that the newly sworn-in Mayor had lived in Borough for over 30 years.

“For Councillor (Cllr) Obaze life is all about service to humanity with diligence. Her political experience started when she was elected as one of the board of directors to oversee the regeneration of her area, the Ocean Estate, in the 1980s.

“The move motivated her to get into politics having noticed that there were no black women in the council chambers and this led her to open a project named Healthy Life Style for Stepney Women, East London.

“The project was funded by local authority through Ocean African Caribbean Association which she and her late husband Chief Evangelist Charles Obaze, co-founded.

“She also established Ocean Saturday School aimed at ensuring school attainment for children, as well as Ocean Football Club through which young boys were able to have residential football experiences with Chelsea football Club.

“Above all, Cllr Obaze loves God with a passion; she is a member of Parochial Church Council (PCC), as well as an Executive Council member at St Dunstan’s Church of England Parish in Stepney.

“She is also a Secondary School governor in Tower Hamlets and a habitual visitor to the elderly and physically challenged in the community,” the statement quoted Chijekwu as saying.


The statement also quoted Lolo Ngozi Nwanze, President, Ugonwanne Social Club Nigeria Int’l as saying that Obaze was chosen as life matron of the club because of her meekness and morality.

“These are the virtues that have brought her to where she (Obaze) is today.”

Obaze who has four children and two grand Children attended West London College and Metropolitan University where she studied Business Administration and Community Sector Management at different times.

She also has certification in childcare which enabled her operate a registered charitable childcare centre in UK named Vicharles Play Centre. (NAN)


https://thenationonlineng.net/another-nigerian-victoria-obaze-becomes-mayor-in-uk/

B2mario:
I stop replying you when I asked for picture comparison between the two sister states refused and diverted the attention.

Let's compare the well known roads and areas in Aba and Onitsha, Umuahia and Awka, Arochukwu and Nnewi, Abiriba and Ihiala, Ohafia and Ekwulobia, Igberre and Otuocha and know the state that is truly dead. You are not Igbo to my best of knowledge and I've been keeping quiet thinking that the real indigenes from the state will caution you but they keep mute meaning that they are enjoying your madness here.

My Question is, what is it that can make a right thinking person be proud of Anambra, a state that lives by propaganda, no meaningful development, a state without a standard state owned stadium, a state without a good functioning state hospital, a very dirty state that pay little or no attention to cleanliness, beautification and tourism, a state with little attention to education, a state that is a total failure to southeast and a state that always bring disunity among the great Igbos.

I know Obi and Ngige tried their best in some aspects of the state economy, but what has Obiano done? Just built 3 substandard flyovers in Awka, fixed 2 or 3 roads in Onitsha, that's all. Every day party and drinking and the myopic indigenes are not only being comfortable but also praising a less performing governor. Someone who has not built a single school, hospital, estate, market or expand Onitsha and Awka. If I demand for a picture of development in the whole Anambra the only thing I can get is the flyover at upper Iweka, Enugu/Onitsha road and people's private buildings in Onitsha, then in Awka, the substandard flyover with iron bars snapped from different angles, Nnewi is no go area.

But demand for such from Ebonyi, Abia, Imo and Enugu and see flocks of pictures from different areas of the state. For your information, Abia is far ahead of your claimed state. If you are still in doubt let's fix time and do picture comparison so that the unbaised people here will give their judgement. And if you can't do this, please don't disturb me and Abia state again.

Chino is a deranged lunatic. Everybody here knows that. The best thing for most sane people to do is to ignore him, rather than your asinine emotional raving about Anambra because Chino hurt your feelings. Then you claimed Anambra people here "enjoy his madness" - to provide cover for your prejudiced rant about Anambra. I was once on friendlier terms here with Chino until I confirmed he is not well the day he posted sick images of Enugu people who were massacred by Fulani herdsmen in his usual back-and-forth with "Wawa" people that he likes abusing. Does that sound like somebody that listens to any "caution" to you?

Oh, and regardless of how poorly or otherwise Obiano is performing, don't kid yourself - Anambra's public infrastructure is vastly superior to Abia. I don't say this to insult Abia or anything, and I don't care about your juvenile chest-beating, diick measuring contest. It's just a fact that in this democratic dispensation since '99, Abia has easily been the worst-governed state in the SE. By far. Citizens of the state may be resilient, and industrious and resourceful and enterprising - but public governance in that state might be the worst in Nigeria. The state of decay and filth on your road network alone is vomit-inducing. Perhaps stick to the truth rather than coming here with your emotional ranting because Chino hurt your feelings. If you descend to his level, you're no better than he is.

Obi1kenobi:
Oh, and regardless of how poorly or otherwise Obiano is performing, don't kid yourself - Anambra's public infrastructure is vastly superior to Abia. I don't say this to insult Abia or anything, and I don't care about your juvenile chest-beating, diick measuring contest. It's just a fact that in this democratic dispensation since '99, Abia has easily been the worst-governed state in the SE. By far. Citizens of the state may be resilient, and industrious and resourceful and enterprising - but public governance in that state might be the worst in Nigeria. The state of decay and filth on your road network alone is vomit-inducing Perhaps stick to the truth rather than coming here with your emotional ranting because Chino hurt your feelings. If you descend to his level, you're no better than he is.

Lol Obiora i will forgive your other rants about chino but i am more concerned about the highlighted part. It serves the purpose.

But i must commend your use of English language- your description of Abia state is indeed legendary, savagery, brutal and pure statement of fact without fear or favor.

B2mario have you seen that i am not the only that knows that Abia state is cursed dead rotten and decayed. The situation and condition of Abia state is more spiritual than it is ordinary. An independent observer has proved that Abia state is by far the worst state in Nigeria. All the states in Nigeria have left Abia far behind.

B2mario you are stateless because Abia state is dead. Abia state can best be described as a SEWAGE PIT TOILET filled with dilapidated decayed smelly roads and environment.

B2mario come back here, you have disappeared for 2days since i turned the radar on your dead Abia state. We must continue lol

Abagworo aka Imo1stson, Okorocha is being processed for prison. APC hates Okorocha, PDP hates Okorocha, APGA hates Okorocha, Igbo hates Okorocha, Nigerians hates Okorocha.

Some people said that Igbos hates Okorocha because he is in APC, APC hates Okorocha even more than the Igbos. Okorocha has become a one legged limping failed outcast.

Okorocha looted Imo state with nothing to show except few substandard broken down shabby roads. With over 250billiin in debt, roads in Owerri and Imo at large are in shambles and mess, IMSU and IMSUTH are poultry farms but Okorocha is wasting money building FG projects like state police headquarters, court rooms, building statues everywhere just to feel accepted outside while Imolites are suffering in abject poverty, non existent social amenities, payment of 70% salary etc.

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has accused the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole and other leaders of the party of instigating the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other law enforcement agencies to harass, arrest and detain him.

Okorocha stated this in two separate fundamental rights enforcement suits marked FHC/ABJ/CS/474/19 and FHC/ABJ/CS/475/19 and filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, adding that the anti-corruption agencies had been directed to arrest him and keep him in detention as soon as he hands over as governor on May 29.


He said he had received no less than 25 invitations from the anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies” in a purported investigation of projects executed by the Imo State government in a bid to find some material to justify their conclusion that he is guilty of corrupt practices”.

READ ALSO: Defaulters risk N10,000 fine as FRSC checks vehicle papers on Monday


He added that the plan of the APC leaders had been “expanded to include a reign of terror against the applicant’s political, business associates and family members including his wife and children”.

According to him, his political and business associates, as well as family members allegedly targeted by the said “reign of terror” are, Uloma Rochas, Uju Rochas, Uchechi Rochas, Ahamefula Rochas, Amen Rochas, Amamchi Rochas, Uzoma Anwukah and Uche Nwosu.


Maintaining his innocence, he stated that he did not commit any offence “to warrant the incessant threats of arrest, detention, the harassment and terror being unleashed upon him and his family”.

He urged the court to restrain EFCC and other agencies from harrassing, intimidating and arresting him and his family members.

The defendants whom the plaintiff is seeking an order to restrain are the Attorney General of the Federation, the Inspector General of Police, the State Security Service, the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, and the Code of Conduct Bureau.

https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/punchng.com/oshiomhole-apc-leaders-instigating-efcc-dss-icpc-ccb-to-arrest-detain-me-after-handover-okorocha-tells-court/amp/

Rocha's Tried. He is best Governor IMO ever had since 1999

Mrjudefixed47:
Read below it

Oga, take this elsewhere.
Leave this thread alone.

MyGeneration:
Rocha's Tried. He is best Governor IMO ever had since 1999

Okorocha tried too much for Owerri.

Provided the next governor faces development outside Owerri from May 29, but maintains the Owerri infrastructures.
Provided next governor understands that gov Okorocha faced development of only Owerri because of his age-old problems against Orlu people. Provided the next governor understands that Okorocha did all these development wonders in Owerri with the 8 years federal allocations of the 12 local govt ares in Orlu zone, 9 local government areas of Owerri zone, and the 6 local government areas of Okigwe zone.
As local government allocations go straight to the local government areas from June 1, we shall no more tolerate the sinking of much of Imo state's capital development funds on expansion and beautification of Owerri while Orlu and other Imo towns remain glorified villages - million miles of development behind Owerri. This pattern of development in Imo state is not obtainable in any other country of civilised people.

Interview: We will hold Ihedioha Accountable-Engr Charles Ugwu
by hornnews

April 29, 2019


Engr. Charles Ugwu is a renowned industrialist who hails from Amuzi in Obowo. He got into politics according to him when he saw things were not working well and felt the need to make some contributions that would salvage a bad situation in Imo state. He fought for the governorship position in the state before he became a Minister of Commerce and Industry briefly under the late President Umaru Musa Yara’dua.Ugwu was one time President, Manufacturer’s Association of Nigeria, MAN. He is one of the leading voices in the Imo Elders Advisory Council and was recently appointed a member of the Technical Transition Committee by Governor-elect, Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha. In this interview with our AFAM ECHI, he spoke glowingly of the bright future that awaits Imolites, adding that they would hold Ihedioha accountable. He insists that the Speakership position must not come from Okigwe Zone. It promises an interesting read. Enjoy the ride.

First,let me congratulate you and your party for returning to power after 12 long years of absence in the scheme of things. How do you feel about it all?

It is not an issue of returning to power. It is good for Imo to have taken over governance, and positioning somebody they deliberately chose as qualified and viable. So it is more to congratulate ndi Imo for making the right choice in the candidate they have now placed in the position to govern their state after the last 8-12 years we have seen different leaders that haven’t made a positive impact in our state. So we should congratulate Imo. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is the political vehicle being used to institute a new governance in Imo state.

I can recall you are a member of the Imo State Elders Advisory Council that proposed and endorsed Emeka Ihedioha who eventually won. During the period, the group canvassed that the Charter of Equity should be allowed to operate. Can we say that Ihedioha owe his victory to this agitation by Owerri Zone that it is their turn to rule?

No. The Elders is made up of people of high repute, integrity, and honour. When Imo was distressed and challenged with finding a direction for good leadership, they stepped up. It is not them alone. There are many other people who played a part. The PDP played a strong part. Many Imo citizens who are not politicians also played a part. So I cannot claim that it is only the Elders that spoke. The Elders did a great job by standing up for truth and speaking truth to power and tried to change the bad government. That was why they put their weight, their reputation, their good names, their efforts, and their resources to ensure that a good candidate emerged to govern Imo. Imo citizens of great reputations came together and spoke out in unison to say never again. They stood in support of a good candidate and even after the election they are standing still to make sure that the governor they have chosen does the things he promised to do and ensure that Imo gets good governance. That is the role that Imo Elders is trying to play.

But it looks to some observers that the Imo Elders Advisory Council is factionalized. At the time a group endorsed Dr. Ikedi Ohakim while your own group pitched tenth with Emeka Ihedioha. What actually happened?

There is no fractionalisation, there is no division. The Imo Council of Elders came off from the grass roots of Okigwe, Orlu and Owerri Zone. They are made up of people of maturity, reputation, competence, they came together. It was when we began to make statements that all kinds of groups including the ones floated by the out-going government came on stream and claiming to be elders but the Elders Council we are talking about I can name them. They are the leaders who by their capacity, reputation and names we know. They are not dubious. We can talk of Pascal Dozie, General Ihekire (rtd), Air Commodore Ochulor (rtd), Ebere Udeagu former deputy governor, Dr. Douglas Acholonu former deputy governor, etc. They number over a hundred who came together. The other group that came was a spurious one who are the acolytes, servants, promoters, of His Excellency Dr. Ikedi Ohakim and it was short lived. As soon as they finished their assignments they dissolved into the crowd. But the Elders Council which I am talking about is a formal organization and they would continue to play a part even in the new government. They are listed in the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC.

The efforts of the IEAC could be seen as interventionist agenda to stop the drifting state from hitting the rocks. People are asking why the elders slept so deep before waking up to the reality when so much damage has been to the state.

No, it is not that they were sleeping. We assumed that the democratic ethos that led to the election of Governor Rochas Okorocha would continue after he came into office. So we gave him space to run the government, to bring his own ideas to implement the things that he has promised he would do which were good on paper but he ultimately derailed. Okorocha was so overwhelmed by the level of resources available to Imo and saw that as his own empire and was willing to defend it. So the elders kept a low profile, kept the matter because he has the reins of power, he has the authority, the house of assembly. Those who failed woefully in this mismanagement and bad governance were the house of assembly who were supposed to prevail as checks and balance to the government of Imo state. They didn’t do it. When everything failed and we didn’t have recourse to him, the elders stood up to say to hell with it, this must stop, we must find a new leadership, we must produce a new government but we don’t want violence. We don’t want our state to degenerate to anarchy, so the elders of Imo came up at the time anarchy was threatening us.

You are a member of what is now referred to as the 140 wise men which is the Technical Transition Committee (TTC) set up by the governor-elect to chart a new course for the state. What should we be expecting from the government of Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha?

Emeka Ihedioha by appointing the 140 wise men gave notice that wisdom does not lie entirely with him. And he wants to draw from the wisdom, from the capacity, of all the Imo people. So he stretched his hands and drew from a whole range of people, the academia, politicians, engineers, professionals, accountants, entrepreneurs like us, he picked from a whole milieu of Imo state resource base to hear from them, to set a priority for his government. So what we are doing is to look at the most important thing, what are the priorities, what must we do to stop the haemorrhage, how can we get our government back, how can we get the government connected to the federal resource, to the international donor agencies, to the things that are happening that we lost out in the last 8 years. Imo is an abandoned state. If you go out there to Lagos and Abuja and mention Imo, people will say are you serious. We are not involved in anything. There is no federal presence, no federal establishments. What Ihedioha has done is to bring people together to cook based on those ideas, the strategies that can be implemented to uplift Imo which in his own parlance is to rebuild Imo. That is the role we are playing and we are going to come up with ideas, strategies and timeline. What we don’t have at the moment is the financial resource because usually money follows good ideas, good management. When we package our ideas, and get our thoughts and plan it well, we will find the resources. The world is awash with resources and we are going to get it to develop our state. We will hold him to account. Remember having appointed us, including myself and others, we will hold His Excellency Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha to account and we will ask him eye ball to eye ball what he has done with our plans, with our resources. We are willing to serve, we are not there for money, and we are not asking him to pay us. We are there to encourage him to get Imo back, to develop Imo. I can show you clear strategies later if you don’t mind.

We would like to know Sir what happened to your Rokana Industries that once made our state popular because industries like that are a rare find in Imo?

Rokana Industry till today is still working? It is limping that is what I would say. It is limping in the sense that the ideas, the management, the skill we represented because we stood out for excellence, we stood out for quality products, are still there but we have been affected by infrastructure. There is no power. Power has been the major problem. Second, is the way government manages the import tariff allowing smuggling and faking of our products from China in the brand names that we registered. We are not able to enforce anything on that. But Rokana is still making tooth brushes, making excellent products. There is another company, a sister company, Uzii water, in the same state being affected by the same power problem and bad roads that we could not transport our products. But generally speaking, in the whole country, industries have suffered badly because of lack of infrastructure. If you remember great names like Adebowale, Nnanna Kalu Star Paper Mills, Golden Guiness Brewery and you name them, industries that were into manufacturing got closed by deficiencies in infrastructure. This is the reason that we are praying that in this government of Ihedioha we should create an infrastructure base that would sustain a new initiative in manufacturing and processing. It can be done. Just bring the power, the market is there. Rokana is limping but it will bounce back. It is producing but not making noise any way. Uzii too will come back because the natural spring where it is sourced is still there at Obowo and we are at the point of reinvigorating it and restarting up operations.

If you check properly Imo has motley crowd of entrepreneurs like you. We remember people like Leo Stan Eke (Zinox Computers), Frank Nneji (ABC Transport), Pascal Dozie (Diamond Bank), Orange Drugs, Tony Chukwu, and many others who can hold their own any day and are doing good in other lands. How can we tap into this group to turn things around for our state?

I agree with you. Imo is endowed, blessed with people that are creative, innovators, people who could excel in every field. We are trying to ask them under the new administration of Emeka Ihedioha to bring a branch of their businesses home. That is the first step. Part of our program is to get them to write a program for the new government. Leo Stan of Zinox has been a great supporter of the incoming government and has played a wonderful role and he would still play a greater part by bringing his ICT skills into Imo. It is the same thing with Ezenna (Orange Drugs). Imo has certain advantages. When we now position infrastructure, power roads, broadband internet and other opportunities that we can have including the management of the administration or government you will find that businesses will come. By the way Imo is in the middle of eleven states in the South South and South East.

What is the implication of that?

Imo has a location advantage if you look at the map of Southern Nigeria. If you are going to Calabar or Akwa Ibom or Rivers from Lagos you have to pass through Imo. If you are coming from Enugu to the same place you will pass through Imo. There is a way you can position the state as an enclave economy where you can produce for a market of 50-56 million people for the South South and South East. It is our market. So all these guys you are talking about when they produce these goods they will go there. The welders we have on the street will be engaged the day we start working efficiently and competitively taking advantage of the market. We have the brains. What is holding us back is the infrastructure. That is why we are getting Emeka to focus on infrastructure by providing him an environment that will enable these enterprises to blossom. After all, people like Korea have no natural resources, all they have is acumen, but we have the two.

Imo people are lamenting about serious decay in every area of life. If you were to advise Ihedioha, which area do you think lies the greatest need of the state where he should start to pay attention first?

The immediate priority is to set up a government. In Imo state today we haven’t got a government. We are in total ruin. We have a one man dictator who has been running around like a colossus. We need a government in the Civil Service that can implement a great idea and the strategies that we are developing. We need to create order, enthrone good governance, and deal with the issues of security. We will tackle unemployment, not just by word of mouth but tackling it by creating jobs through investment and activities, small scale manufacturing, etc. In agriculture for example, one of the things we have is developing the Imo River Valley and grow the products that are viable within our economy. We have an opportunity for Rice. You may not believe it but we do. We have great opportunity in manufacturing; every street is clogged up with welders and fabricators. We can train them and put them in a place where they can work with power supply to meet up the skills training. We can transform their work. I know so. I can speak well on that because it is an area I know .If we give people the opportunity the furniture trade will be dominated by us, the fabrication area too, the garment trade will get a boost. What is needed is to set up a government by rebuilding some of the institutions to focus on production, agriculture, manufacturing, on small scale. There are so many things that we can do even in terms of food consumption. We complain that we have no protein because we don’t have meat. If we cannot have cattle why not poultry, what about piggery, we can transform here for that purpose. Pork meat is required all over the world. In Nigeria we cannot get enough to go round. There are areas the government working with citizens like us will produce goods and services that will enable us dominate provided that we are competitive.

What do you mean by being competitive here?

That is when we have learnt about better ways of doing things and in terms of infrastructure. And we have the market. The funding we need we can access through the so many windows the Central Bank has created, even though it may not be easy for us. We can compete with anybody and achieve excellence in what we are doing. We have high hopes that Emeka will do well moving the state forward.

Your last response reminds me of something you did. You talked about a Rice opportunity here but you set up a Rice mill at Ebonyi. What actually took your attention away from here?

No, the rice mills we have in Ebonyi and Enugu states were part of the federal projects at the time that Imo wasn’t on the map of the federal government to locate any of these industries. So when they decided to take off we participated in the bidding and the mills were now built. Since then I have studied quite deeply the viability of rice mills in Imo state and I am convinced that we have a good chance. On the Imo River we have over 10, 000 hectares.

In which areas can we find this?

Ihitte Uboma. If you follow the Imo river from Ideato, all the way from Onuimo, down to Ehime, Ihitte Uboma, go past Obowo, going through Ezinihitte down to Owerri Nta, the whole of that valley that is over 80 kilometres following that river, represents enormous opportunity for us to develop for maize, for rice and other crops. Then if you come to Ohaji Egbema and Ngor Okapala, these are in addition to the natural products of oil palm; which is what we are doing; you can appreciate the enormous potentials. We are going to bring a new industry to deal with oil palm business by creating a biomass plant that will use the whole palm trees to do something else. That is a secret; I will not tell you that one. There is so much we can use biomass plant tree to produce that will outstand you and we can be competitive. We are going to focus on this not with money from heaven but with the skills that we have, the knowledge at our disposal and with the competence and capacity we have we will bring about a major upliftment in the economy.

The rice cultivation you talked about, is it going to be done through Irrigation?

Yes. When you develop the River Valley, the government in partnership with the private sector will open the space up with the private sector. The places that are natural swamp they will clear it. We will allocate it to people. For example, I would like to be allocated land there to put a demonstration farm. When I put a demonstration farm, I want to put a rice mill, big rice mill, that can produce 120, 000 tones.

Is it per annum?

Yes you heard me very well.Yes, 120,000 tonnes a year. I will tell you why. That rice mill will be dependent on partly grown here supplemented with the one grown from Ohaji Egbema and Ngor Okpala and of course from Oguta. This rice mill will not even supply all we need in Imo state because today Imo has a deficit of 235,000 tonnes of rice. That is the rice we bring in today is over 335,000 tonnes from outside. So when we produce 120,000 tonnes we still have the need to establish more mills but we will start with one in partnership on the PPP basis (Public Private Partnership) somewhere in Ihitte Uboma and we work with them to develop that side. With that Imo can at least begin to meet its food deficit as far as rice is concerned. Yes, rice is viable. You can quote me on that. If you look at this river that goes from Ulakwo, there is nothing done there, it is fallow but it is fantastic flood plain for rice cultivation. It is just that we closed our eyes to opportunities. We have been playing around on politics but now that we have somebody who is smart, supported with our own, with the skills that we have, we are going to make a great change.

What message do you have for the people of Imo state?

Imo should have hope, strong hope. We are going to do things that will surprise people. I am praying for Emeka Ihedioha. I want Imo to develop to a point that we can make goods, products that will be Igbomade. Igbomade in Imo. I believe in it. It will be a high level of quality and mark of excellence. Everything we will produce, example furniture, we will paste on it Igbomade in Imo. The Igbos is capable, creative, and innovative and strong, why should we be shy. It is God’s gifts to us. So when we use our creativity to make unique product we say it. When pen knives were made in Japan, the Japanese said ‘Okapi that is made in Japan. Then people were saying low quality, and then they made it better. Today Japan is a leading nation in the world. What is their population, what is size of their country? If we believe, Igbomade in Imo, we are going to use it to dominate the markets in Nigeria, from our own home state not living in Kano or working there in Lagos. That is what I am waiting for before I die that the Igbomade in Imo is highly cherished and reputable.

Thanks for your time

http://hornnewsnigeria.com/2019/04/29/interview-will-hold-ihedioha-accountable-engr-charles-ugwu/

RareDiamond,

This sounds interesting. I like the focus on growing the local economy. All these beautification projects are never going to help us.

Osinbajo was in Imo today to commission some projects. I will just post today's photos though most of them have been posted earlier on the thread.

More from interior of Oputa high Court

Imo trade fair exhibition center

More from the exhibition center

Some of the commissioned roads

Wetheral Road renamed Mbakwe Road after the greatest Imo State Governor.