pazienza:
https://www.nairaland.com/4703701/lagos-state-highest-foreign-debt#up

What's up with our rising debt though. As bad as T. A Orji was, he kept Abia debt manageable, now under Ikpeazu, it's shooting through the roof, yet civil servants are owed in the state and no good roads still .
Obi left Obiano no debt, now Obiano is stockpiling debt like no tomorrow. What sort of reckless governance is this?
And no one should tell me the borrowing is justified, as we all know that Obiano has in no way outdone Obi in infrastructural and all round development of Anambra.
This is too bad.
For all the stick we are giving Rochas, he had managed to keep Imo debt profile manageable, where as Ikpeazu and Obiano are accumulating debt.

pazienza:
https://www.nairaland.com/4703701/lagos-state-highest-foreign-debt#up

What's up with our rising debt though. As bad as T. A Orji was, he kept Abia debt manageable, now under Ikpeazu, it's shooting through the roof, yet civil servants are owed in the state and no good roads still .
Obi left Obiano no debt, now Obiano is stockpiling debt like no tomorrow. What sort of reckless governance is this?
And no one should tell me the borrowing is justified, as we all know that Obiano has in no way outdone Obi in infrastructural and all round development of Anambra.
This is too bad.
For all the stick we are giving Rochas, he had managed to keep Imo debt profile manageable, where as Ikpeazu and Obiano are accumulating debt.

pazienza:


Show me the total debt profile.

Obi did excellent job without accumulating debt. Fiscal management and accountability was his watch words.
Why exactly is Obiano indebting Anambra, so much that Anambra External debt profile is now more than that of Osun?

BeijinDossier:
In other words Anambra external debt grew by about 47billion while that of Abia grew by about 60billion in 2018. Ok

Ogbuefi2020:

Ok. At least you should now acknowledged that you also borrowed.

Purehuman:


The quest for independence will always face stiff opposition if the world is seeing another third world country begging UN for yearly aids. We need to work on ourselves and propagate our identity so that we can be easily heard.

Ndigbo do not have a single media company that even showcases us to the world. We are at best local champions. We have one of the least tourist attractions in the country. No one is coming from outside to check anything about us even archeologists!

When you are fighting a bigger person, you either have a bigger weapon or have a bigger brother to help you out.

The conclusion of what I am saying is this, we should be part of the electoral system that will generate s system that will push for the Igbo agenda. An Igbo nation will be birthed through series of processes that will take years to accomplish and coupled with crazy behaviours our neighbours keep showcasing, we will get Biafra.

Nature is gradually dividing us and if we catalyse nature, it might come faster than we plan it.

Handsomegod:
Your mention of insufficient media coverage and a propaganda unit is true.I totally admit that lacuna exists. But that is slowly changing. The last 5 years alone witnessed a surge in pro-Igbo consciousness and renaissance more than ever before.The IPOB agitation and the eventual fall out heightened it.More so when one considers how the rogue regime of the day handled the matter and the stark double standards of it all. Today,more Igbo youths are neck deep in Igbo matters and discussions than ever before. IPOB agitations take place in all major capitals of the world weekly. Their anniversaries draw thousands.Instead of waning,it keeps getting louder and popular. Ignoring or downplaying these things is dangerous. They are seeds that have since germinated and taken root.We should leverage on it to extract any advantage we set our minds to internationally and locally. The Nigerian authorities and the western axis who own this contraption knows this fact.By every stretch,Igbos have literaly taken over the media to either tell their individual and collective stories or debunk existing negative profiling and narratives.Long has it been when the blanket narratives of the nay sayers and the fifth columnists about the Igbo is held to be sacrosanct.We analyse,debunk and put up rebuttals by the minutes and in torrents.
Some of the most enlightened online Political economists and policy opinion molders in this generation are Igbos. What gave rise to this? Given a long history of sectarian violence targeted at them especially in the northern and western Nigeria, Igbos by far are the most endangered and discussed group in Nigeria. This existential threat placed their survival and future on the scale. These Igbo-centered discussions here and millions more in other online and offline fora are subconscious fall out to these realities and group survival instinct. Do you have an equivalent of other groups in Nigeria on Nairaland?? None! Even the Ibadan Pol Economy thread died after 3 months.
The quest for independence will always face stiff opposition but does that stop aggrieved nations from seeking and actually getting independence? No way! Austria-Hungary used to be a monarchy of confederates which include the aforementioned countries and parts of Czech Republic,Poland,Italy,Romania and the Balkans.They all collapsed after the 1st World War given to internal contradictions.The type we witness in Nigeria today. Czech Republic split to Czech and Slovakia. Heaven didn't fall. East Pakistan became Bangladesh.They were and remain far poorer than Nigeria but they got their independence nonetheless. Kosovo declared and retained independence from Serbia. The UN administers it.Eritrea and South Sudan broke away from Ethiopia and Sudan respectively. Igbos proved they can be on their own 47 years ago and will yet prove it again so the question of prospective economic destitution being a reason to deny that does not hold water. When Singapore broke up with Malaysia,they were a backwater,squalid,poor and forgotten nation. They took it upon themselves and created a paradise in the Orient. Igboland's current handicaps cannot and will never be a measure of their future prospects as an independent nation.Contrary to your assertion,Igbos have carved a niche for themselves individually and collectively.Despite our current handicaps,we are no local champions sir. War time Biafra (before the blockade) was more prosperous,better governed and with far better prospects than peace time Nigeria! Nigerian politics is a cancer and poisoned chalice.It pollutes whatsoever it touches. Review the habit and conduct of some of our leaders pre and post politics and you wonder what took hold of them. Above all,Nigeria is not salvageable anymore.The country died long ago.I maintain,in what ever we are doing,let the discussion of freedom from this contraption keep being topical.

selemempe:
yea u are correct...the igbos are always in the news these days. Our isiagu dress is currently trending, our biafra agitation is trending, there is much greater awarness of everything igbo these days...but bro, all these are at individual level. The leadership of igboland are not involved. And untill we get them involved, we are indeed local champs. Just imagine if all se states change their state flags to have the biafran flag background...as against the nigerian flag background. It is legal...and fg cant do jack against it other than go to court. Do u know that that alone will spur igbo nationalism much more than we are having?

Just imagine if ike ekweremadu's dream fm is a major igbo political tool...or orji kalu's sunnews...and not tools in the hands of govt of the day.

Just imagine if an igbo senator stands up and demands referandum for biafra...or if se federal legislators take a uniform stance on Anioma state.

We can achieve much more if our leaders are with us...sadly they barely are.

OreMI22:


Everything you said would have been possible if Nnamdi Kanu listened to us for one second and allowed IPOB to be registered as a political party. He didn't have to contest for anything, but all Senators, Governors etc who win under the party must vocally demand referendum at the Senate and other political arena.

I am glad another person has seen the great potential of IPOB's full participation in the political process against the doctrine of boycott. The only thing boycott would do is that it allows an unpopular person to win because most of the potential voters stayed away. Then boycott of a Presidential election through negotiating with other regions so that at least 13 states will do it and then create a situation where nobody can be declared winner.

I hated that doctrine that we will no longer vote in Biafraland until they give us a date for referendum. Nobody will give you anything on a platter of gold, you have to smartly plot how to take what belongs to you by force. Not by refusing to participate and putting the entire SE in an electoral disadvantage because of having the smallest number of registered voters.

selemempe:
yea u are correct...the igbos are always in the news these days. Our isiagu dress is currently trending, our biafra agitation is trending, there is much greater awarness of everything igbo these days...but bro, all these are at individual level. The leadership of igboland are not involved. And untill we get them involved, we are indeed local champs. Just imagine if all se states change their state flags to have the biafran flag background...as against the nigerian flag background. It is legal...and fg cant do jack against it other than go to court. Do u know that that alone will spur igbo nationalism much more than we are having?

Just imagine if ike ekweremadu's dream fm is a major igbo political tool...or orji kalu's sunnews...and not tools in the hands of govt of the day.

Just imagine if an igbo senator stands up and demands referandum for biafra...or if se federal legislators take a uniform stance on Anioma state.

We can achieve much more if our leaders are with us...sadly they barely are.

OreMI22:


Everything you said would have been possible if Nnamdi Kanu listened to us for one second and allowed IPOB to be registered as a political party. He didn't have to contest for anything, but all Senators, Governors etc who win under the party must vocally demand referendum at the Senate and other political arena.

I am glad another person has seen the great potential of IPOB's full participation in the political process against the doctrine of boycott. The only thing boycott would do is that it allows an unpopular person to win because most of the potential voters stayed away. Then boycott of a Presidential election through negotiating with other regions so that at least 13 states will do it and then create a situation where nobody can be declared winner.

I hated that doctrine that we will no longer vote in Biafraland until they give us a date for referendum. Nobody will give you anything on a platter of gold, you have to smartly plot how to take what belongs to you by force. Not by refusing to participate and putting the entire SE in an electoral disadvantage because of having the smallest number of registered voters.

selemempe:
kanu could have been the tinubu of igboland...chai...he really didnt strategise...or see realities and opportunities clearly.

Handsomegod:
I know IPOB has released a long explanation stating the reason of their refusal to join Nigerian politics. I read that before and could not fault their position. Again,Nigerian politics is toxic. It pollutes everything it touches. Who would have believed that Adam Oshoimole will one day be on the side of the Oppressors of Nigerian masses! Who would have believed Femi Adesina will one day sing the praises of a killer regime? That's toxicity of Nigerian crude politics. Furthermore,have you seen what Niger-Delta agitation for better deal for their people have turned to the moment they allowed politics in it? The whole agitation has turned to a mockery and jamboree. That's the polluting power of Nigerian politics on all things hitherto pure.

Handsomegod:
I know IPOB has released a long explanation stating the reason of their refusal to join Nigerian politics. I read that before and could not fault their position. Again,Nigerian politics is toxic. It pollutes everything it touches. Who would have believed that Adam Oshoimole will one day be on the side of the Oppressors of Nigerian masses! Who would have believed Femi Adesina will one day sing the praises of a killer regime? That's toxicity of Nigerian crude politics. Furthermore,have you seen what Niger-Delta agitation for better deal for their people have turned to the moment they allowed politics in it? The whole agitation has turned to a mockery and jamboree. That's the polluting power of Nigerian politics on all things hitherto pure.

selemempe:
kanu could have been the tinubu of igboland...chai...he really didnt strategise...or see realities and opportunities clearly.

Handsomegod:
How can you wish a Tinubu like kind of scenario in Igboland? Do you really understand the import and implications of Tinubu's stranglehold on Yorubaland, to aspire for such?. Never mind, Rochas Okoroawusa is about imposing his moronic son-in-law on Ndi Imo. He is sowing the seeds for such towering persona already. Should Buhari win next year,be rest assured it will further his resolve to perpetuate his stooges. Such a godlike figure has no place in Igbo society. We remain republican and democratic at heart. Again,what strategy do you refer to?

Xander85:


Leave Mazi Kanu alone? Any blame for the present situation should be placed firmly at the doorstep of Buhari and his horde of fulani soldiers!

Just what was Kanus' crime...taking advantage of his right to free speech and assembly? If Buhari had a problem with that, the courts were there to settle any misgivings he may have had!

Anyone unhappy with Mazi Kanus' modus operandi should go out and do their own instead of finding fault with the actions of a brave Igbo son!

BeijinDossier:
Yes so, even my own Enugu state borrowed far more than any other SE state both internally and externally.

Ogbuefi2020:

Yeye man. Chino now from enugu. Enugu achieved a lot with that debt

nnamdijonathan:
Commissioning of the Onitsha river port any time soon is facing another problem again

Conclusion Of N4.5bn Onitsha River Port Concession Mired In Controversy

…Anambra govt protests procedure
By Godwin Oritse
GOVERNMENT’S bid to concession the Onitsha River port may have been mired in controversy as parties challenge the integrity and fairness of the bidding process.
Investigations by Vanguard Maritime Report also indicated that the supervising ministries in the exercise may have forced a brake on the conclusion of the process.
Consequently, though the implementing government agency, the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, said it has concluded the exercise since last month, it has not been able to communicate to the winner of the bid officially till date.
Some of the parties involved in the concession exercise are accusing NIWA of flouting court orders and disregarding ministerial directives on cancellation of the entire process.
A source in the Federal Ministry of Transportation told Vanguard Maritime Report that a department of the ministry had recommended cancellation of the report of the evaluation of the technical proposals submitted by bidders in December last year, due to some irregularities in the exercise.
The supervising ministry accused the Bid Evaluation Team constituted by NIWA of failing to adhere to the evaluation criteria and inexplicable discrepancies in the application of the scoring matrix established by the Evaluation Committee.
Also, the ministry queried the involvement of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in the bid evaluation process which, according to our source, had led to a “serious conflict of interest”.
Furthermore, the ministry directed that a new evaluation team be constituted to re-evaluate the technical proposals and, in addition, advised that the technical evaluation report should not be circulated among the bidding companies and other stakeholders.
Vanguard Maritime Report was also reliably informed thatthe Federal Ministry of Finance which has oversight responsibility on the process had directed that a meeting of all stakeholders should be convened to address complaints from various quarters.
Vanguard Maritime Report further gathered that NIWA went ahead to conclude the remaining stages of the bidding process and announced the selection of two firms as prospective concessionaires for the river port, but without disclosing the names.
According to NIWA’s Acting Managing Director, Barrister Danladi Ibrahim: “The concession has been completed. We opened the financial bid on the 3rd of July and we have picked the most competitive concessionaires and any moment from now they will take over the cargo handling operations of Onitsha port.”
On the name of the selected concessionaires, he said, “We cannot reveal it now because the award letter has not been issued but two companies were pre-qualified for the financial bid and it will be concessioned for 25 years.”
The Onitsha Port was built by ex-President Shehu Shagari, in 1983 and rehabilitated with over N4.6 billion by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012, but it has remained unutilised since then.
The current concession initiative started with a ministerial approval to advertise for expression of interest (EoI) from prospective investors, made public by the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday, 25th July 2017 at the Second NIWA International Conference and Exhibition (ICE) held in Lagos.
The Port concession process which was scheduled for conclusion by the end of March this year has been bedeviled by series of irregularities leading to numerous complaints from bidders and pending litigations at the Federal High Court, Awka.
Some parties in the process are also alleging that the concession process has been compromised with one of the bidders being favoured.
It was learnt that a total of 9 companies expressed interest in the concession, but only four were shortlisted to bid.
The companies that expressed interest are Le.Ejinkeonye Nigeria Limited, based in Anambra State, International Trading and Contracting Limited, based in Lagos, and Port Harcourt based Marlin Maritime Consortium and Logistics Resources Ltd.
Others are Universal Elysium Consortium in Abuja, Inland Container Nigeria Limited based in Lagos, Oranto Petroleum also in Abuja.
The four shortlisted bidders according to documents made available to Vanguard Maritime Report, include Inland Containers Terminals Limited, currently running the Kaduna Inland Container Depot, Elysium Consortium, International Trading Company, ITC, and Oranto Petroluem owned by one Prince Author Eze.
But the promoters of ITC felt aggrieved after it was disqualified from the bidding process and went to the Federal High Court in Awka, Anambra state to protest its disqualification.
A source at ITC told Vanguard Maritime Report that it was disqualified because it requested for an amendment of some document it needed to use for the bid process adding that it duly made the request.
According to the source, ITC met about 98 percent of the bid requirement of the both commercial and
financial bid process adding that if due process was followed, it would have won the bid.
Speaking on the development, Mr. George Ugwu, the Transaction Adviser to the Onitsha River Port concessioning project, said that he could not comment on a project whose process is still ongoing.
“The transaction is still ongoing, it will be unfair if I make any comment on an ongoing process”, he stated
In a petition date 15th May, 2018, to Minister of Transportation, the promoters of ITC noted that NIWA intentions with regards to the project have remained unclear, conflicting and confusing.
Part of the petition reads: “We refer to our letter of appeal dated 30th April 2018, in connection with the above matter and write to thank you for your timely intervention and restoration of confidence in the ongoing River Port concession process.
“Sir, we must let you know that we were greatly disturbed by the unclear circumstances surrounding a certain mail purportedly sent to us by NIWA that was returned undelivered and NIWA’s continued refusal to release the returned mail or disclose its content to us, despite three attempts by the consortium to retrieve the mail in question from the agency’s office in Lokoja- thereby fuelling our suspicion of possible attempts somewhere to create ground for disqualification of the ITC Consortium from the bid for the concession of the Onitsha River Port.
“Our fears, worries and suspicions arose from the fact that the transaction governing the document the Request for Proposal, RFP, states amongst other things in Sub-Clause 30.1 that ‘during the examination, evaluation, and comparison of proposals, NIWA may at its discretion, ask the bidders for clarification of the of their proposals’ and goes on to assert on page 34 that ‘In the event that one of the items (or document submitted) is incomplete or improperly submitted, NIWA/FMoT at its sole discretion may ask the bidders to resubmit the item, failure to resubmit the item at the request of NIWA/FMoT may be ground for disqualification”
“It was this fear of NIWA’s unclear intentions-especially in the face of conflicting information and instructions emanating from the Lokoja office of the Agency willingness to release the said mail-that prompted the ITC Consortium to approach the Federal High Court, Awka on 3RD of May, 2018 where we sought, amongst other things, some relief to ensure that the concession process is govern by the RFP rules”.
Besides the protest by the ITC group, the Anambra State Government also frowned at the way and manner of the amendment of the bid proposal.
In the letter with reference number ANS/SSG/M.627/04, dated 30th, April 2018 and addressed to the Minister of Transportation, the State government said that it was in partnership with ITC group for the purpose of bidding for the port.
Part of the letter reads: “In August last year, the State-through the Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency, ANSIPPA in conjunction with International Trading and Contracting, ITC, Limited and Afrinvest West Africa Limited under the International Trading and Contracting Limited Consortium participated in the request for Expression of Interest, EoI in the concession of the Onitsha River Port.
“The consortium’s expression of Interest was endorsed personally by his Excellency, the Governor of Anambra State Chief Willie Obiano and submitted in association with ANSIPPA and other Consortium parties.
“Based strictly on merit, the consortium was pre-qualified for the next stage concession process and requested to submit its Technical and Financial proposals on the 22nd of December, 2017
“Unfortunately, after the submission of the proposal, the Consortium discovered an error in the bid Bond issued by one of the supporting banks.
“The error was rectified as soon as it was reported to the bank’s top management and the amended copy was re-submitted by the Consortium to the Concessioning Authority on the 31st of January, 2018 with a request for withdrawal and return of the first bid bond submitted earlier in December last year.
“Recently, the Consortium was constrained to send to the NIWA for the return of the first bid bond, with an appeal for consideration of the re-submitted copy, since no feedback has been received from the Concessioning Authority”.
A memo from the Federal Ministry of Finance to the Acting Managing Director of NIWA, Mr. Danladi Ibrahim noted that the bidding process had failed to conform with the principles and guidelines of the Procurement Act of 2007.
The memo dated 27th of April 2018 and signed by Barrister Tor Tsavsar, Director Technical services department of the Federal Ministry of Transport, stated: “You may further recall that the Department only received the opening and Evaluation Report of the Technical bids on the 28th of March, 2018.
“The Report has been reviewed by the Evaluation Ministry and found to have failed to conform with the principles and guidelines of the Procurement Act, 2007”.
The report of the Technical bid prepared and submitted by the Transaction Adviser, Green Stratos, noted that every other bidder was given a pass mark except ITC who the report said to have failed in the submission of its bid bond in a separate envelope.
In its reaction the management of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, said that ITC submitted a Bid Bond bearing a different name that did not have any link with the ITC Consortium and could not be linked with their bid legally.
The Bid Bond’s validity according to the Director General of the Commission, Engr Chidi Izuwah, was also less than what was required in the RFP.
He said: “This company has written numerous letters to the HMT (Honourable Minister of Transportation), NIWA, ICRC etc appealing for intervention to enable them to participate further in the process.
“The ITC is one of the successful companies that was issued an RFP, they responded and submitted their technical and financial proposals.
“The company submitted a Bid Bond bearing a different name that did not have any link with the ITC Consortium and could not be linked with their bid legally.
“The Bid Bond’s validity was also less than what was required in the RFP. This infraction is clearly captured in different parts of the RFP as grounds for disqualification”.
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/08/conclusion-of-n4-5bn-onitsha-river-port-concession-mired-in-controversy/

hammer6F:
a hapu Kariana unu, Ndi-Anioma...

cc: NnamdiJonathan, Aniomafirstson, Ikenna

aniomafirstson:


Oga all this thrash argument is not my business and useless to me

As it stands now buhari is likely to win the next election
We should be looking at what we could gain by supporting buhari

What is stopping ohanaeze ndigbo from reaching out to buhari and APC then assure them of ndigbo votes on the condition that anioma state must be created

Ndigbo should wise up.