ACM10: @Whistle blower,
Going through your profile, I can see that you are in a habit of denigrating your fellow Ndigbo. It used to be Ndi Imo; now you positioned your artillery within the range of Enugu. What do you gain from tearing down your brothers? Why can't you just get a life!
You are derailing this thread. The topic can never be changed as you requested. Live with it! Open a thread of any city of your choice and label it "pride of the east".
Chime did a marvelous job in Enugu metropolis and other villages in Enugu such as Nkanu, Udi, Nsukka, Awgu, Ezeagu, etc. He tarred the roads, improved healthcare, improved water supply, etc. I witnessed all these developments.
I commend him for the little he did accomplish.

I told you that I'm from Ogidi in Anambra state. I will defend Anambra against any form of attack. But I can never defend the incompetence of Obi's administration.

Peter Obi is doing nothing! Nnewi and Awka is neglected! Onitsha is largely abandoned! His only principal achievement is old Enugu-Osha road. Remember that Chime also tarred the road from Udi axis all the way to Oji, then to Anambra border. I passed through the road last week and I'm impressed with the quality and pace of the work going on there. The quality of Obi's projects leaves much to be desired. There is no town in Anambra that can be compared to Enugu. Onitsha is rowdy, cramped up and dirty. Left for individual efforts, there wont be any activity in the city. A city at the bank of river Niger does not enjoy any form of public water supply. Let me remind you that the water which supplies Enugu comes from Ajali in Ezeagu. Ajali is 30 kilometres away from Enugu periphery. Onitsha residence are forced to drill water from an already polluted underground water source. The roads in Onitsha are in a very poor state.
The drainage system is lacking. You will basically swim in main market on a typical rainny day.
The environmental sanitation in Onitsha is competing with that of Aba. Some refuse have been in some localities from the time of Mbadinuju. Pigs roam freely in Onitsha.
Enugu is miles ahead of any southeastern states in the area of security. Prominent men roam freely in Enugu with no security attache.
The power supply in Enugu is far better than that of any city in the east.
Let's not talk about entertainment, tourism, etc
Enugu is the pride of the east my dear. No contest!

I was almost ignoring you till I found something. You said Ajali is Ezeagu. I know you are hardly an Anambran, little wonder you do not know the towns.

Anambra under Obi is doing great, with healthy financial status that cannot be found anywhere in Nigeria. He has created enabling environment to be able to attract FDIs and huge investments which no other Nigerian gov has achieved in the last 10yrs. He has working on all areas of the state simultaneously. He was not appoint Special adviser on finance to the presidency on political slot but on it merits. He has opened and connected all the community in Anambra, which is the actual development, than focusing only in urban centers like some govs are doing. Onitsha, Awka and Nnewi are getting attention on areas of road construction and reconstruction. I don't know where you get the gibberish, you are sending here, because all the stuff you wrote about Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi are quite opposite of what is on the ground. Why not tell us the truth..where are you from?

You dey mad?? SE is a collective name for Anambra, Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi.. so we are not gonna sit here and allow you draw it to the mud with enugu state mediocres.

Change the topic to 'enugu the pride of WAWA people' and see if anybody will look this thread twice, even if you post streets made of diamonds. The reason both ndi-Yoruba are being attracted here to insult us on mediocre exhibition is because you mentioned SE. As I have stated earlier nothing will ever make an average Anambran or Imolite take pride in anything Enugu state when he or she is outside SE, because there is non that exist to be proud of in the state.

Odenigbo Aroli:

Let me remind you that I created that id when I was banned for attacking the Yorubas. It has nothing to do with my identity. I don't know why fools like you think my stance is burned out of jealousy. Needless to say,I'm very proud and glad of where I came from and every Omanba should be. I mean,what's there to not be proud of Omanbala? The issue I have with you lots is the view you are trying to introduce to us which is faulty. Enugu is definitelly not the pride of the east of which Omanbala is part of. Enugu city is simply the pride of Enugu state! We,the real Omanbala say so!

That's the point we all are trying to make. These guys should not lump entire East into saying that enugu state is the pride SE when there definitely or significant thing about being proud in enugu state, except that a gov overlaid an existing roads which was constructed in the days of great Zik an Anambran. I beg you guys just like ABAGWORO has posited dissociate us from this show of shame.

Ndi-ofe will be laughing at us now for this mediocrity show. Lagos for instance has good sides which no Nigerian city can match, but the people has not come to tell us that its the pride of SW, which of ofcos its the pride of NIgeria at large. But I have not understood where and how enugu state became the pride of the East. There are other important SE cities that make the bell ring for significant landmarks than this.

When chino comes with his own now you people will shout and call for his head, pray and hope he doesn't show up here soon. Let me restate it, enugu state has nothing to be proud of, enugu state people can be proud of there mediocrity but an average Anambra or Imo has nothing there in enugu state to be proud of, nor even boast about enugu when he or she is outside the east. I have not even finished boasting with Anambra as the Light of the Nation, not to talk of elsewhere. Even the so called enugu people are full of complex, they hardly accept in the public that they are from enugu state, instead claiming Anambra.

OP: should change the topic..to enugu state the pride of enugu state people, simple.

@ACM10

If that ranking will heal some wounded nerves here..its okay. The ranking is far from being true, but let some people who felt wounded be healed with that your ranking.

Ganys: Dont Mind those Criminals with their gragra, I wish US leave them to fight IRAN Alone, Im sure Ahmadenajad will chase them find another Promised land in Atlantic Ocean...
Useless Cubicle called Country

I don't think you know the stuff Israelites are made of. Do you? If you have any idea about Israeli military might you won't be saying this. Even Jews plays vitals roles in US army

Don't ever dare with Israelites. They are Apple of Gods' Eye.

@NRI PRIEST

I thought I was the only one that ever thought of this. What actually made enugu state the pride of the east? Its a question that may not be able to be answered in the next 200yrs. We have more important SE cities that make the SE proud within and outside the country. This is a state that entire SE has given so much to but the only thing it can offer is gibberish as infrastructure. The last time I visited the same enugu state it was all a mirage, the poorly constructed roads are already washed away, dumps has taken over virtually all the streets from Achara layout, new haven, uwani even the so called GRA is messed. This is one reason Yoruba people will continue to laugh at us because we are celebrating mediocrity exhibited in enugu state as excellence. Since the 2nd term of chime he has barely done anything in the state, even the few ones he did in his first term are already eroded. enugu state remains timid, hugely under-developed and highlevel poverty in the land. We are not even talking about the poor security situation.

OP: change the topic because enugu state is nowhere near being what we the easterners can be proud of nor live in it.

Da infamous: love the green comes with peaceful attraction this is the reason a lot of people prefer to raise their children in enugu

by the way more brand new shape IVM purchase buy enugu govt

Nwanne mu nwayo ..

Its not true, its a war zone. IMT, ESUT cultists has made the place quite un-livable.

Major important diverse Nigerian cities: in order of ranking economic importance

Abuja (not included FCT)

Lagos

PH

Onitsha

Kano

Warri

Its an indisputable fact that Owerre/imo is the den of pro.sti.tutes in Nigeria. Not to spite any imolite in the house but just stating the obvious..

And to put the record straight 90-95% of these hustlers are from imo state..period

Rochas need to brace up to the challenges and quit talking..

No wonder any girl in imo state is likely to be a pr.o.st.i.tu.te..

No wonder it is suicidal to raise a family in owerre/imo..

No wonder criminality and kidnapping has taken the state hostage because there is no big economic input by the government and its people..

No wonder the state will continue to be a pauperized and beggarly state..

Okorocha should be serious for once..we didn't vote you to come and be building hotels with government money..

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION TAKING PLACE IN SOME OTHER CITIES OF THE COUNTRY cOULD BE AS A RESULT OF ITS CITIZENS AND GOVERNMENT’s DIRECT ATTENTION TO THE PRODUCTION OF GOODS AND SERVICES THAT ENHANCE THE OVERALL DEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMY OF STATE WHERE THEY ARE SITED. BUT IN OWERRI, CAPITAL OF IMO STATE, HOTEL DEVELOPMENT HAS TAKEN THE UPPER HAND, WRITES AMBY UNEZE

An average Igboman is noted for his knack for self reliance and industrious ability to be a self-made person. This effort has indeed assisted to liberate him from the bondage of ‘slave’ masters or ‘begging’ all the time in order to get what he wants. It was through the interest exhibited by him in industry and commerce that made the Premier of former Eastern Nigeria, Dr. Michael Okpara to establish several industries and farm settlements, such as the former Golden Guinea Breweries, Umuahia, Adapalm in Ohaji, Palm Plantation in Obehe, Aba, Rislon Palm in Rivers, Rubber plantation in Calabar, and the rest of them.


From the inception of the civilian regime in the old Imo State, the first civilian governor, Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe, of blessed memory did not waste any effort in industrialising the state. The monumental projects erected by Mbakwe span all the nooks and crannies of the old Imo State. Such industrial projects included the Avutu Modern Poultry at Obowo, Aluminum Extrusion Industry, Inyishi, Resin Paint Industry in Nguru Mbaise, Ezinachi Clay Industry, Mbano, Imo Concorde Hotel, Owerri, Independent Power Plant, Amaraku, Izombe and Ohafia now in Abia State, Owerri Ebeiri Paper Industry, Orlu, Standard Shoe Industry, Owerri and so many others that cannot be mentioned here. Unfortunately, almost all these monumental projects that created huge employment to people then are no longer in existence. The subsequent military regime and other administrations could not nurture or maintain them, while others were arbitrarily sold off to the detriment of the people of the state.

Tourism promotion
All those dreams of our heroes past are now a forgotten issue. However, since the advent of the third and fourth republics the quest for industrialisation had gone and this has been replaced by hotel development for possible promotion of tourism. The administration of Chief Achike Udenwa and Chief Ikedi Ohakim made significant effort to promote tourism in the state. Most of the hotels spotting all the nooks and crannies of Owerri, the Imo State capital were actually built during these administrations.
Ohakim had wanted the state to be a stop-over destination, being the Eastern Heartland. Owerri is regarded as the epi-centre of the former Eastern region. His vision was that Owerri could have played host to the visitors and investors that were to invest both in the state and in the neighbouring states of Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States. He had also felt that due to the incessant kidnapping incidents going on in those neighbouring states then, Owerri would have been the rallying point of the visitors and investors.
Within this period, such hotels with good services include: All-Seasons Hotel and Suites, Links Hotel, De Legend Hotel and Suites, Suncity Hotel, Owerri Hotel Plaza, Optimum Hotel, Disney Hotel and Suites, Summer Suites, Evatel Hotel, Hollywood Hotel, Rapour Hotels, City Global, Protea Hotel, Landmark Hotel and others.
Already names like Imo Concorde Hotel (which is the only five-star hotel built by Mbakwe remains the best of all), the Modotel initially owned by former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, has been sold to Chisco Transport and it is under rehabilitation, while Pinewood Hotel and Bestway Hotel are the old names in hotel business in Imo State and they are still waxing strong.

Government involvement
The present regime under Chief Rochas Okorocha has also continued from where his successors stopped by taking hotel project as his main cardinal agenda. According to him, the promotion of tourism is dependent on the hotel infrastructure available in the state. To this effect, the governor has not hidden his desire to erect a five star hotel in each of the three senatorial zones of the state. His plans to build a monumental hotel in Owerri, Prince and Princes hotels in Orlu and Okigwe respectively is an area he does not want to relent on. But the question now is having spent about 18 months in office, he has barely one year and two months to work and realise those projects, bearing in mind that one year to the next election year is normally used to prepare for the re-election and definitely not to work for the people. How could he raise the money needed to complete those projects?

Supposed benefits
The thinking of government has been that the hotel developments in the city of Owerri are beneficial to both people and government. They are of the belief that since hotel develops and promotes tourism, then the more the merrier. However, these hotels provide cheap employment to the youths but there is no job security. The owners of the hotels only hire and fire at will because they believe that since there is scarcity of job, so the cheap labour which is very much available had to be manipulated. The hotels no doubt have created a kind of safe haven for guests and visitors from the eyes of kidnappers. Visitors to the state now prefer to stay in the hotel instead of staying in their houses or friends home. The incessant cases of kidnapping in the state have created a lot of insecurity and hotels have been identified as a safe place to lodge when in Imo.

Bad influence
The presence of too many hotels in Owerri, some parents say, has created bad influence, especially among the youths, mostly the girls. There is no more decorum in the state now because everybody is now wise and these hotels host ladies of easy virtue. At night girls hang out in front of these hotels probably waiting for patrons. Not only that, the cost of land in Owerri has astronomically increased since land speculators are ready to offer any amount for the purposes of potential hotel developers.


A resident in Owerri, Chief Rufus Eke told THISDAY that with the rate hotels are being developed in Owerri, very soon there would be no space for people to build residential houses. He suggested that a law should be put in place to segment areas for development of commercial and residential buildings so that people could be able to acquire land at the designated area to build their residential houses.
One recalls with nostalgia the feelings of the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Benjamin Njemanze at the heat of the land dispute between the government and the indigenes of Owerri in one of the Town Hall meetings where he braced up, not minding any persecution resultant from his position in Government and told government that “Owerri people and Owerri land have enough Hotels” and therefore suggested that “Owerri will only welcome and accept meaningful industrial development”.

Government tariff
The present administration in the state has imposed a high tariff on hotels and entertainment industries in the state as a way of raising internally generated review by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture. The same tariff is also being demanded by the Ministry of Commerce. According to government sources, these entertainment industries need to pay extra tariff for investing in the state as a way of promoting tourism. But these tariffs are being kicked against by the operators of the sector because they have argued that government had not been able to provide conducive environment for them to operate.


Reacting to government directive, a proprietor of one of the hotels, who pleaded anonymity told THISDAY that they provide their own power, water even work on their roads, there is nothing government had done to enable them demand extra tariff from them. They however have been charging customers and guest extra fees to be able to meet government demand.


There have not been any indices to evaluate that the existence of many hotels in Owerri has brought the needed development in the state, other than the vices associated with hotel business. The general view of the people of Imo State is that enough is enough of hotel business, as they want promoters to divert into small scale industries and other areas that could create manageable employment to the youths.


http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/hotels-new-emerging-industry-in-imo-state/127583/

What a people..!

Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, the man who has been introducing all kinds of warped political experiments in the name of governance, is at it again. It’s not as if he has added to the unending list of his special advisers/assistants or added another tier of government to make the fifth in the state. This time he has set for himself a seeming laudable mission, but one which of course he has set about the wrong way. Okorocha had told THISDAY in an interview last week that he was on a mission to make the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) capture the South-east. Of the five states in the South-east geopolitical zone, APGA controls two: Imo and Anambra states. Okorocha said he would make APGA capture and dominate the zone the same way the Action Congress of Nigeria holds sway in the South-west. The governor said it’s a mission he has set for himself.

This seems a noble mission if you ask me. It is all well and good. I have always believed parties should evolve and consolidate in areas where they have comparative advantage over others. Even if that would make such parties regional parties, so be it. We need regional parties to shake and shape those that want to struggle for power at the centre, may be in doing so we can restructure the centre and re-order the broken politics of Abuja. But the way Okorocha is going about his own mission is my problem. Must you kill the APGA platform first before seeking to use a dead party to win the South-east in 2015? The problem of APGA today is down to the bitter supremacy struggle playing out between Okorocha and Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, the two main financiers of the party. For the life of me, why is Okorocha desperately fighting APGA chairman Victor Umeh if not to lord it over the party?


Many had thought – this writer inclusive – that with the virtual end of the Victor Umeh/Chekwas Okorie battle for control of APGA, which was waged for so long, the time had come for the party to set sail in line with the ideals of its guiding light, the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. I was wrong. It seems the real battle of supremacy has been rekindled with Okorocha’s new mission. Pray, why is Imo State always blessed with boastful governors? I recall there was one fellow who was governor of the state from late 2007 till 2011, Ikedi Ohakim, who boasted that as he delivered massive votes for President Jonathan during the PDP presidential primary election in 2011 in Abuja and delivered over one million votes for the President in the ensuing presidential election, he would retain the governorship of the state. But when the chips were down, when the time for the election came, the boastful governor was booted out of office. The man who allegedly helped others couldn’t help himself. The physician could not heal himself. So much about Ohakim and Okorocha!


http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/boastful-governor-okorocha/127578/

The high-lighted is worth noting..

What a state..!!

iMO state has got it wrong again by electing a 419 and a talkative governor, he has not done any project since he entered imo govt house. Instead he has been busy gallivanting all over the globe with the meager resource of pauperized imo people.

Why is it that many governors in Nigeria often lose a sense of limit and prudence? The lavish 50th birthday celebration of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State last weekend has brought this question to the fore once again. According to reports, the celebration of Governor Okorocha’s day climaxed last Monday with a grand ceremony which had in attendance, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe and former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd). Also present to felicitate with Okorocha were five fellow governors: Peter Obi of Anambra State, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi and Shehu Shema of Katsina, among other dignitaries from across the country.

Nothing wrong with these invitations. What was reprehensible was that Governor Okorocha seemed to need the attention of the entire state riveted to his show, so he had the state shut down. Thus, government offices, schools and markets in the state were closed last Monday and teachers, students and the civil servants were directed to report at the Heroes Square, venue of the grand finale of activities marking the governor’s birthday.

We wonder what point the governor, an elected state official wanted to prove by celebrating his 50th birthday, which is a private affair, in such elaborate and wasteful manner. Getting a prime minister and all the dignitaries to attend must have cost a lot of money. Who is paying for all this? Then the hidden costs of closing down the business of the entire state for a whole day may never be accurately quantified, but the losses are surely enormous in terms of man hours and lost opportunities.

In fact, in celebrating his birthday, the governor failed to attend an official duty in Enugu last Sunday where governors and leaders of the Southeast met to take a crucial decision. As reported, Governor Okorocha was absent because “he was celebrating his birthday.” When did personal matters take precedence over official affairs of state for an elected officer?

It is disturbing that as this elaborate ceremony was going on, workers in the state had not received their salary for September, one week into another month. Imo is a very impoverished state with hardly any industry or large viable enterprise. Indeed, there is nothing that can be described as a viable economy beyond government business. The major source of sustenance is the monthly federal allocation. Basic infrastructure is weak if not non-existent; schools are dilapidated, no potable water and healthcare facilities are inadequate. Imo State is also one of the states ravaged by flood, with thousands of the citizens displaced and are now at the mercy of the weather.

We dare say that a state like this requires a sober and serious leadership that can harness the available resources, re-orientate the people and build systems and institutions that can engender a viable economy. On the contrary, we have observed over time that the governor who was voted to office on a groundswell of the people’s goodwill and high expectations is given to arbitrariness, flamboyance and wastefulness. We had cause to caution on this page a few months ago when he released a list of multitudinous appointees with many bearing frivolous and laughable titles.

Again, we advise that with about one and half years of his tenure gone, he does not have the luxury of time. He must brace up to the serious business of governance in a highly deprived environment. Quality leadership is driven by good personal examples. A lavish and disruptive birthday party doesn’t speak well.


http://thenationonlineng.net/new/editorial/wasteful-celebration-2/

Odinaka00:

Its not gon βξ possible 4 ♍ε̲̣̣̣̥ cuz I'm nt in 9ja nw,

Are you NL..

This is the prestigious Main Market Onitsha. Took this picture yesterday afternoon. There was nothing like flood anywhere near main market. Maybe the op is talking about River Shoreline towards Kogi and Benue and some parts of Delta, no part of Anambra is affected whatsoever by the any flood. God Bless Anambra state- The Light of the Nation

Martins Elechi takes it..

This guys should stop all these globe-trotting and too much talk..and go back home and face security challenges ravaging imo state.

Yoruba-LAND is in soup..chaii.

Tinubo has taken SW to the garbage dumps. Imagine states as Eketi, Ogun and Oshun owing over 100B each. Mehn this is really really devastating for yorbaland

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-west has described the plan by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) government in Lagos State to source N80 billion bond from the capital market as not only criminal but a disservice to the people of the state.

The party said the people of the state are already burdened by the huge debt being owed by the state.

It reiterated its warning on the dire consequences of the huge debt the ACN governments in the South-west zone are plunging the region into, adding that; “It is ridiculous for a state like Lagos that is making over N25 billion monthly as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to be going cap in hands to borrow N80 billion that it can make on its own under four months.”

The party’s Zonal Publicity Secretary, Hon. Kayode Babade, said in a release issued Wednesday that “it appears there are more to this issue of bond that the ACN governors have fallen in love with than meet the eyes and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other financial clearing houses must do everything possible to checkmate the rate at which the States are obtaining loans.”

The PDP said it suspected that the bond could be a means of bringing into Nigeria stolen funds from abroad, calling on security agencies to take more than passing interests in the bond issue.

“In Nigeria today, Lagos State owes the highest debt apart from the Federal Government. Lagos State was said to have, as at June 30, 2012, accumulated an external debt profile of $517,677,672!

“Ironically, Lagos State is the richest state in Nigeria with monthly IGR of over N25 billion and most Lagosians are in charge of their daily existence, with the State government responsible for virtually nothing.

“It should then worry well-meaning people if in spite of the huge debt being owed and the huge resources available to it, a state like Lagos is going to the capital market to take N80 billion bond again.

“Presently, Osun State alone is owing over N120 billion, Ekiti is owing over N30 billion and is rumoured to be planning to take another N30 billion while Ogun State is on the verge of taking N100 billion bond.

“Obviously, with the way these ACN-controlled states are taking loans and bonds, and giving promissory notes on multi billion naira contracts, the states will go bankrupt soon.

“It is therefore on this note that we are once again calling on well meaning Yoruba people to intervene in the affairs of the region by preventing these ACN governors from mortgaging the future of our children through frivolous loans because most of the loans being obtained now cannot be paid back in the next 50 years.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/s-west-pdp-urges-fg-to-stop-acn-govs-from-accumulating-debts/126133/

^


You really suffering from complex, believe in yourself boy..don't always feel cheated, insulted or down about yourself. You are just a boi suffering from joblessness and loneliness.

Get a job and be happy boi.

ekt_bear: An interesting hypothesis. Yet, many of the NL posters are based in cities such as PH or Abuja. Seun is based in Ogun rather than Lagos, for example.

Many of us are based in Anambra cites (Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi)

TA Orji should just resign.

A group of lawyers today protested against the disgraceful abandonment of roads that are leading to an economic downfall in the Abia State of Nigeria. According to a coalition of human rights groups, if nothing is urgently done to remedy the situation, the city of Aba would face imminent collapse.

The lawyers protested round Aba city wearing their gowns and yellow rainboots.

Photo credit: Foundation For Environmental Rights, Advocacy


http://saharareporters.com/photo/photonews-lawyers-protest-deplorable-state-roads-aba