The economy of the former Eastern Region was planned from ground up by the US consulting firm Arthur D. Little

The economy of the former Eastern Region was planned from ground up by the US consulting firm Arthur D. Little

Dr. Azikiwe brought them and they worked with M I Okpara at first, then with Sam Otti and later Eluwa who headed the Civil Service and later with Sir Louis Phillip Odumegwu Ojukwu who at the time was the Chairman of the Eastern Nigerian Development Corporation (ENDC) and also the Chairman of the Eastern Nigeria Commodities Board (ENCB)

Louis Phillip  Odumegwu Ojukwu also sat as Chairman of 15 multinational companies at the time - John Holt, PZ, Michelin, Costain, Thomas Wyatt, Guinness, GB Ollivant etc

He was so rich that he single handedly funded the establishment of the Lagos Stock Exchange but refused to list his company there for fear of losing control

His photo still hangs proudly on the floor of that exchange as its first chairman

Arthur D Little also worked with a coterie of young Eastern Nigerian economists at the time - Pius Okigbo (PhD Northwestern), Ukwu I. Ukwu (PhD Cambridge), Chukwu Sunday Okongwu (PhD Harvard). These young men in their early twenties worked with Arthur D Little to plan our economy from scratch

I know this because Ukwu I Ukwu taught me at Nsukka and I also worked in Dr Chu SP Okongwu's economic planning firm right during and after grad school in Nigeria.

Arthur D. Little recommended the setting up of a university in the East to produce key skills needed to drive economic growth as most of those skills were not being taught in Ibadan at the time

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No leader prepared for power like Awolowo and Azikiwe, says Ray Ekpu

Written by Toluwani Eniola
~Punch Nigeria.Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Chief Obafemi Awolowo

Veteran journalist, Ray Ekpu, says out of Nigeria's top leaders, only the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo
and Nnamdi Azikiwe were fully prepared to lead the country.

Ekpu said all presidents that ruled the country from 1999 till date did not show demonstrable evidence of being fully prepared for leadership, stressing that lack of preparation and "organised cabalism" were the bane of good governance in the country.

He spoke in Lagos on Monday during a public discourse organised by Africa Future.

Nnamdi Azikiwe

Africa Future's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Tosin Ajayi, also spoke on the topic, "The master drive: The only thing that connects you with all with everything" where he addressed the reasons why underdevelopment had been persisting in Nigeria and on the Africa continent.

Ekpu, whose speech was titled, "State of the nation," said the country was wallowing in poverty and underdevelopment because leaders were picked, not on merit, but by certain godfathers desperate for power."

He also bemoaned the falling standard of education in the country and lamented that Nigerian universities were "producing idiots" unlike in the past when they were the pride of Africa.

Ekpu said, "I attribute Nigeria's leadership failure to two main factors - lack of adequate preparation for high office. In the Nigerian case, the pathetic lack of preparation for high office has been most evident. Except for Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, there has hardly been any demonstrable evidence that our past leaders did burn the midnight oil unceasingly.

The Igbo: We die for causes, not for personalities

Written by Emeka Maduewesi 
~on fb. 28th September, 2016.

The Igbo will never die for anyone. We will not even riot for anyone. But the Igbo will die for any cause they believe in because the Igbo have a true sense of justice and a determination to obtain it.

The Igbo will not riot because one of their own lost an election. Operation Wetie was the Western response to a massively rigged 1965 election. The Yoruba doused fellow Yorubas in petrol and burnt them alife. Properties were burnt with occupants. The Igbo will never do this.

In 1983, the Yoruba went on a rampage again over the massive rigging by NPN. Lifes were lost and properties destroyed. The riots were over personalities.

Contrast that with Anambra State where Chief Emeka Ojukwu was rigged out by his own NPN, who also rigged out Chief Jim Nwobodo. The Igbo did not protest because the goat's head is still in the goat's bag.

In the North, ba muso was the battle cry when Sultan Dasuki was imposed on the Sokoto Caliphate. The riot and protest lasted for days and crippled economic activities.

The Igbo will riot over issues and causes. The Aba Women Riot was over Tax. The Enugu coal mine riot was about conditions of service. The Ekumeku Uprising was over British colonialization.

Those of "Ekumeku" ancestry - Umu Eze Chima and Umu Nri - were at the forefront of the struggles for Nigerian independence, with people like Dr. A A Nwafor Orizu and Chief Osita Agwuna serving prison terms. Any struggles the parents could not conclude is continued by the children by other means.

The Biafran war was a response to the genocide. The war in fact was brought upon us. The battlefield was Eastern Region. The war ended in 1970 but the issues and causes were not resolved. That is where we are today.

The Igbo will also jointly rise to fight evil in their midst. They did it in Onitsha in the 1980's, Owerri in the 90's, and with Bakkassi in the 2000.

The Igbo will not die for any man. But the Igbo will stand by any man who symbolizes their cause and their pursuit of justice. Even if the man dies, the struggle continues, and like the Ekumeku warriors, the children will pick up the baton from their parents.

This is the Igbo I know, the Igbo I am, and the Igbo we are. This is my story. Feel free to tell yours.

FG to give Zik's son befitting burial

Written by FROM ALOYSIUSATTAH, ONITSHA. 

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the burial of Owelle Chukwuma Azikiwe, first son of Nigeria's first President, Nnamdi Azikiwe, will receive the full support of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government of Nigeria.

It was gathered that President Buhari met recently in Aso Rock Villa with a delegation from the Azikiwe family who came to brief him on their preparedness for the event and he promised to do everything possible to ensure a smooth burial of the gentleman nationalist.

Those at the meeting included Nwamulunamma Onuora Azikiwe (Spiritual Head of the family), Akunne Arah Azikiwe (youngest brother of Rt. Hon Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe) Engr. Chukwuma Njaka (PA to late Owelle Chukwuma Azikiwe) and Senator Dr Chris Ngige (ex-governor of Anambra State).

The meeting followed the disturbing information that some people within the Onitsha ruling house had teamed up with some disgruntled politicians in the South-east to ensure that the deceased is buried like a fowl as a reward of his support for Buhari's candidacy during the last presidential election

This, he did, against the wish of majority of the Igbo who worked for Jonathan's victory. However, Chukwuma died shortly after Buhari's victory. Sunday Sun gathered that those aggrieved with his alleged role had concluded plans to punish him in the grave yard by denying him a befitting burial.