I found this article in the Washington post. It tries to verbalise what I saw for myself when I travelled home with my family.(though it still doesnt project even 30% of the visual picture of what currently obtains) This Stoddard guy has done a good job as he also demonstrates an objective knowledge of history in addition to possessing a truly humane disposition.
Read on:
Resentment Still Deep in Nigeria's Southeast
Reuters Saturday, February 8, 2003; 11:23 AM
By Ed Stoddard
ABA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's break-away republic of Biafra has long been a political corpse, but the vultures that circle the skies over its commercial center of Aba are drawn by carrion of another kind.
They have been lured by the mountains of rotting garbage lying uncollected on its sun-scorched streets -- a testimony, according to the local Ibo people, to the neglect they have endured at the hands of an uncaring and even hostile state.
The 30-month Biafran war, which killed up to 1 million people as secessionists sought to carve an independent republic from Nigeria's oil-rich southeast, ended in 1970.
But resentment still runs deep in this bustling city, the heart of the former rebel enclave.
"There is no good road here, no water, no lights," said one young man sitting in a shop where the soft drinks in the fridge are warm because the power supply has been off for hours.
Local people say they have seen little benefit from the oil dollars that flow from the adjoining Niger Delta region into the coffers of Nigeria, a major OPEC producer.
"You can see the state of our roads and the dilapidated infrastructure and the high level of poverty here. We are not seeing the oil money," said U.J. Ama Mba, who works for a local poverty reduction program.
Major oil companies such as Shell point to a number of community and other projects they sponsor, ranging from immunization drives to AIDS awareness programs.
The newly tarred four-lane freeway linking Aba and the oil center of Port Harcourt 50 miles away is one visible sign of improvement in the region.
But even along here, the rusting remains of vehicles abandoned in the ditch point to a state of decay.
And in Aba itself, the rot is deep.
Its garbage-strewn streets are etched with gaping pot holes. The road network is falling into disrepair at a time when frequent traffic jams point to increasing use.
The state has also failed on the water and sanitation fronts.
In a muddy river on the edge of town, women wash clothes and young children collect water in containers which they balance on their heads for the trek home.
ENTERPRISING IBO
Improbably, Aba seems to thrive, not least because of the entrepreneurial energy for which the Ibo people are famed across the country -- and also widely resented for.
Kingsley Ikpo is one of those hard workers.
The 22-year-old works from his sparse, one-room office -- a wooden shed with a corrugated iron-roof -- which boasts one desk, one computer, one printer and one phone.
"I do graphic design. I make business and greeting cards. Business is good. I'm open six days a week," said the slight, bespectacled Ibo.
He plans to eventually expand, buy some more computers and run computer training classes.
Across the muddy road from Ikpo's business, a heavily-muscled Philip Agbo shows off the fruits of his labor -- simple, steel-framed chairs that he and three employees build in his makeshift workshop.
"I can make about 1,000 a week and if I need to make more I hire more guys," he said as he pulled out his business card, which identified him as the director of De-phil Engineering Construction Nig.
A few blocks away, Aba's master cobblers, known for their skill and flamboyant designs, labor in dank workshops producing women's shoes which are worn across the continent.
It is in places like Aba that the non-oil sector of Nigeria's economy is bubbling along.
The World Bank estimates that the non-oil side of Nigeria's economy grew by 5 percent in 2002 -- a year in which some experts say the overall economy may have shrunk slightly.
WARLORDS AND THE GOOD LORD
The seeming dominance of the Ibo in many sectors of the economy, such as trade and retail, contributed to the ethnic hatred that led to the slaughter of some 30,000 of them, mostly in the North, in the late 1960s.
Those pogroms prompted Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu to proclaim an independent Biafran republic on May 30, 1967.
More than three decades later, Ojukwu is running for the presidency of the country he almost tore apart.
Few give Ojukwu and his All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) -- which draws heavily on Nigeria's 20 million plus Ibo for support -- much chance in the April presidential poll.
But he can count on votes in Aba, where he is revered.
"Ojukwu is a strong man," said one young man hawking cosmetics, to approving nods from other traders.
At a recent rally in Aba, the 69-year-old, larger-than-life Ojukwu, flanked by his statuesque wife Bianca, an ex-beauty queen 33 years his junior, was greeted like a conquering hero by a roaring and sometimes unruly crowd of between 3,000 and 4,000.
To thunderous applause, he promised to erase the perceived marginalization of the Ibo people in government.
But while the Ibo may be seeking guidance from an ex-warlord for their earthly troubles, like their countrymen elsewhere, they are also flocking to churches for spiritual support.
Amid the lush tropical vegetation just outside Aba, a robed minister with the Seventh Day Adventists baptizes about a dozen converts in a cool stream. One is a frail woman of 70.
"We have about 450 members in our local church. We're growing all the time," said an elderly deacon.
Where the state has failed -- as it has so miserably in Aba -- the church often fills the gap, providing social and other services, including the few recently repaired roads in the city.
But that gap is huge and growing, as Aba's smoldering piles of trash show.
In Nigeria's southeast, there will be plenty for scavengers to feed on for a long time.
What especially struck me in the article above was Stoddard's sincere interest to truly look at the people and talk to them objectively. It goes to show that there are many objective reporters still out there whom we must strive to attract to highlight more the plight of Biafrans in present day Biafranigeria.
Which brings me to my question; Where are the others? where are BBC, CNN, New York Times, German Papers, South American dailies, French, Chinese, Australian,...etc..etc..
Isnt it time to rechannel the worlds attention to the Injustices being visited on the Niger Delta and the Southeast by contacting key agencies to go and take a look for themselves.
Are there any leads here? any opportunities? Just wondering.
And yes Babz, Kadiri and my other cousins (even though I dont expect your involvement in exposing Federal injustices directed against a people by one of your own) I still expect your input too.(Ridicule included. As always)
What else do you expect from sensationalized journalism? Washington Post's reputation is not a hidden secret.
Posts: 150 | From: Abuja, Nigeria | Registered: Dec 2002
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