Those who are familiar with European history will recall that practically the whole of
Are we to conclude then that these countries are not as “security conscious” like
(1) “Water is life.” “No water, no life.”
(2) There are substantial economic and commercial benefits for the country when a capital is located by the sea compared to locating it in the middle.
(3) A country is in no way better secured because its capital is in the middle. There are other cheaper and more effective ways of ensuring the security of a state and its capital other than building a new capital from scratch which is considered a very costly venture even for very rich countries.
(4) Incase of an out break of war, the government, if the need arises, could easily be transferred temporarily to another city till the war ends. They don’t need to build a new capital to accomplish that.
(II) CONGESTION AND INFRASRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT.
MODERN TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
The federal government told us that
As may be recalled, the
More than 13.5 million people live in Moscow today, and at least about 2.5 million people commute to Moscow by rail everyday from neighbouring towns to work. Nevertheless, I have never heard anybody say that
and efficiency in the world. The length of the underground rails is more than 260 kilometers About 7.3 million people ride the Moscow Metro everyday! And the figure keeps increasing everyday. It works from 5.30 a.m to 1 a.m. in the night non-stop! The average waiting time for a train is 3 minutes! And during rush hour, it is about 45 seconds! The Moscow Metro celebrated its 75 years anniversary of successful uninterrupted operations in 2005! I even bought 2 special albums about the history of Moscow Metro published in commemoration of this historical event. More stations are still under construction to meet the high increase in traffic. Apart from the Metro, there are more than 6,000 electric buses and trams and ordinary buses ( that run on petrol) each that ply the streets of
HOUSING
In terms of housing the Russian govt. used to build houses and rent it out at a very reasonable rate to its citizens. Though, after the collapse the govt. decided to give out the flats to the citizens for free.
POWER SUPPLY
I n terms of electricity supply, believe it or not, ever since I have been living here, I can’t remember when there was no light. The very few occasions when there was no light were due to repair works being carried out which does not take more than an hour, and normally, residents of the affected houses are warned in advance. Recently, the Russian government voted a whooping $90 billion investment plan to upgrade the electricity sector! The sector is presently undergoing unprecedented reforms. RAOAES, the biggest power generating and distributing company in the world is presently undergoing a historical restructuring which will see it broken down into regional and private generating, transmitting and distributing companies similar to the breaking up of the giant U.S. telecommunication company AT&T and the Bells laboratory into regional baby bells by Judge Green in 1984. Apart from the huge investment in the power sector by the Russian government, private companies and private individuals are being encouraged to invest too in the sector in order to meet the fast growing demand for power due to the rapid growth of the Russian economy.
In addition, there is always hot and cold water throughout the year except 3 weeks in a year in Summer when hot water is switched off to carry out mandatory maintenance works on hot water pipes in order to keep the hot water running throughout the rest of the year. I vividly remember my conversation with a senior Nigerian diplomat while we were driving where he commented that even
As may be recalled, power generation in
4 comments
Nigeria itself is a fake country. The idea of a "One Nigeria" is an illusion. There has never been "One Nigeria," there is no "One Nigeria" now and I am sorry to say that there will never be "One Nigeria." The concept of "One Nigeria" itself is a fraud. Nigeria is a country that emerged out of "forced" and "unequal" marriage between the North and the South. We should forget about "One Nigeria," because it is not possible. Left to me, I strongly believe that the best thing is to let the North go and even take Abuja with them. We can use Abuja as a "trade off" to get our independence from the north. If they leave, I believe 75% of our problems will be solved. That's the ideal solution. In addition, I strongly believe that if the whole of the South remains as one country, in case of the break up of Nigeria, we will be much stronger together than if we are to go our seperate ways. We have a lot in common. Moreover, we compliment one another. The South West and South East have human resources which if put to the wright use and together with the oil resources in the South South could multiply the oil resources many folds. We don't have to be emotional when it comes to analysing our past and mapping out a new future for ourselves. If you are driving and don't have or look at the "rear mirror," I am afraid to say that most likely, you will have accident and consequently not get to your destination. Therefore, I believe that we must continue to analyse past historical events and decisions at least, in order to avoid falling into the same pit twice. Nigeria and Nigerians are paying a very high price today for the wrong decision to build a new capital from "scratch." Moreover, the struggle is about "Justice." Is it fair to build a new capital in Abuja with the oil resources of the South South while the bonafide owners of the resources wallow in abject poverty? So, the issue is about justice. We are in mess today because of many wrong decisions that were taken in the past and are still been taken today. As I have already said, it is absolutely unacceptable to me to build the so called "One Nigeria" at the expense of others. This has nothing to do with tribalism. All what I wrote is my personal and objective analysis of events. I realise that the problem most Africans face is the inability to make good analysis and/or "emotional" commentaries of events like "but no one gets anywhere by looking into the rear mirror of their vehicles, we are where we are, let us make the best use of it." With this kind of thinking, we won't get anywhere as a nation. It's just a matter of "fairness" and "principle." Personally, I am ready to fight for this no matter how long it takes. WE ARE GOING TO START A CAMPAIGN FOR THE RELOCATION OF THE CAPITAL FROM ABUJA BECAUSE IT WAS NOT ONLY A WRONG DECISION, IT WAS ALSO A "FRAUDULENT" DECISION THAT HAS COST THE COUNTRY/SOUTH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND IF THE PROJECT IS NOT STOPPED NOW WILL COST THE COUNTRY MORE.
If that is not attainable, then we should fight for Federalism. Federalism is the only compromise possible. Nobody is calling for another civil war. At the same time, it is unacceptable to build the so called "One Nigeria" at the expense of others, which is exactly what the North has been doing since independence. Nigeria has never been "
an excellent analysis of possible motives ..but no one get anywhere by looking into the rear mirror of their vehicles. We are where we are, let us make the best use of it. The new Nigeria will not be North dis, Yoruba that..your era of tribalist is a dying breed…from your ashes a new Nigeria shall arise. Nigeria where all genders, tribes, and creed can excel irrespective of where they come from. It is already taking place before your own eyes.
Good thinking, thought provoking. I'm no pacifist but don't you think essays like this could fan the embers of war?….. It's not as if any of us is afraid of the resultant armed struggle if we all decide to go our separate ways…but would it solve anything? Wouldn't the struggle for the Niger Delta be the death of all of us???
Except if you decided to be blinded by foolish patriotism, almost all Nigerians were well aware that the movement of the capital from Lagos to Abuja was just to satify the northern rulers not for the benefit of Nigeria as a whole. Nigeria is a great country but certainly Nigeria would be better off as 3 independent countries.