Columns/Opinions/Letters

IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS: NINE VOICES, THREE CITIES AND THE COUNTDOWN TO ABIA’S OKADA BAN Voice of the People | Metro Policy Review | Okada Ban Effective June 29, 2025 The clock was ticking. Across Aba, Umuahia and Ohafia, one date continued to appear in conversations, motor parks, markets, offices and roadside shops: June 29, 2025. For many residents, it was not merely another date on the calendar. It represented the day movement, commerce and everyday survival could change dramatically following the enforcement of the state government’s ban on commercial motorcycles, popularly known as Okada. Would the policy bring greater…

SERIOUSLY, PROFESSOR? 😳😂😂😂 A government constructs a major road, and your new measurement of success is: “How many Abians are on the board of Julius Berger?” Haba! Was the contract for road reconstruction or for the compulsory allocation of Julius Berger shares and board seats? 😂😂😂 By this strange economic theory, before Toyota supplies government vehicles, Abians must sit on Toyota’s board. Before Microsoft provides software, Abians must become Microsoft shareholders. Before an airline carries Abians, somebody from Obingwa must be appointed to its board! 😂😂😂 Let us conduct a small lecture. Public procurement is not ethnic wealth distribution. It…

THE BIG ECONOMICS OF A FIVE-STAR HOTEL: MOSES ORJI’S “HOTEL CRAZE” AND THE DELIBERATE MISREPRESENTATION OF PRODUCTIVE ASSET CONVERSION A Response to Mr Moses Ayodele Orji, Writer, and Mr Eric, Poster By Pastor Prof. Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke Mr Eric recently circulated an article written by Mr Moses Ayodele Orji under the dramatic title, “What’s This Craze About Five-Star Hotels?” The article is lengthy, angry, insulting and politically theatrical. It portrays Governor Alex Otti as a leader wandering around Abia State, acquiring land and erecting luxury hotels wherever he finds an empty space. According to this curious narrative, an airport district…

OBIORA IFOH’S OUTBURST: WHEN COURTROOM DEFEAT IS REBRANDED AS “JUDICIAL RASCALITY” 😂😂😂 Mr. Obiora Ifoh has issued another statement in the name of the Labour Party, attacking Justice Peter Lifu, Governor Alex Otti, OFR, and Senator Nenadi Usman. But before the drums become too loud, one simple question must be asked: Which Labour Party is Obiora Ifoh speaking for? Is it the Labour Party recognised by the courts and led by Senator Nenadi Usman? Or the defeated Abure faction that continues issuing press releases from a political office whose legal foundation has collapsed? 😂😂😂 Obiora Ifoh’s statement is long on…

DENNIS C. IKPE, PLEASE GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT BEFORE WRITING Let us begin with the elementary fact you failed to establish: AIR PEACE DID NOT ADVERTISE ANY LAGOS–UMUAHIA FLIGHT ROUTE. There is no official Air Peace Lagos–Umuahia route. So, Dennis C. Ikpe, whom exactly were you attacking? 😂😂😂 You took an unauthorised graphic bearing an Air Peace aircraft, treated it as an official airline advertisement, and proceeded to write a lengthy lecture condemning a claim Air Peace never made. That is not scholarship. That is not fact-checking. That is a conclusion desperately searching for evidence. 😂 Please get your: FACTS,DATA,HISTORY,INFORMATION,LOGIC,AND…

FROM OBAMA’S OVAL OFFICE TO TRUMP’S WASHINGTON: g NEW SCRAMBLE FOR AMERICAN ATTENTION There is something almost ritualistic about Nigerian presidential politics. As another election approaches, Abuja begins to look nervously across the Atlantic. Politicians polish their international credentials, lobbyists rediscover Nigeria, photographs from Washington acquire mystical importance, and every handshake with an American official is presented at home as evidence that history has already selected its favourite. In 2015, the foreign personality at the centre of Nigeria’s political imagination was Barack Obama. Ahead of 2027, it is Donald Trump. The actors have changed. The choreography has not. Today, President…

ABIA INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION PARK: FACTS, NOT FUNERAL SPEECHES 😂 Comparing Governor Alex Otti’s Industrial Innovation Park with an abandoned project is premature. Evidence shows measurable progress, although completion has not yet been achieved. The park covers 1,995 hectares, with industrial, commercial and residential zones. The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board confirmed discussions with Abia State and described investments exceeding $1.3 billion. In 2024, Otti engaged the NCDMB to accelerate development. In 2025, the Federal Government approved a modular refinery for the park, while Abia commenced the 11.1-kilometre Obehie–Umudobia–Owaza access road. So, where exactly is the “no tangible progress”? 😂…