Birds eye view of Onitsha, 1962
Original source of most of these pictures are from the below blog:
New Market Road, 1962.
Locally Made lorry en route in Onitsha, 1962.
Click for more wonderful memories
Christ The King College, Onitsha, early 60's.
Next Picture...VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED.
Next Picture...VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED.
ObI Okosi II of Onitsha, the day of his final Ofala. Taken 1961.
Dennis Memorial Grammar School, established 1925.
Newspaper clipping from 1961, reporting the arrival of an Nri priest to cleanse an abomination committed in Onitsha.
Architect’s Model of Main Market Onitsha, 1952
Background: In 1949 the Onitsha Native Authority began a project of organizing market reconstruction, which met with approval by the Eastern Nigerian Government in 1952. In 1956 actual construction began.
Onitsha Lorry Motor Park, 1960s
The lorries themselves, parked en masse, an agglomeration of woodworks and steel machinery reflecting a prime feature of African private enterprise of this time. Onitsha lorry owners — entrepreneurs strongly invested in fixed capital goods — were busily building a local basis for industrialization. Nearly all of the vehicles you see here are finished in Nigeria: local businessmen purchase Mercedes-Benz chassis, for which local African carpenters specialize in manufacturing general-purpose wooden bodies.
Locally modeled and assembled bus, 1960s. Nnewi.
Paul Anber's essay "Modernization and Political Disintegration: Nigeria and the Ibos" published in the journal of Modern African Studies vol. 5, No 2 (Sep, 1967) 163-179. See pp 171-172 for excerpt:
" '' A system of Universal primary education was introduced in Eastern Nigeria in 1953, though the mission schools had already prospered in the Region long before then. Despite the fact that there was a requirement for limited contributory fees, education continued to be very much in demand. Even at the time when universal primary education was first introduced, the percentage of the population over seven years of age who were literate was higher in the East than in any other Region: East, 10.6 per cent; West 9.5 percent; North, 0.9 percent. Since 1959, the East has had more teachers and pupils than any other area of the country, with the heaviest emphasis on primary education. Figures for elementary and secondary education indicate that the approximate ratio of teachers to population in 1963 was 1 to every 1,500 in the East, 1 to every 2,500 in th West, and 1 for every 10,000 in the north. Other statistical data reveal how rapidly the standard of living rose among Ibos. The East had the most extensive hospital facilities in the country by 1965, the largest regional production of electricity in the country by 1954, and the greatest number of vehicle registrations by 1963. The economic orientation of the Ibos was also reflected through membership of credit associations:in 1963 the East had 68,220 individual members, the west 5,776, and the north a mere 2,407." ''... His source was the Annual Abstract of Statistics ( Federal Office of Statistics, Lagos, 1965)
Onitsha Market Literature:
Okedibia Chinwuba Onumba Orah of Aguleri. The last of the Ojenammuo dibias of Igboland. Supposedly the first to obtain a "dibias license" during the colonial administration.
Date unknown
They were all bombed and purposefully reversed to Stone age. Their policy? Bomb everything standing and when it seems that couldn't win the war, they decided to commit genocide by bombing everything that moves and applying international embargo on food stuffs while still air raiding and combing the remotest settlements in the region on daily basis.
Eastern Nigeria shall rise again. The days when the FG policy of underdeveloping the region was working has started crumbling.
Sooner than later, busy international maritime activities will abound in the region with many busy functional international Airports. The days of unmitigated emigration will soon be over.
Very peaceful city and calmly lovely souls going about they normal business, unlike lagos old pictures u will see people jumping through the danfo widow fighting on the streets
It is of general note that there's always massive migration to more economical viable location; reasons for the massive immigration of Africans into Europe/America *now Asia and Aussies.
Despite all the assertion you've made, the ibos keeps throbbing those region(N&W) as there's also indication of massive immigration from the eastern region to the North and the West in search of what *Supremacy?* or greener pasture from a region that you more advance/educated than.
My question now is what went wrong with the Alaigbo/Ndigbo Nation? Why the wandering spirit and neglect of it intellect people and advance hospitality region?
Kindly please educate us.
Thank you.
Credit: nairaland
.
No comments:
Post a Comment