Maka Alaigbo

Igboland (Àlà Ị̀gbo), also known as Southeastern Nigeria is the homeland of the Igbo people. It is a cultural and common linguistic region in southern Nigeria. Geographically, it is divided by the lower Niger River into two unequal sections – an eastern (which is the larger of the two) and a western section. Its population is characterised by the diverse Igbo culture and the speakers of equally diverse Igbo languages. Southeastern Nigeria is often referred to as a region by Nigerians, it stopped being an official region in 1967 after Nigeria switched to states.

Currently there are 5 states that make up what is now unofficially known as the southeast region, or just Eastern Region, the states are Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. More than 30 million people inhabit Igboland and with a population density ranging from 140 to 390 inhabitants per square kilometre (350 to 1,000/sq. mi).  Igboland is surrounded on all sides by large rivers, and other southern and central Nigeria indigenous tribes, namely Bini, Urhobo-Isoko, Ijaw, Ogoni, Igala, Tiv, Yako, Idoma and Ibibio.

Trade in palm produce was a dominant feature in the economy of Eastern Nigeria. Though not indigenous to the region, the palm tree provided fronds for roofing of houses in the villages, palm wine for drinking and palm kernels as source of foreign exchange income. Trading of goods was also a major part of the regional economy. In 1954, imports to the region was about 25 million pounds a year which were brought into the country by a few European firms but distributed by thousands of traders within the region. The trade in imported goods such as dried fish, motor parts, textiles goes on along with the trade in local foodstuff. In industry, the coal mines of Enugu managed by the Nigerian Coal Corporation and Niger steel’s rolling mill which used steel scraps to produce mild steel bars were one of the few coal mines and steel plants in operation in West Africa in 1963. During the NCNC led government, a cement factory was established at Nkalagu, Nigerian Breweries chose a stout factory at Aba. Oil mining in the region started by Shell D' Archy in 1937 did not yield commercial quantities until 1957. But by 1965, oil was a promising source of income.

Before the civil war, community development was one of the initiatives of the NCNC led Eastern regional government and the phrase was also popular among community residents of villages and towns. Part of the initiative of the community development ministry was the clearing of land for passable laterite and earth roads and the construction of regional railways. In 1955 about 13,000 km (8,000 mi) of roads were cleared but less than 10% were tarred. The Nigerian railway line in the region runs through Enugu, Umuahia and Aba construction of the railway began in 1913 and completed in 1919.

After the war, the region never truly recovered from the destruction of a lot of its infrastructure as negligence from the federal government meant the region had to rebuild on its own. With a strong central government and the return to states, community development gradually died in the region. Currently there is a lot of individual growth but so little communal development.

The SE economy is currently worth over 9 Trillion Naira with the service industry constituting over 73% of that value showing that after 65 years, its economy has not evolved. The region is at a critical point where investment in key infrastructure is needed to drive rapid growth in the economy by growing other sectors including agriculture, energy, and manufacturing.