The pervasive and growing state of poverty in Nigeria is alarming

By Tom Okure, Ph.D.
ICMS, INC Reports

The pervasive and growing state of poverty in Nigeria is alarming and requires massive government intervention to arrest and reverse the situation.

Within the last six months of this year, 2,969,158 more Nigerians allegedly entered into what is categorized as extreme poverty making Nigeria the poverty capital of the world by overtaking India in this regard. Nigerian government statistics show that 70 percent of the population lives in abject poverty subsisting on $2.00 or less daily.



Poverty is becoming glaring especially in the suburbs of the major cities like Lagos and even in the federal capital territory of Abuja with huge populations of people occupying dwellings in slums.  Poverty is manifested in the lack of basic human necessities of food, health care, education and proper sanitation. The situation is becoming frightening and expanding depict the governments policy proclamations that it is creating more economic opportunities designed to lift over 100 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next ten years.
In order for government's effort to succeed, a more deliberate policy needs to be directed towards combating the pervasive corruption in the whole fabric of the country and fast tracking the implementation of much needed social and economic projects that would create jobs with living wages for the people.   

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All rights reserved by Tom Okure, Ph.D President and CEO of Inter-Continental Mgt. Systems, Inc (or ICMS, Inc). The information included in this article may not be used, reproduced, transmitted, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written permission of ICMS, Inc. The author Dr. Tom Okure is President of ICMS, Inc, a multifaceted business and management consulting firm with its head office in Albany, New York. Dr. Okure is a writer, author, business/management consultant, public policy advisor and commentator and a change advocate.

One On One with Godswill Akpabio 26 OCT 2019

Kenyan born Eliud Kipchoge sets a new historical record as first person to complete a marathon run in under two hours.

ICMS, Inc Reports

By Tom Okure, PhD

Eliud Kipchoge on Saturday October 12, 2019 did not disappoint his native country Kenya, his fans or his sponsors INEOS as he set a new historical record by becoming the first person to complete a marathon run in under two hours.

Eliud Kipchoge who is 34 years and currently the world Olympic marathon champion successfully completed a specially prepared course for him in one hour 59:40 minutes around Vienna’s Prater Park. The run started at 08:15 on the Reichsbrücke bridge that spans the Danube before winding through to the Austrian capital's iconic Prater Park. During the run, Kipchoge averaged about 2.50 minutes per kilometer.

The British chemical company INEOS organized and funded the run labelled and intensively promoted as the INEOS 1.59 challenge. The whole country of Kenya has been on nerves with heightened excitement awaiting the result of this run. This was Kipchoge’s second attempt to break the barrier, having failed to accomplish the challenge by 26 seconds in Monza. 

During the Vienna’s Prater Park run, Kipchoge was directed by seven man rotating teams of pacesetters, who are renowned athletes in their own right. There was also an electric pace car which shone green lasers onto the track. Kipchoge ran amazingly consistently achieving one-kilometre times fluctuating between 2.48 and 2.52 seconds and reaching the halfway target point of the run in 59.35 seconds, 11 seconds inside the track.

Eliud Kipchoge was seen pounding his chest and pointing to the crowd in joy as he advanced towards the finish line, and becoming the first man in marathon history to cover the 26.2 mile marathon distance in under two hours. At the end of the run, Kipchoge said "I am the happiest man in the world to be the first human to run under two hours and I can tell people that no human is limited. I expect more people all over the world to run under two hours after today."

Despite this outstanding human accomplishment, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) indicates that it cannot recognize the run as an official record because it was not achieved in an open competition. Nevertheless, IAAF president Sebastian Coe welcomed the record attempt.

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All rights reserved by Tom Okure, Ph.D President and CEO of Inter-Continental Mgt. Systems, Inc (or ICMS, Inc). The information included in this article may not be used, reproduced, transmitted, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written permission of ICMS, Inc. The author Dr. Tom Okure is President of ICMS, Inc, a multifaceted business and management consulting firm with its head office in Albany, New York. Dr. Okure is a writer, author, business/management consultant, public policy advisor and commentator and a change advocate.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Mr. Abiy Ahmed Ali awarded Nobel Peace Prize for 2019

ICMS, Inc Reports
By Tom Okure, Ph.D.

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Ethiopian Prime Minister Mr. Abiy Ahmed Ali, has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 by the Norwegian based Nobel Committee in Oslo. In making the award to Mr. Abiy, the Nobel committee cited the Prime Minister’s successful efforts to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea in addition with his overall effort to achieve international peace and cooperation. Mr. Abiy Ahmed became Prime Minister of Ethiopia in April 2018.

Eritrea and Ethiopia had been in enmity with each other for a very long time with frequent clashes and a border war which lasted from 1998 to 2000. The two neighbors have since resolved their conflict and restored relations in July 2018. Mr. Abiy Ahmed has also been involved with mediating a long-drawn-out conflict over rights to a disputed marine area between the neighboring countries of Kenya and Somalia.

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All rights reserved by Tom Okure, Ph.D President and CEO of Inter-Continental Mgt. Systems, Inc (or ICMS, Inc). The information included in this article may not be used, reproduced, transmitted, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written permission of ICMS, Inc. The author Dr. Tom Okure is President of ICMS, Inc, a multifaceted business and management consulting firm with its head office in Albany, New York. Dr. Okure is a writer, author, business/management consultant, public policy advisor and commentator and a change advocate.

The restoration of the historic Control Post landmark in Ikot Ekpene is finally underway.

ICMS,Inc Reports,

By Tom Okure, Ph.D

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After more than three years of Akwa Ibom State government neglect and abandonment, work is finally ongoing towards the upgrade and restoration of Control Post.

Control Post is a famous road intersection in Ikot Ekpene 

Control Post is a historic and famous landmark in Ikot Ekpene and a famous road intersection (or junction) in the village of Ikot Ekpene where Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road and old Itu-Ikot Ekpene road and other local internal roads like Atan road in Ikot Ekpene converge.

Control Post is also the focal point of Ikot Ekpene village (Usug Ikot Ekpene) which the historic raffia city (town) and local government derives its name. Its historical significance is even more obvious when placed in the context of Ikot Ekpene being the location of the first British Colonial experimentation in local self-governance.

In the Control Post construction background can be seen another famous
building in Ikot Ekpene: The Four Point Hotel by Sheraton

During the Nigerian Civil war, the Nigerian army understood the strategic significance of maintaining its control of the state from invading Biafran soldiers and decided to stand its ground in Control Post. It also has always been an energetic center of commercial activity for the residence of Ikot Ekpene and the surrounding areas. One aspect of the political anger of the voters of Ikot Ekpene during the last governorship election can best be understood in the context of the above discussion.

The anger of many voters surged during the elections over the abandonment of the restoration of Control Post and the failure of the current state government to complete the controversial 25 kilometers Uyo-Ikot Ekpene dualized federal highway started by the former Godwill Akpabio’s administration. The political controversy over who was to blame for the lack of completion of Uyo-IKot Ekpene road and Control Post being the terminal point of the road construction pitted the two major political parties (PDP and APC) in the state vying for political power and control of the state government.

The writer visiting the site of the abandoned Control Post in 2018

Politically and in retrospective, one can argue that restoration of construction was inevitable and a win win situation for Ikot Ekpene voters no matter which political party won the governorship elections in the state.  This is because both political parties vowed to revive the road construction and restoration of the abandoned Control Post which had become an eyesore and a major point of flooding preventing access to Ikot Ekpene city from Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road or from old Itu-Ikot Ekpene road.

Construction of an expensive project such as the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road should never be started without a special dedicated budget fund to accomplish the task over a period of years. Budgetary revenues would be released annually as planned project targets are accomplished until the planned infrastructure/project is completed. The dilemma that Akwa Ibom State constantly faces as we witnessed in the abandonment of the dualiization of Uyo-Ikot-Ekpene federal road is the lack of capital planning foresight and the failure to build into the state government capital budget for projects a contingency budget to accommodate unforeseen circumstances (like the fall in oil revenues) as Nigeria and the state government is constantly experiencing.

The abandoned Control Post became an eyesore and a major flooding point in Ikot Ekpene city.

With the resumption of construction of the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene dualized federal highway road and active work going on towards rehabilitation of Control Post, high tribal voter tempers and criticism of the current Akwa Ibom State Government appears to have been abated. This writer gathers that the original plan for the dualized highway and Control post which incorporated a flyover bridge may not be realized due to cost considerations related to completion of the project.

Nevertheless, there is a sense of relieve among Ikot Ekpene residence that something is finally being done.  The current State administration of Governor Emmanuel Udom must be applauded for fulfilling a major political promise to fully reconstruct and modernize Control Post. We look forward to a revitalized Control Post community where economic activity is restored following the completion of the long awaited Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road by December 2019 as promised by the state government.  

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All rights reserved by Tom Okure, Ph.D President and CEO of Inter-Continental Mgt. Systems, Inc (or ICMS, Inc). The information included in this article may not be used, reproduced, transmitted, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written permission of ICMS, Inc. The author Dr. Tom Okure is President of ICMS, Inc, a multifaceted business and management consulting firm with its head office in Albany, New York. Dr. Okure is a writer, author, business/management consultant, public policy advisor and commentator and a change advocate.