A popular Nigerian social media commentator and researcher has taken Mr. Peter Obi, the Vice Presidential candidate for Peoples Democratic Party, to the street for claiming that Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital under Governor Udom Emmanuel is one of the 10 fastest growing states in the country.
Rather, the commentator who raised the hand of Senator Godswill Akpabio who was then Akwa Ibom governor for eight years, observed that “In trying to put a garland of achievements around his host’s neck, he had inadvertently raised Senator Akpabio’s hand. Under Governor Akpabio, Uyo Became One Of the Fastest Growing Cities In The World.”
Obi, who spoke Friday evening at the Akwa Ibom Christmas Carols Festival at Uyo Sports Stadium, claimed that “Uyo is one of the 10 fastest growing cities in the country in 2018.’’
Recall that on December 14, Obi SCHOOLED Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that President Muhammadu Buhari administration continued payment of trillions of naira on oil subsidy was an ANATHEMA, citing that it was unsustainable as Nigeria has three million cars instead of 11million.
Ata Ikiddeh who raised the alarm observed that “Peter Obi then turned to Governor Udom and gave him the compliment. I shook my head I knew this was a mistake. Dr Peter had dropped another wrong misguided statistics.
“How can Uyo be one of the fastest growing cities in the country – with the unprecedented high level of poverty and unemployment according to NBS,” he queried.
According to him, “I went to google and did some research. I was right, Dr Obi had once again dropped wrong data similar to his Chinese misadventure.”
“And here is why, the source Dr Peter Obi quoted from came from the UN World Urbanisation Prospects revision 2014, click on link
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/02/the-world-s-fastest-growing-cities
“The data was a 2014 research compilation by the UN when Akpabio was still Governor of Akwa Ibom State. The UN data said under Governor Akpabio’s tenure Uyo was one of the fastest growing cities in the world.”
Ikiddeh further cited “Below is the information written in 2017 but referring to the 2014 UN source:
“Top 10 fastest growing cities in the world
POSTED Feb 16, 2017
BY Inez Willeboordse
“You may not be surprised to learn that – worldwide – more people live in urban areas than in rural areas. That number is growing fast and by 2050 it’s anticipated that 66 per cent of the world’s population will be urban.
What may surprise you is that the top 10 of fastest growing cities in the world are all African cities!
“This is surely a measure of how fast the African content is growing. This of course brings challenges, but at JobnetAfrica we like to believe a lot of opportunities as well.”
“Here are the top 10 of fastest growing cities in the world, with the percentages of their projected growth by 2025 behind them:
1.ZINDER, NIGER – 67,6 %
2. BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI – 67,4 %
3. LOKOJA, NIGERIA – 65,4 %
4. OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO – 61,9 %
5. MWANZA, TANZANIA – 60,9 %
6. DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA – 58,9 %
7. NNEWI, NIGERIA – 58,2 %
8. BAMAKO, MALI – 57,5 %
9. LUBANGO, ANGOLA – 56,8 %
10. UYO, NIGERIA – 56,4 %
“Source: UN World Urbanisation Prospects. Revision 2014. You can read more about urbanization and the fastest growing cities in the world on the World Economic Forum.
“The same State Udom said Akpabio was busy building lifeless monuments, this is the same State the UN recognised internationally as having the fastest growing city in 2014! You see why we have always been right about Akpabio’s phenomenal infrastructural and economic development of Akwa Ibom State, today the UN has validated Akpabio’s uncommon transformation.
“If Gov Udom and maintained that same pace of development and remained focused, Uyo and Akwa Ibom State would probably have occupied the top position and become a model the world over.
“But today Akwa Ibom is the State with the second highest unemployment index in Nigeria. Our situation is dire. Governor Udom has grounded the fastest growing city in the world and turned it into a slum overflowing with poverty and unemployment,” he concluded.
