Emmanuel Ifeanyi 
Background
Professor Ebele Emengini, has said that national development refers not only to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth or infrastructural expansion, but also to human development, institutional resiliency, social equity, cultural vitality, and political inclusion.
Emengini, who is Nigeria’s first female Professor of Surveying and Geoinformatics, made the statement while presenting a paper, titled; Geospatial Analysis of Igbo Diversity in Nigeria and Its Contributions To National Development, as a guest lecturer at the 2025 Eastern Surveyors Forum Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the third Surveyor Shadrach Wokemba Memorial Lecture in Aba, Abia State, on October 24, 2025.
She said that it is important to understand who the Igbos are demographically, culturally, and spatially because it is a prerequisite for mapping how their diversity contributes to broader national development in a country in which they are a major ethnic group.
She explained further that the Igbos have not only maintained strong roots in their homeland over time but have dispersed widely within Nigeria and abroad, forming Diaspora networks and urban enclaves that influence both local economies and national discourse.
Harnessing of human and cultural resources
Emengini disclosed that national development should encompass the ability of a nation to harness its human and cultural resources across space, reduce disparities among regions and ethnic groups, promote social mobility, and build capacities for sustainable growth because when ethnic diversity is well understood and integrated into planning, through geospatial insight into where people live, move, trade, and interact, it can become a driver rather than an impediment of national progress.
Contributions of Igbo geospatial diversity to national development Emengini stressed that pieces of evidence available have shown that Igbo diversity has contributed a lot to national development, stressing that if Nigeria truly wants to develop, it must develop geospatially.
According to her submissions, “The Igbos are one of Nigeria’s most widely dispersed ethnic groups, and their migration patterns have produced thriving communities in nearly every major city in Nigeria.
“Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, illustrates the scale of Igbo entrepreneurship. From Balogun to Alaba and Ladipo markets, Igbo traders dominate supply chains, generating trillions of naira annually in trade volume. “Beyond markets, Igbo investors have helped transform Lagos’s skyline through substantial real estate acquisition in areas such as Lekki and FESTAC.
“These investments create employment across ethnic lines and underpin Lagos’s position as West Africa’s largest urban economy.” Emengini further said that despite the historical tensions and the legacy of the civil war, Igbo commu- nities remain pivotal to Northern Nigeria commerce. She said; “In Sabon Gari, Kano, a district historically designated for non-indigenes, Igbo merchants control large segments of the spare parts, pharmaceuticals, and building materials markets.
“Similar enclaves in Zaria and Kaduna host Igbo-run hotels, manufacturing workshops, and schools.” She also explained that there are documented studies on how Igbo traders rebuilt their businesses after 1960s upheavals, creating enduring social networks that facilitate credit, apprenticeship, and conflict mediation, stressing that their resil- ience has helped stabilise Northern Nigeria supply chains and contributed to regional GDP growth.
She further said that since Abuja became the capital of Nigeria in the 1990s, Igbo professionals, including architects, civil engineers, and real estate developers, have been central to its rapid urbanisation. “Thus, from Lagos to Kano, Port Harcourt, Abuja, and Benin, the Igbo have turned migration into a driver of economic and social transformation. Their combination of entrepreneurial dynamism, cooperative finance, and commitment to education has strengthened Nigeria’s investments,” she said.
Challenges of harnessing Igbo diversity into development in Igboland Emengini, however, stressed that there are heavy challenges facing the Igbos in harnessing their diversity for full-scale development in their own land, adding that despite the contributions of the Igbos to national development. According to her, issues like infrastructural deficit, environmental degradation, cultural erosion, and political 6BH have all presented themselves as difficult problems confronting the Igbos.
Emengini said that despite all of the above, the Igbo experience also highlights Nigeria’s unfinished challenges, as accurate demographic data remains elusive because of politicised and outdated censuses, leaving planners to rely on estimates rather than precise mapping of where of millions of Igbo actually live. “Core Igbo states still face in- frastructure deficits and lingering scars of war and marginalisation. Rapid urban growth threatens language retention and the trans- mission of cultural heritage, even as diaspora networks create new hybrid identities,” she noted.
…need for policies to enhance Igbo diversity
Emengini called on the federal government to make policies that will encourage development of all parts of Nigeria, giving citizens freedom to invest anywhere they wish, stressing that geospatial diversity and migration remain the backbone of the Igbo national story. According to her, “Today, Igbo influence radiates far beyond the five core southeastern states.
Thriving migrant communities in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Benin and abroad sustain dense commercial networks and generate enormous human capital. “Their markets and professional associations drive urban economies; their real estate investments reshape skylines; their high literacy rates strengthen national institutions.
“Equally important, hometown unions channel resources back to rural Igboland, funding schools, roads, and clinics and creating a circular economy that links distant cities to ancestral villages. “These flows of people, capital, and ideas exemplify how spatial dispersion can become a powerful engine for national development.
“For Nigeria, these realities carry clear policy implications. Development strategies move beyond seeing ‘Igboland’ as a bounded southeastern space and instead recognises the nationwide and transnational reach of Igbo settlements. “Geospatial analysis using modern mapping, satellite imagery, and GIS should inform service delivery, infrastructure planning, and economic policy wherever significant Igbo populations reside.”
She said that support for Igbo trade networks and apprenticeship systems can spur small business growth; investment in transport corridors linking the southeast to other regions can unlock further national integration. Emengini said that Igbo people illustrate how ethnic diversity, when understood spatially, can be a catalyst rather than an obstacle to national progress. This is as she said, “Their history of mobility, resilience, and entrepreneurship shows that Ni- geria’s strength lies not only in the resources of particular regions but also in the dynamic movement of its people.
“Harnessing that dynamism through inclusive governance, ev- idence-based geospatial planning, and equitable infrastructure offers a path towards a more cohesive and prosperous Nigerian Federation.” She advised the federal government on making policies to invest in Igbo economic hubs like Aba and Onitsha will be a swift pathway for rapid development, stressing that these cities are already thriving as centres for commerce and manu- facturing but often face significant infrastructure deficits.
“Upgrading transportation networks such as roads and railways to improve the movement of goods and people, reducing business cost and efficiency, ensuring a reliable power supply, providing digital infrastructure like high-speed Internet to enable e-commerce and digital services, and connecting local businesses to global markets are necessary,” she disclosed.
She added that leveraging diaspora networks to attract foreign invest- ment is extremely necessary, as the Igbo diaspora is a powerful force for development, and policy should be designed to harness this potential. Emengini also said that promoting inclusive planning so that Igbo contributions are seen as strengthening inter-ethnic collaboration rather than competition.
She added that a policy of protecting cultural heritage as a source of identity, tourism, and innovation, as well as environmental monitoring and urban and migration planning, is needed. Emengini, however, said that despite the hostilities faced by Igbos in some places, she’ll never advise Igbos to stop their migrational attitude, as it has a lot more gains than losses.
Immortalising Surveyor
Shadrach Wokemba The President of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS), Chief Pius Eze, and all the surveyors at the Aba gathering paid glowing tributes to an astute professional, Surveyor Shadrach Wokemba. Eze described Wokemba as his mentor, a great leader and past President of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) and the Surveyors Registration Council of Nigeria (SURCON), who laid the legacies that formed the template for the practice of their profession.
He commended the leadership of the Eastern Surveyors Forum, led by Chief Gabby Okeke, for their positive impacts that have led to the tremendous growth of the forum.
Chief Gabby Okeke, Chairman of the Eastern Surveyors Forum (ESF), said that apart from gathering in honour of Wokemba, it is also an important factor that the AGM will be remembered as the first time ESF is bringing all the surveyors from different walks of life to Aba, Abia State.
