Port Harcourt: Garden City with few flowers
By MAURICE ARCHIBONG
Thursday, March 11, 2004

Like a rose, the Rivers State capital, Port Harcourt used to exude its own peculiar fragrance. Every-where you went, Port Harcourt spotted well-laid out neighbourhoods. Good roads, clean drains and many houses with flowerbeds projected Port Harcourt as a dainty city.

Here, there and everywhere, the city looked planned and designed with aesthetics and sanitary considerations in mind. Apart from its famed nightlife, many parts of Port Harcourt had playgrounds; noise level was low, taps flowed with water and streetlights were taken for granted. Roads, especially in the "Township" and Government Reservation Area (GRA) were in good shape. That is how Port Harcourt came to be foisted with the Garden City sobriquet.

According to Mr. G.O.O. Ugowe, author of Nigeria: Her Cities, Towns and Peoples, "The combined advantages of being both seaport and railway terminus, which Port Harcourt … shared with Lagos, combined with her proximity to the populous and rich eastern hinterland, marked the town out as destined for great roles."

Ugowe continues, "At the very beginning, the town was well planned, the streets were well laid out and were provided with recreational facilities, in the form of parks, open spaces and playing fields."
But what do we have nowadays? Taps flow in fits and start, forcing many residents of Port Harcourt to rely on Mai-ruwa (water hawkers). A 25-litre volume of water sells for N10 in Port Harcourt Township. To worsen matters, heaps of refuse litter many streets. Gone is the alluring fragrance around the Township part of town. Along Creek Road, in particular, Port Harcourt effuses a terrible stench. It is disheartening that from Garden City, Port Harcourt has been allowed to degenerate to Garbage City. In fact, some of the playgrounds in the township area have been encroached upon. So, where are the gardens?

Port Harcourt’s few gardens could be found around Mile 1.
A major park, possibly the only public place in Port Harcourt deserving that name, is Isaac Boro Park. Facing the fly-over, which leads from Mile 1 Diobu to the Old Township, Isaac Boro Park has survived, where many other public recreation spaces have been encroached. It is even possible that Isaac Boro Park might have been defiled but for that garden’s sacred place in the heart of this nation of minority ethnic groups. Isaac Boro Park is a special memento in honour of Major Isaac Adaka Boro, a minority rights activist killed in 1968 by Biafran forces while fighting on the side of Federal troops, during Nigeria’s civil war.

It was from house Number 24, Aggrey Road, Port Harcourt that another minority rights activist, after a phony trial, on November 10, 1995, by the General Sani Abacha junta. Port Harcourt also served as home to Dr Marshal Harry, deceased leader of the ANPP in the South-South geopolitical zone, until his murder in Abuja early 2003. Aside these victims, Second Republic Senator Obi Wali was also matchetted to death in his home, on the outskirts of Port Harcourt, some years ago. Political violence seems to have been haunting Rivers people for a long time.

According to Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo, a columnist, writing in the Weekend Telegraph, "Rivers people have had violent political impositions in the past. There was a time, when Her Majesty’s Government sent white men to colonize and oversee the looting of our resources. But the British government met stiff resistance in King Jaja of Opobo and King Koko of Nembe. Men like Earnest Ikoli and Dappa Biriye fought the roughish British to a standstill. These Rivers Kings and men had the will to die and free their people by their heroic actions."

Another columnist, Leburah Ganago, writing in the Ogoni Star, observes: "even before the terror (assassination) dragnet spread to other parts of the country, Rivers State has since held on to its reputation of Rivers of blood." Unlike some Nigerian cities, Port Harcourt, (simply Port or PH, as this town is fondly called) enjoys the benefit of being free of religious fanatics, but political extremism and assassinations de-beautify this settlement’s reputation of Garden City. To a number of notable political figures, this Garden City’s flowers have proved no better than wreaths.

Sunny sides
On the brighter side, Port Harcourt still boasts many good roads. Some of these roads, such as Aggrey, are so wide one respondent quipped that he had thought they were aircraft runways. Moreover, to the credit of the current Federal and Rivers State Governments, massive rehabilitation and outright redesign and reconstruction have been visited on a number of roads across Port Harcourt. A good example is Ikwerre Road, which has been expanded and given a sparkling velvet-smooth coat of asphalt, not to talk of the massive roundabout opposite the gate of Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST).
Like Port Harcourt’s vanishing fields, the city also has a long list of extinct fun spots. These include Aquarius and Jumbolee. But this is no to say that Port Harcourt has not retained her vibrant nightlife even though many spots have simply folded up. It would seem that for each club that closed shop, many more threw open their doors. Unfortunately, highlife enthusiasts can no longer dance to the live music of the Seagulls Professionals Band at the Romeo along Victoria Street. That multi-storey property has been converted to a residential estate.

Jumbolee used to be one of Port Harcourt’s more cozy bars/restaurants. A 24-hour concern, Jumbolee was located along Aggrey Road. But several years ago, the sun set on this exciting spot following the transition of the enterprise’s proprietor. Jumbolee, we were told, aimed to provide a conducive atmosphere for relaxation for special clientele Many of that spot’s habitues also converged on Jumbolee to savour their chef’s delights and enjoy popular standards and Jazz music. Some of Port Harcourt’s extant nightclubs remain as vibrant as ever. Roll call: Dreams Nite Club, Uncle Sam and the Friends Club, established to enable a particular calibre of people relax and enjoy themselves without watching people fight according to Mr. H. A. Okudiri, who added that the Friends Club is a members-only outfit. Other popular spots include Martinique at D-Line and Boogie Kitchen along Emekuku. A major fun spot in Port Harcourt is along Harbour Road, not far from Aggrey Road junction.

Port Harcourt’s allurements are enhanced by the ethnic plurality of her inhabitants. Typical of any garden worth that epithet, PH hosts peoples from various ethnic groups of Nigeria. To start with, the city is home to the many colourful and rich ethnic groups, which make up Rivers State. The repertory includes Okirika, Kalabari, Ijaw, Ogoni, Andoni and Opobo. Since Rivers State is bordered by Imo and Abia States there is, expectedly, a large Igbo population, aside the aboriginal Abua, Ikwerre, Egbema, Ekpeye and so on.

Apart from a substantial number of expatriate workers drawn to this city, Port Harcourt has always held a tidy population of nationals of neighbouring West African countries. It was one of these West Africans, a Creole, named Reverend Potts Johnson, who gave Port Harcourt her first secondary school, Enitonia High School, around 1930.
The Church Missionary Society (CMS) later established Girls’ High School, Elelenwa, said to be the first girls’ secondary institution in these parts. With regard to tertiary education, PH now boasts two universities: Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) at Mile 3, and University of Port Harcourt, at Choba, farther out from town.

Media/War
It was from here, four years after Port Harcourt was established that military operations were launched against the Axis Forces in German Kamerun (Cameroon) during World War 1 (1914 – 1918). And during World War II, the Eastern Nigerian Guardian, published in Port Harcourt kept residents of PH and neighbouring settlements abreast of developments. One of the Zik Group of Newspapers, the Eastern Nigerian Guardian, founded in PH in 1941, enjoyed much patronage and loyal readership, being among very few of such publications in that area, at the time.

Today, however, PH newsstands feature dozens of newspapers. Aside the common national dailies and weeklies published outside Rivers State, PH is also home of The Ogoni Star, Weekend Telegraph, Midweek Telegraph, The Beacon, The Argus, Niger Delta Today, and many others. Some of these papers are rabidly biased but they all give some idea of the people’s mood.
Founded in 1912, Port Harcourt may not be horticultural green anymore but The City is metaphorically green in the context of the dollars that it spins. Most people would be surprised that Port Harcourt is by any standard as developed as it is today. Eighty years ago, the areas now occupied by the city was a thick forest with Okrika people living around the coastal areas in little village settlements while the Ikwerre people of Diobu and so on lived in the hinterlands. According to one Major J.G.C. Allen of Bath, England, the "Ex-officio" resident of the Port Harcourt Town Council from 1952 to 1955, the city was named in memory of one Sir William Harcourt who was a minister in the two governments of then British Prime Minister Gladstone. The colonial government mandated Harcourt to find a suitable place for a port and railway terminus with a view to generating funds. The District Officer found the land now known as Port Harcourt, lying some 64 kilometers up the Bonny River to be most strategic. And subsequently got clearance to negotiate its acquisition, states Allen. Allen was the last Senior Resident in charge of what was then the Rivers Province. Since the Okrika and the Diobu peoples ceded this land to the colonial government for the sum of 5,000 pounds there appeared to be no stopping this city on its galloping strides to fame and fortune.

Nigeria’s launch into the league of oil exporting countries followed the discovery of oil at Oloibiri (20 km from PH) in 1956, and it was from Port Harcourt that the first shipment of Nigeria’s crude-oil export sailed out (45 years ago) in 1958. Over the last five decades, countless Nigerians and foreigners have poured into Port Harcourt, attracted by job prospects in the petroleum and petrochemical industries. This influx of people into PH has proved a tremendous tax on the local country’s resources. To meet some of inhabitants’ demands, various governments have adopted radical measures. This radical move probably led to the demolition of small bungalows on one side of Aggrey road to make way for two-storey blocks of flats.

Although the problem of scarcity of residential accommodation is not peculiar to Port Harcourt, since it affects virtually all the major cities in the world, but in the Rivers State capital this inadequacy long ago assumed unbearable dimensions. For example, landlords seem bent to throw their tenants, who do not work in some oil industry onto the streets.
Many respondents informed Sun Travels that most of the oil companies pay their workers breath taking housing allowances. Some landlords lured with offers they cannot refuse proceeded to eject the current occupants to enable the petrol-dollar earning worker move in. The rent for a single room accommodation can run as high as N2, 000 here and the tenant whose landlord did not require more than three years’ rent paid in advance is considered lucky! But Port Harcourt is not all about problems. In deed, viewed against the economic opportunities here, the hassles seem minuscule. The inhabitants are highly civilised and accommodating. Owing to the heterogeneous ethnic composition of Rivers State, the English language and pidgin pass for lingua franca in Port Harcourt. Thus, getting by is easier than in some parts of Nigeria, where most people use local lingo. And despite the city’s growing filthy outlook, Port Harcourt still comes across as neat, in comparison with some other Nigerian towns. In some areas, Port Harcourt still boasts of many well-laid out residential areas. Intra-city commercial transport is still reliable and transport fares are surprisingly low. For N30, one can get a bus ride from Park to Rumuokuta, a distance of roughly 10 kilometers.

A ride in a collective taxi from Part to Lagos bus stop costs N30. The same fare applies to a but ride from Lagos to Borokiri. To travel the same distance in a chartered cab here costs some N80, whereas in Lagos the fare might run as high as N200 to N300. Yoruba men account for a large percentage of commercial vehicle operatives in Port Harcourt and all over Rivers State and neighbouring Bayelsa. These Omo Odua converge in bukas strewn across the Port Harcourt Township to savour amala and other Yoruba meals. Kai-kai a.k.a. Kparaga or Ogogoro (native gin) is consumed here daily in large quantities as in other communities which dot Nigeria’s Atlantic coast. Onunum, a special meal made from plantain and yam pounded together and eaten with stew comprising a species of tiny fish is seasonally enjoyed here. And no lore of the charm of Port Harcourt would be incomplete without a mention of the many beautiful, bewitching damsels that adorn this city.

Hotels
Like all major cities, Port Harcourt boasts a large number of hotels and inns. Hotel Presidential, a primary venue of conferences, symposia and so on, has grown bigger with the completion of that estate’s second phase. Hotel Presidential boasts world class facilities and a resident live band. Located along the Port Harcourt/Aba Road, Presidential is popular among tourists, especially foreigners. Those days, the Presidential’s only rival seemed to be the much smaller Hotel Olympia. For many years, the latter was under renovation and the Presidential enjoyed something of a monopoly. Not any more. A mighty hotel opened nearer the Port Harcourt International Airport, and some tourists wary of missing their flight to the city’s traffic jam may well prefer to stay there. But perhaps, the biggest ever threat to the Presidential seems to be Ogeyi Le Meridien, which opened recently. Also located in the GRA, where the Presidential stands, Le Meridien Port Harcourt stands imposing and resplendent overlooking the city’s Polo grounds. Furthermore, we gathered that another very big hotel, also of an international chain, is due to open in Port Harcourt before long! Aside these grand affairs, relatively more modest lodges have also sprouted all over PH. An example is Rosie, again located within the GRA.
Whatever, the case, the competition may still not be that stiff among Port Harcourt’s hotels, after all, considering the plenitude of business travellers that daily pour into this city.