The Planned Demolition Of Waterfronts

When the last administration announced its intension to demolish all the waterfronts in Port Harcourt and its suburbs, the move was greeted with an avalanche of criticisms. The reactions that enveloped the plan were unprecedented as the waterfront dwellers and some elite, both in Rivers and Bayelsa states condemned the move in strong terms.

As it were, reasons for the spontaneous reactions to the planned demolition were not far-fetched. First, the affected waterfront settlers could not imagine where else to reside should the government at the time made good its plan, in view of the shortage of accommodation in Port Harcourt.

Secondly, they were at a loss to understand why a government with a human face would want to render hundreds of thousands of people homeless without making an alternative arrangement for those to be affected.

Again, they premised their reactions on the fact that they developed individually the waterfronts and built not just make shift houses, but permanent block houses. They, therefore, pleaded with the authorities at the time to have a rethink on the issue.

Last Thursday, the state governor, Rt. Hon Chibuike Amaechi, reaffirmed his administration’s determination to demolish the waterfronts in Port Harcourt and its environs, as part of measures to check the wave of criminality in the state capital.

Addressing a town hall meeting with the people of Okrika, Governor Amaechi said the decision to demolish the waterfronts was in the interest of peace and tranquility of all persons residing in Port Harcourt and the state.

The state Chief Executive explained that it is the responsibility of government to protect lives and property, contending that one way to achieve this was by demolishing the waterfronts since they serve as safe havens for criminals.

However, he said the only condition on which government would not demolish the waterfronts was for the Okrikans to sign an agreement with the government, assuring that they would be held responsible for any criminal activity perpetrated at the waterfronts.

Viewed against this backdrop, the people of Okrika, and especially the waterfront dwellers must therefore reciprocate the benevolence of the state government by ensuring that the waterfronts are not used as hideouts by miscreants in Port Harcourt and its suburbs.

It is common knowledge that the waterfronts in Port Harcourt have over the years served as places of abode for criminals, especially militants and cultists. Which is why the present administration is threatening to demolish all the waterfronts in order to smoke-out the criminals.

One can recall vividly that some militants using the Abuja Estate Waterfront, Port Harcourt, as their operational base, engaged men of the Joint Military Taskforce (JTF) in a gun duel (sometime ago), when the military men descended on them at the waterfront, resulting in the death of two cultists, while 20 others were arrested by the JTF.

No doubt, the Abuja Estate Waterfront incident is a pointer to the fact that the waterfronts in Port Harcourt and its environs provide cover for militants and other deviants. Even so, the state government has not changed its position on the calls for demolition.

Therefore, it behoves all waterfront dwellers, to ensure that criminals do not live among them. To achieve this, they should report to the appropriate authorities, suspected miscreants residing in their midst in order not to cause the state government to have a rethink on the waterfronts, given the security risks the waterfronts pose to the state capital.

Beyond that, the planned demolition of waterfronts in Port Harcourt and its environs will, to a great extent, restore Port Harcourt to its status as Nigeria’s Garden City.