PH Eatries, Recreation Centres Witness Low Patronage

Recreational centres and eatries in Port Harcourt and its environs  witnessed low level of patronage as a result of the nation-wide strike called by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over the removal of subsidy on petrol by the Federal Government.

The Tide gathered that some of the bars, recreational centres and eatries had very low customer patronage during the strike, especially towards the end of last week, while the few that called at these centres, it was gathered, resorted to purchasing cheaper items due to lack of cash.

Our reporter also gathered that some customers to these centres who normally larvish good sums of money, could not have access to cash, due to the strike as banks and other financial institutions were not in operation.

An eye witness who visited some of these centres at the GRA axis of Port Harcourt told The Tide that some well known customers to these centres who went out of cash during the strike, curningly boycotted the relaxation joints.

However, some few places The Tide observed during the strike showed that the strike period drained cash out of the pocket of people, as the usually busy “120 Inn” in Rumuosi and other relaxation  joints within the Akpor Axis had very low patronage, as people tried to cut down on their consumption while the strike lasted.

The NLC and TUC on Monday called off their joint strike which began penultimate Monday to protest the Federal Government’s unilateral removal of subsidy on petrol price. The call-off followed Federal Government’s decision to reinstate part of the subsidy which has now been moved back from N141.00 to N97.00 per litre.

Corlins Walter