Rivers And US-Nigeria Relations

Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State of Nigeria , is playing a historic role this week. Also called the Garden City or oil capital, Port Harcourt is playing host to the US-Nigeria Bilateral Commission, the first city outside the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) to do so. The meeting will last for two days, between 16 and 17 October 4, 2012.

Port Harcourt lies along the Bonny River. According to the 2006 Nigerian census, Port Harcourt has a population of 1,382,592. The city was renamed in 1913 by Frederick Lugard after Lewis Vernon Harcourt who was the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

The colonial masters created the port to export coal from the collieries of Enugu (now Enugu State) located 151 miles (243 km) north of Port Harcourt,by a railway called the Eastern Line, also built by the British.

Port Harcourt played a crucial role during the World War I as centre of military operations. The shipment of crude oil was exported through Port Harcourt in 1958. Most international oil corporations have presence in Port Harcourt .

Port Harcourt has two airports; one of them is an international airport. The city also has three universities and other institutions of higher learning.

The city is a major industrial centre as it has a large number of multinational firms as well as other industrial concerns, particularly business related to the petroleum industry. It is the chief oil-refining city in Nigeria .

The main industrial area is located in Trans Amadi. The Podium Block of Rivers State Secretariat is an icon of the city. An 18 storey building, it has the tallest building in the South/South and South/East geopolitical zones combined. The city has an international airport, two seaports, two stadiums, and two refineries.

A new city called Greater Port Harcourt has been created by law and is now being busily built by the Chibuike Amaechi administration, to spread development to the surrounding communities as part of the efforts to decongest the Port Harcourt metropolis. The Greater Port Harcourt urban area spans eight local government areas.

Port Harcourt features a tropical monsoon climate with lengthy and heavy rainy seasons and very short dry seasons. Only the months of December and January truly qualify as dry season months in the city. The harmattan, which climatically influences many cities in West Africa, is less pronounced in Port Harcourt . Port Harcourt ‘s heaviest precipitation occurs during September with an average of 370 mm of rain. December on average is the driest month of the year, with an average rainfall of 20 mm. Temperatures throughout the year in the city are relatively constant, showing little variation throughout the course of the year. Average temperatures are typically between 25°C-28°C in the city.

The US- Nigeria Bilateral Commission came into existence on April 6, 2010, to expand mutual cooperation especially in seven strategic areas including energy, Niger Delta and regional cooperation, agriculture, Gulf of Guinea , etc. Several meetings have been held in Washington and Abuja to advance the objectives of the commission. This time around, it is being held in a part of the Niger Delta soil.

The event is a top bill in international rating and the strategic relevance of the Gulf of Guinea area makes the meeting in Port Harcourt even more important. The deputy secretary of State for US and two assistant secretaries are leading the US delegation. On the side of Nigeria , the US-Nigeria Bilateral Commission is viewed with seriousness especially by the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) led by His Excellency, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

Anyone who knows about the commission and its activities would know that important issues especially those bordering on good governance, transparency, food security, Niger Delta and regional cooperation, free and fair elections, would be on the front burner. The meeting would be reviewing progress made in the critical areas by both countries.

The Amaechi Administration is on record to have fought the most to entrench peace and security and to ensure smooth business operations. The administration right from the onset took a stand on the side of lawfulness and rebuffed anything to the contrary, especially armed gangsterism. Businesses have received maximum protection and attention and reforms have been carried out to create seamless atmosphere for entrepreneurship.

Today, Port Harcourt has become a choice destination, hosting various national and international summits and conferences. This reputation and capability are being iced this week by the US-Nigeria Bilateral Commission meeting. Many already see this as an endorsement by the world that Port Harcourt is an okay city. This is expected to be the major garland the city would wear after this meeting.

Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has demonstrated commitment and has shown keen interest in how States can leverage on the commission to advance the cause of development of their areas. He has participated in the commission’s meetings for three times and Rivers State has gained some greater attention.

About 20 engineers from the State have been sent to benefit from a training partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Transport as part of the fallouts of the US – Nigeria bi-national commission. Also, Rivers State will host a tractor assembly plant as part of the benefits of the agriculture working group of the BNC.

It is expected that after the meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State would count definite benefits that would advance its development and set the oil State on a path of faster economic development. Our quest for human capital development, skill acquisition and faster entrepreneurship may be easier to actualize.

Mrs Semenitari, is the Commissioner for Information & Communications, Rivers State; isemenitari@riversstate.gov.ng Relations

Ibim Semenitari