PH Clocks 100 Years, Today …RSG Declares Work Free Day …Blames Salary Delays On Banks

Ambassador of Ireland, Amb. Patrick Fay (left), and Deputy Director of Economic Growth & Environment Office for USAID, Mr Skip Kissinger, at an agriculture summit in Abuja, last Wednesday.

Port Harcourt is 100 years today. It is exactly 100 years when Sir Harcourt, a British Consul and some chiefs from Okrika and Diobu signed an agreement for the establishment of a city of 25 square miles on August 30, 1913.
Already, the State Government has slated an open marathon to mark the anniversary. All those who reside in the city  and are fit, are free to participate in the event.
The event is scheduled to start at 7am at Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre, Moscow Road in Port Harcourt, and tagged ‘Port Harcourt City Centenary Marathon.
The opening ceremonies of the centenary celebration hold at 10am in the main bowl of the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre in Port Harcourt.
Consequently, the Rivers State Government has declared today work-free day to enable civil servants participate fully in the event.
Chairman of the Port Harcourt Centenary Celebrations Committee and Secretary to the State Government, Mr. George Feyii, in a chat with newsmen yesterday in Port Harcourt said the state government had decided to celebrate the landmark.
According to him, the celebrations would stretch to the end of the year and would cover beauty pageantry, lectures, music shows and awards . The celebrations are expected to be capped with a special awards nite and banquet.
Said Feyii, “we are celebrating this unique event because many cities have gone underground even before attaining 100 years, so Port Harcourt is unique’’.
Aside that, Feyii  observed that Port Harcourt was one year older than Nigeria. He hinted that records showed that the city was established in 1913 and named Port Harcourt by Lord Lugard, and one year later, the Northern and Southern Protectrate regions were almagamated and called Nigeria by Lord Lugard in 1914.
A monument is expected to be unveiled in the old Port Harcourt township to mark the centenary.
Also, as part of the celebrations, about 100 persons would be selected for awards, Feyii disclosed.
Feyii while answering questions over the dwindling beauty of the city, noted that the Governor Chibuike Amaechi-led administration had on inception commenced efforts to regain the ‘’Garden City’’ status of the city but argued that due to  growing  population, industrial activities and expansion, the government had continued to face challenges.
“While government is making effort to make the city beautiful, the challenge is not for the government alone, every citizen has to contribute. Yes, there is plenty to celebrate even though there are challenges, but you must appreciate what you have while continuing efforts to improve on it’’, he added.
He, therefore, urged all the citizenry and the media to participate in making the celebrations unique.
Meanwhile, Rivers State Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Chamberlain Peterside says the state government has addressed hiccups associated with delays in the payment of  salaries of some civil servants last month, while noting that  the government is not broke as claimed in some quarters.
He told newsmen last Wednesday in Port Harcourt, that the salary delay was as a result of some of the banks not complying with the new 10 digit Nigeria Uniform Bank Account Number(NUBAN) policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN).
“ For people to say the state is broke is incorrect. We have more internally generated revenue that can take care of salaries and even above,’’ he said.
Dr. Peterside urged civil servants who have not recieved their July salary to be patient, pointing out that many of the banks had complied, hence, would not face the same problem this month end .
Commenting on the shift of date for the enforcement of the cashless policy, Peterside submitted that skeletal implementation had already commenced, adding that it would come in full force in October this year in Rivers State.
According to the policy, third party cheques above N150,000 shall not be eligible to be cashed on the counter but rather by the clearing house and will incur extra charges.