Life At The Water Fronts … Daily Encounter With PH Water Front Residents

Water front settlements in Port- Harcourt, seen as hovels for the poor masses and refuge for outlaws, are gradually having a new lease of life. With the presence of electricity and boreholes, some of the amenities they were previously lacking, life in these slums is not quite as it used to be.
This has led to the increase in the number of people seeking accommodation at the water fronts.
Apart from the affordability of accommodation at the water fronts, there is a common notion that things are relatively cheap down there and the inhabitants enjoy relative contentment, except instances of disturbances masterminded by hoodlums.
Residents of Ibadan, Nembe, and Captain Amangala waterfronts, who spoke with The Tide Metro, in a random chat, agreed that relative peace and happiness prevails at the water fronts as life blossoms steadily among the clusters of families that inhabit the settlements.
In the water fronts, the economy is rustic and centred around the hectic scramble for survival. A resident of Ibadan water front, Mr Felix Ibitema who spoke with the Tide metro said, ‘I live at the water front with my family because things are very affordable here, with just N15,00,00  one can make a small pot of soup and life goes on, I’m a carpenter and I have a family of four’. Another resident known as Rhoda, a fish dealer also told The Tide metro that she enjoys living at the water front because life is affordable there. ‘ I’m a fish dealer, I sell fish at Creek road market, I love staying at the water front because things are very affordable, I have three children and I train them from the proceeds of my fish business, I have a lot of customers who come from GRA and other places to buy my fish.’
A resident of Nembe water front Mr Alile, a fisherman also told The Tide metro that living at the water front had made him to save money to build a house in his community. ‘ I’m a fisherman and I live here with my family. I’ve been able to save money to build a house in my community.’
The water front settlements in Port Harcourt are virtually identical. They adopt a toilet system with plank houses built on the River which equally serve as bathing facilities, and queue up to take their turns.
Another resident of Nembe water front, Mrs Beatrice Amachree, also a fish dealer said she loves the water front because of the low cost of living. Amachree said, ‘I’m a single mother and I manage life here with my son of eight years. We feed from my fish trading, I love the water front because things are not too expensive here, we live here like brothers and sisters and manage our lives because we can’t afford achieve expensive accommodation.’
The buildings in the settlements consist of myriads of antenna poles attached to each house. Large families cluster together in the small makeshift apartments.
Assorted types of improvised food such as , akara, fried yam, jollof rice, and roasted plantain and fish known as ‘ bole’ are the regular menu of the dwellers, and they are mostly patronised by the bachelors residing at the water front for easy meals.
The water front women engage mostly in petty trading and other commercial activities to assist their families. At the end of a day’s business the men recline at available joints cooling off with bottles of beer and local gin known as kaikai.
At the water front, you get the impression that breeding children is an industry as there are lots of children every where. The children straggle down the river bank splashing in the shallow waters. Somewhat older children engage in rough and tumble game, even when it develops into a fight.
Shouts, laughter, screams and yells echoe along the creek banks mingled with an occasional cry  of pain as a child receives an accidental knock or is treated roughly.  The noisy chattering game goes on with  few recriminations and no running home to parents.
The children generally look happy, contented and full of high spirit. After a strenuous hide and seek game, the children wander around the Creek side. They  point sticks constructed like guns at themselves, mimicking gun like sounds in frenzied excitements.
The children attend schools outside the waterside settlements and assist their families in their businesses when they return back from school. The water side population is also impressive and an assess based for political achievements, due to their obvious voting strength.  A resident  of Captain Amangala water front, Mr  China Oluchi who spoke with The Tide metro said politicians used to come to the water fronts to seek the votes of the residents but regretted that they hardly visits the settlements after the election season. He commended the Rivers state Governor ,Barr Nyesom Ezenwo Wike for giving a facelift to the old Port Harcourt Township through the reconstruction of roads in the area.
He called on the government to come to the aid of the water front dwellers by providing basic amenities that will enhance their living standards. ‘ I want to commend the Rivers state Governor Barr Nyesom Wike for constructing the various roads in the old Port Harcourt Township that were totally spoilt, I’m also appealing to the Governor to put some amenities like water and good toilet system in the water fronts to give residents a sense of belonging.’
A Surveyor and Planner, Yiinu Needam who spoke with the Tide metro called for the upgrading of waterside settlements and other slums in the state through an integrated urban planning system.
Needam noted that majority of people particularly low income earners reside in the water fronts without the  ‘barest shred’ of civilised living. He said if coastal settlements like water fronts are upgraded they would provide modest and affordable accommodation for the teeming residents of the city.

By: Taneh Beemene