Beating Traffic: Mgbudohia To Eagle Island By Boat

Normally, going through Mgbudohia community in Rumuolumeni to Mile 2, Diobu, takes about 10minutes drive without any traffic jam, but unfortunately that is not possible these past years.
It is against this backdrop that many residents of the area now prefer crossing by boat that takes about five minutes to Eagle Island, a high brow residential area bordering Mile 2, Diobu. From there, any commuter can get to Old Port Harcourt Township, Mile 1, Diobu, down to Mile 3 through bus or taxi in five minutes.
For the past 20 years, the route has become so popular that even those living at Iwofe prefer taking a boat across to Diobu than transverse the huge traffic snarl from Rumueprikom (Wimpey) to Agip Roundabout.
A resident of Mgbudohia, Williams Amadi told The Tide Metro that for the past 10 years, he prefers the short cut, “I can not imagine myself sitting for over 45 minutes in a bus to Mile 3, if I can do it in 10minutes from Eagle Island by boat,” he said.
“What makes the route attractive is that it is cheap as well”, Amadi maintained. “This place is a gateway to Port Harcourt”.
The normal boat fare is N50, but higher if one carries load or takes a charter as many market women do often.
Mrs Wilcox Menubari, who buys and sells wares told The Tide Metro that she uses the route up to three times a day, especially if she has pressing needs of buying stuffs for her shop.
“If you look at the time you will spend in getting to Mile 3, the best is to take the boat and get to where you are going in 10minutes,” she said.
The same goes for Ismail Ahmed, who sells groceries at Nkpor. His shop is by the road side and he prefers the route because it is easy to access Mile 1 Market.
According to Doctor Jackrich, over 5,000 commuters ferry across the Mgbudoha River to Eagle Island daily.
That figure maybe higher if one counts the number of trips each boat makes in a day. The Tide Metro learnt that there are five waterfronts in the area where the boats ply. They include Alhaji Seaside, Main Market, Mainmarket by Obi and Lepass waterfronts.
Each of the waterfronts from investigations has not less than five boats that ferry passengers in 12-seater outboard engine boats. Each boat makes not less than 10 trips in a day.
Jackrich said, “If government constructs a bridge here, it will make life easier for us. A lot of traffic will be taken off the Iwofe Road to Mile 3”.
He recalled the sad incident that occurred in 2014, when over 20 persons drowned while crossing the river in the night hours.
Solomon Donubari, who was a teenager at the time of the boat mishap said the casualty figure was much higher, “I think it was about 40 persons”, he said.
Donubari is now one of the boat drivers at Main Market Beach. He blames overload, poor safety rules and over speeding for the accidents that do occur along the water route.
His views were supported by one of the boat owners at Main Market Beach, who gave his name as Francis Obadiah.
Obadiah said, “Here we keep a lot of safety rules, but the passengers do not abide by them.” For instance, he revealed that many commuters do not wear life jacket provided by the boat owners. “They complain that the life jacket will stain their clothes.”
That alone is not only a major safety threat from what The Tide Metro gathered. Many of the boats do not have lighting for navigation in the night.
Though Mr Obadiah disagreed that they ply in the night, “we commence operations from 6.30am when day has broken” he submitted, “and we stop operating by 7pm”.
However, investigations by The Tide Metro reveal that passengers still cross the river as late as 9 o’clock in the night.
Obadiah said boat drivers who contravene the night driving law are at risk, while stating that for sometime now, criminals often waylay some passengers and rob them of their belongings, hence, the law against night crossing.
For Confidence King, night robbing has become frequent at the waterfronts, especially at the Eagle Island axis, even with police presence and check points along the road.
King also identified overloading as another challenge along the water route. “Many boat drivers defy safety codes in order to make money,” he stated.
“So far, there has not been an incident of sea piracy, said Obadiah, for the past two years since I came here, no boat has been stolen.”
Consequently, some residents of the community have decried the poor condition of road in Mgbudoha.
The snaky road that links the community to Nkpor via Rumuolumeni is highly dilapidated. As one gets to St Phillips Anglican Church from Iwofe, the route becomes bumpy and rough with many pot holes and craters dotting the whole length linking to Saipem Oil Company.
An indigene, Owhonda Omunakwe told The Tide Metro that this road has been in bad shape for three years now, “Because of the situation, it is difficult to go to Saipem,” he said.
Due to the bad road, Keke (tricycle) charges about N150 to St John’s, which ordinarily is N100.
Omunakwe pleaded that government should come to their aid following the new road that was commissioned along Nkpor to Naval Base.
Felix Abraham lamented that apart from the bad road in the community, they also have poor power supply.
On security in the area, Omunakwe and Abraham agreed that it has improved. Sometime in 2019, many residents left in droves due to the frequent cult clashes.
For the quick intervention of the community and the police the situation has calmed down and people are returning to the area doing business, as cost of rent increases by the day.
A room which used to be about N3,000 to N4,000 is now N5,000, Abraham told The Tide Metro, “people love here now because it is calm and easy to access other parts of the town by water transport.”

By: Kevin Nengia