Yes, lest we forget that the legacy bequeathed to us in 1913 by the British, christened Port Harcourt was a Garden City.
That city with its sublime beauty of a Garden, stood tall among its peers in the continent. Some called it the city of Roses, Port highlife and several names in local languages spoken in the area. It was the Whiteman’s city in a Blackman’s peninsular.
A city welcoming to all across West Africa, cosmopolitan, civilized, safe, prosperous and a free town indeed.
The city centre, the sea port, railway and airport complimented the ambience of a modern city modeled after London and Liverpool.
In part one of this catalogue, I recalled the sordid state of affairs which can be attributed to growth due to population explosion, as well as decay, due to lack of proper urban logistics, planning and control over the years.
This catalogue recalled that different administrations after the war, when as the poet Gabriel Okara puts it, “the Roses had been over grown with weeds,” made efforts at restoration.
Most of the efforts were mere superficial and rudimentary. While the Diete Spiff administration concentrated in the construction of institutional structures and rehabilitation, slums and shanties were springing up, especially in the water fronts which ordinarily should have developed into modern satellite towns in the city.
Also, businessmen and traders were distorting building structures to set up businesses. The result was that everywhere outside the markets, became businesses or trading outlets and to many, it was a sign of growth but a negative one at that.
New residents brought in village cultures, shanty lifestyles and the resultant heaps of rubbish transformed the city into a near garbage city. Itinerant traders from neighbouring states stormed the city with the ugly culture of random street trading, hawking all manner of wears, littering the roads not only with their nuisance but with dirts, blocking drains etc. The development brought insecurity of some form.
Another ugly state of Affairs was the fact that most of the buildings built during the colonial times began to diminish in structure and aesthetics. Most of them became broken, deroofed defaced and yet inhabited by residents who couldn’t maintain them. The abandoned property phenomenon made matters worse as buildings which could not be reclaimed or acquired rotted away depicting ugly ambience in the city.
The immediate past administration made bold efforts to reverse the squalor by breaking down illegal structures and buildings that breached extant building regulations and shanties were removed. The largest shanty, Elechi Beach Slum was pulled down and streets were expanded. That government however, was not consistent in its urban renewal policies as many streets were ignored, Trans Amadi Industrial Layout was completely abandoned, New Layout, Borokiri and many parts of old Port Harcourt Township were completely ignored.
The old Port Harcourt Township began to look like an abandoned village. Diobu areas of Port Harcourt were a sordid sight of squalor.
The impression created was that the old city had been abandoned and the development of a Greater Port Harcourt area was the only way to go.
The present administration came out with a New Rivers Vision which embarked on rapid urban renewal. Recall that the poet, Gabriel Okara after the war had described the city of Port Harcourt as a “Garden City lumbering out of a bad dream.”
To change this bad dream into a positive reality, Governor Nyesom Wike has conquered space and time in his strides in urban renewal and expansion. He has reconstructed the streets and drains.
The Governor has given facelift to old buildings. Now the flyovers are rising and two more have been inaugurated at Okoro-nu-odo and Rumuogba in addition to the Rebisi Flyover commissioned for use a couple of months ago.
No doubt, apart from the economic benefits of these roads infrastructures, they also add to the aesthetics of the city making it to fall into the global look of a modern city.
These are monuments that will outlive every generation. They are enduring legacies and what the Roman poet Horace, described as “Aere Perennius” in Latin.
The challenge before every city dweller in Port Harcourt is how to sustain the current march in urban renewal and expansion.
First there is need to have proper urban transportation plan. Heavy duty vehicles must have designated routes to avoid the damage of routes made for lighter vehicles.
There should also be a building restoration and reconstruction plan to phase out the ugly face of defaced and derelict building structures. Iconic buildings and monuments should be restored and maintained.
The parks and gardens establishment should begin the restoration of parks and the development of new ones. Residents should begin to plant ornamental trees in their compounds, paint their buildings including fences.
The sanitation policy and implementation in Port Harcourt should be given a new strategy for effective delivery. There should be vigorous enforcement to clear the city of garbage. For healthy living, soot should be kicked out of the state capital through mitigation measures by the relevant authorities.

By: Bon Woke