Thursday 19 January 2017

port harcourt will be great again

I was born in port harcourt in the late 80's probably we ended the 80's but that's not important, what's important was the countless times my parents took me to the tourist beach and port harcourt zoo, then I was still a small boy but we had fun memories then.

Now in port harcourt the only place we go to for sight seeing is the port harcourt mall which houses a lot of private owned shops including a very big supermarket and an escalator ride to top it up.

This is not the port harcourt I want my children to grow into. There is nothing significant to hold on to that represents this city, there use to be an amusement park at rumuokurushi close to oil mill junction how it went down is something we can't explain but I think the government is trying to bring that back, we are just watching sha.

What happened to the port harcourt zoo except the famed electrocuted lion and a few monkeys and tortoise I don't think there is much left in there.
This is rivers state for crying out loud we are situated close to the Atlantic and yet there is no sea shore around to boast of a good beach where tourists and foreign investors could go and have a good time and nobody is talking about reviving the tourist beach or doing something to create one out.

The famed rivers monorail whose original plan was to be a means of transportation is now a hanging artefact which I think the government would have made good use of, since everyone's attention is the port harcourt mall (or spar as we all call it) and the monorail runs across the same road it could have serve as a jolly ride for some token and I'm sure a few port harcourt people would be willing to pay (after all they go to the mall just ride escalator up and come down) who knows how many people who are eager to sit there buttocks in that piece of machinery and drive from one station to another but the government thinks it's a waste of money and instead of trying to recover the money back they rather it goes to waste.

There are no museums showing the rich culture of the rivers man bringing ancient history to modern memory, at least there was the rivers state carnival aka carniriv which was a little tourist attraction projecting port harcourt to the world but for personal or political reasons the NEW government refuse to run with it instead we have a carol which is shabilly organised as replacement.

Port harcourt use to be the hub of entertainment where people troop in to get their groove on but now even the same port harcourt people have turned towards owerri.
I don't know if I should thank the call girls at GRA or the numerous night club situated there for keeping the city alive at night at least that is the only spot you are sure of bustling night life besides rumuokoro all thanks to the traders and agbero for that.

So I am appealing to the commissioner of tourism and hospitality to look upon these places and think about how we can create an enabling environment for entertainment to thrive like you can bring back "akunaki" (that was like a secondary school festival for arts and creativity were local talents were been scouted) name it something else if you please. Let the tourist beach be a place for relaxation at least live birds could go and have romantic walks like see in the movies. Film makers and video directors should put port harcourt as choice location for their projects and that way we can sell port harcourt to the world and make them see the beauty we posses.

I am just a port harcourt who believed port harcourt can be great again if we can put things in place and sell port harcourt to the world once again


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