Metro
PH Residents Lament High Cost Of Living
It is therefore not uncommon in the city to see neatly dressed people who hussle in the day time and sleep in shacks and under flyovers in the night.
A young man of about 30 years of age recently made a frantic attempt to climb the gate of one of the oil companies in Port Harcourt.
Despite his appeals and explanation of the purples of his visit, the gate remained shut against him. He was wrapped in a tangle of misery and self pity. In his utter frustration, the barred visitor said he no longer blames people who go into crime as an option for life after facing untold hardship and a rejection from the society.
His predicament represents the collective frustration of many people who throng into Port Harcourt, the Garden City of Nigeria to reap of its supposedly blooming prospect but meet a situation of gloom and despair. Port Harcourt remains the delight of many Nigerians and offers irresistible attraction because of its strategic location and prime objective, expecially in the oil and gas industry.
Like the story of the youngman who could not access the gate of the oil company, most people that move into the city to eke out a livelihood wrestle with the elusive ghost of cost paradise dreams as hardship stare them in the face. They however bare the strains of struggle and live out their lives in the status they are consigned by fate. Some seek artificial means of enhancing their status symbol and participate first hand in the luxurious indulgence and other trappings of city live. To this category of people, crime proof the most worthwhile option of clearing the bumps on the economic highway.
Port Harcourt residents are variegated. They consist an odd assortments of individuals operating at various levels of economic existence and status.
There are the employed and the unemployed. The blue-collar and the white-collar jobbers. The business people and the petty criminals. The middle class and the bourgeois, and they all jostle for live and the fortunes and opportunities offered by the city. No category of resident in the city is exclusively shielded from the harsh wind of economic reality.
Port Harcourt has a bloated Population and economic demands in the city is very high. One of the greatest problems faced by residents in the city is that of accommodation. Because of the teeming population of the city, the available house because in sufficient and ulitities and existing infrastructures are been stretched.
A one room apartment in the city can be afforded at N5,000 a month, while a self-contain apartment is given within the rates of N130 to N150,000, depending on the location. For many residents of the city, expensive accommodation is out of view. The major thing is how to put food on the table on daily bases.
It is therefore not uncommon in the city to see neatly dressed people who hussle in the day time and sleep in shacks and under flyovers in the night.
To avoid the prying eyes of the city landlord over their rent demands, many presidents of the city, choose to live in the slums and cluster settlements in make shift apartments where about six to seven persons live in a room. They stalk out daily for survival and retire home to sleep vows in the improvised accommodation.
One of the worst victims of the biting hardship in the city are civil servants, especially those of the lower cadre. A civil servant who spoke with The Tide On Sunday but will not want his name in print said he finds it difficult take feed his family because of the high cost of living in the city. The civil servant, a middle aged man married with three children, said he had to device a means of coping with the harsh economic realities so that his family would not starve to death.
“My salary can not pay my children school fee and feed the family well. What do is that I establish a small business for my wife to do, my wife is a petti-trader and it is from their that we eat, I also get my daily transport fare from the proceeds of the little business, my salary is just to pay the children school fees,” he lamented.
But Mr. Calab Chukwu who works with a private firm in Port Harcourt would preffer to be a civil servant. His reasons: ‘Although the money paid civil servants is small, their job is secured and guaranted. As a private firm worker you live at the mercy of your employer who can fire you at any time. The salary also fluctuate as he can reduce or increase it at any time depending on his temperament or state of the business.” Chukwu who is in his late 30s said he plan to marry the girl of his choice shattered because be could not raises enough money to pay the bride price. Chukwu also quit with his uncle as he can not pay for a private accommodation. He said his estranged fiancé gave it as a condition for him to secure a privacy for themselves and since he could not meet up the bargain she opted out.
Mr. Timi Akori, a mother of four and also a private firm employee said the challenges of family life is becoming heavier as her husband is a pensioner and has no active job to support the family at the moment. “I can no longer meet up the demand of my family. The salary I receive at the end of every month is too small. I would have opted out of the job but I just have to manage because my family has to eat.?
Market trader are also not spared of the hardship in the city. A cross section of market women interviewed at the mile one market complain of lack of effective patronate.
According to one of the traders, Miss Rose Kpesi that high cost of transporting the goods from the hinterland is considered in the prices and buyers often complain that the goods are expensive. “It is not our fault, that good cost high this days, most of our product come from the villages and even others states and the coster transportation is high we have to consider our transport far so that we don’t run out of business.” Port Harcourt is generally assumed to be a wealth city. Business men and women from other states with this mindset love into the city with the though of making much money. But they are astounded by the high cost of living in the city and this affects their business operations.
Taneh Beemene
Traditional rulers in Rivers State say they are mobilising their subjects to ensure Governor Siminialayi Fubara’s administration succeeds.
The Chairman of Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers(RSCTR), Eze Oha Apara IV of Apara Kingdom, Eze Chike Amadi Worlu – Wodo gave the assurance at the 117th and 118th quarterly general meeting of the council held in Port Harcourt.
He commended the state governor for maintaining peace in the State despite the unwarranted political crisis orchestrated by selfish and overzealous politicians.
He stated that Governor Fubara should not retaliate by toeing the violent path, adding that Rivers people know those who are over-heating the polity.
The chairman further appealed to people of the State on all sides of the political divide to remember that they have nowhere else to call home apart from Rivers State, saying that they must not allow their personal interests to destabilise and stifle growth of the State.
“As traditional rulers, we owe our State the duty of making it peaceful by cautioning our children against violent act. We, therefore, cannot caution anybody if we allow ourselves become overly partisan.
“ We will then lose the moral authority to reprimand those causing trouble when we take sides.So I say let us all work assiduously to maintain peace in Rivers State,” he said.
He used the medium to advise the supporters of the governor to avoid persons or events that will cause violence, as detractors want to make the State ungovernable so as to call for the declaration of state of emergency.
“ Let me use this opportunity to thank Your Excellency for maintaining peace in the State in the face of the unwarranted political crisis orchestrated by selfish and overzealous politicians.
“ You must not, Your Excellency, fall into their traps by going the violent way. All of us know that those who are over-heating the polity have one aim of making this state ungovernable so as to make it fit for a declaration of state of emergency”, Eze Worlu- Wodo said.
He thanked the state governor for appointing him as the chairman of traditional rulers, council adding that he will contribute his own little quota to the development of the traditional rulers council and by extension, our dear State, Rivers State.
“ Council records have shown that this is the second time since you became Governor of the State on May 29, 2023 that you have approved and released funds for two sets of combined quarterly meetings of the council.
“ This means that your administration is not indebted to us in terms of payment of our meeting sitting allowances.
“ It takes only someone who is both law-abiding and generous to be able to do this.
“On behalf of the traditional rulers, I thank you our Governor”, he said.
Stories by Kevin Nengia
As the Rivers State Ministry of Transport announces an ultimatum to commercial drivers to paint their vehicles with the approved state colour latest on August 1, some commercial drivers have pleaded for more time.
The directive was announced on Monday by the State Commissioner for Transport, Prince Collins Onunwo as it insisted that after the deadline, defaulters will not be allowed to operate.
He said in a statement signed by him that the new order is for uniformity and to ensure subsidised rates. “The Rivers State Ministry of Transport and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) have reached an agreement with some designated automobile painting workshops, interested persons can contact the following persons.”, he said.
Meanwhile, responding to the directive, some commercial drivers who spoke to The Tide Metro sought for more time so that they can source money to paint their vehicles.
Kennedy Amahu, who plies between Choba and Mile One said , “ the time is too short. August 1 is just less than two weeks from now and I don’t think many of us can meet the deadline.”
Besides, he explained that many commercial vehicle owners do not paint their vehicles as this allows them to take charter and drops into restricted facilities.
He argued that if their vehicles are painted with state colour, many of them will lose customers and will be restricted to enter some places.
On his part, Hope Nwankwo decried the time given by the government, “ I can’t meet up, but if they extend it to October”, many of us can try.
So far, according to Nwankwo, who ferries passengers from Iwofe to Mile One, Diobu, many of his fellow drivers are not aware of the new policy.
He begged that government should do more extensive publicity on the new directive.
Another commercial driver, Anele Nwobi said what should be done is to register the vehicles to monitor car theft than painting vehicles.
“As far as I’m concerned, “ Nwobi said, “ this new government directive will empower Agberos and the police to harass commercial drivers.”
He recalled that previous administrations had given such directive but that after a while, it failed because of poor implementation.
Nwobi argued that with the poor economy, it would be difficult for many drivers to meet the deadline since most of them are on hire purchase. “The price of fuel is too high now for most of us to cover our daily returns, he said.”
Jaja Stephens, a keke bus driver told The Tide Metro that painting vehicles is quite expensive and hence, many of them will be put out of the road.
Apart from pleading for time extension, Stephens further stated that there is need for the drivers unions to sensitise their members, stressing that many of them are not aware of the new government directive.
It was supposed to be a book launch but fate turned it into a day of reminiscence for natives of Rebisi in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State.
For over 113 years when their great grandfathers ceded some parts of their land to colonial masters and named it after Sir Harcourt then Secretary of Colonies in 1913, natives of Port Harcourt became part of the new metropolis now called Port Harcourt.
According to Eze Apara Rebisi, HRM Isaiah Elekwu, about 25 square miles of their land were ceded to develop the new city which included a new port and railway at the time.
Fortunately, the book launch turned to a historical forum as speaker after speaker spoke of the past and the rich heritage bequeathed by their fathers.
It was this backdrop that made the paramount ruler of Port Harcourt, HRM Elekwu to charge historians to begin earnest documentation of Rebisi people as a way to preserve their heritage.
The royal father gave the charge during the launch and public presentation of the book, ‘Rebisi Natives of Port Harcourt: History and Developments’ written by Arthur Kalagbor held on Wednesday in Port Harcourt.
The monarch said intellectuals in the Kingdom should engage more in written than oral history, as he commended Kalagbor for leading the light in documenting his people.
He described the book as the beginning of a new era in Rebisi Kingdom and quest to ensure that there is cohesive and united front among the people.
Calling on elites in Rebisi to rise to the challenge of leadership, Eze Elekwu said time has come to save the future of the Kingdom.
Part of the charge by the Rebisi monarch was to make sure that the struggles of their great grand fathers were captured.
For instance, he recalled that while the 1913 agreement made both by Okrika and some Rebisi chiefs were rejected, the colonial authorities were forced into accepting it.
Earlier, Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Sunny Amadi said he was elated that a new awakening has started in Rebisi Kingdom with the book.
The university teacher however, advocated for a new economy for Rebisi as he called for use of estate development to drive future growth of the people.
“In his words, Today most parts of Rebisi have been overtaken by development and that is why I urge our people to see opportunities from the estate , and built environment to preserve the future of children.”
Reviewing the book, Dr Chris Akani described the work as historical legacy, that seeks to throw light on the ontology of the people.
He stated that the seven-chapter book with 106 pages is fluid and easy to read, with special focus on the origins of Rebisi people.
Akani added that, “it’s an exciting book that has come at the right time and I think the author should be given a resounding ovation”.
The book reviewer noted that the book is a response to the desire of indigenes to know their roots.
Following the expansion and migration by Rebisi children which included, Okuta. Abali; Ola Ekenigbo and others.
Said he, “Rebisi had four wives, and he was a young man aching for success. And so the children did not relent to expand like Orubom and Abali who were adventurous.”
The expansion according to the university don was as a result of wars and skirmishes and this took place between 1700- 1734. And this led to the conquer of Elekahia.
While launching the book, former House of Representatives member representing Port Harcourt Constituency, Hon. Ken Chikere described history as key to the future.
He said, “if we know our history, then, we will be fully guided.”
Hon. Chikere, a former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General added,” “What is important is to know where you come from. We need to learn our history, so that no one writes our story for us.”
In his remarks, the book author, Arthur Kalagbor disclosed that the book is an outcome of a study group set up by Rebisi Monarch in 2014.
In the view of Kalagbor, the book is not a folklore, but rather a collation of oral history compiled and confirmed by various sources.
He said,” Even with the lack of reading culture, we still need to write with information that are verifiable and evidence-based.”
With the completion of the assignment to collate history of the Kingdom, he noted that he was compelled to expand the frontiers to cover other areas of culture and origins to educate the young generation.
Kalagbor reiterated that the book is dedicated to the future generations who have little knowledge of their history, and thanked royal fathers, and local sources for support, including former President of Ogbakor Ikwerre Organisation Worldwide, Prof. Otonti Nduka for writing the forward of the book.
Kevin Nengia
