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22/12/2022

Imo River, once a boomtown
By Emmanuel Obe

This town, abandoned by the eastern bank of the Imo River along the equally abandoned old Port Harcourt - Aba road, was once the epicentre of activities in an entire region reaching up to about six Senatorial zones in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Abia and Imo States.

Surprisingly, it had gone off the radar of cities in Nigeria since after the Nigerian civil war, when an alternative expressway was constructed to bypass it from Port Harcourt to Aba; the reason why many Nigerians born after the war hardly know about Imo River Town.

Even now, when the misfortune on the the new Port Harcourt - Aba expressway has forced the never-say-die transporters between Aba and Port Harcourt to rediscover the route to Imo River Town, they merely refer to is as Imo Gate.

I remember as a kid handling photographs with the stamp, 'Photo Imo River,' meaning that Imo River Town had photo studios and labs that processed pictures from my area and beyond. In fact, we had one photographer called Ogbukwe that moved around the villages on his bicycle taking memorable children and family pictures. He usually returned a few weeks later with black-and-white copies of the pictures after processing them at Imo River.

How come the town doesn't have an indigenous name? I was told it was founded by Europeans that used the Imo River to pe*****te the Eastern hinterland after breaking through the Jaja of Opobo barrier in the Bight of Biafra, where the river empties into the Atlantic.

It kind of draws a corollary with Oji River town in Enugu, whose prominence was diminished by the opening up of the new Enugu - Onitsha expressway. But Oji River remained in the limelight because it was a colonial administrative headquarters and host of the thermal power plant fired by coal from Enugu. The coal from Enugu almost being a common denominator in the relationship between Imo River and Oji River.

Imo River was there as a modern city before Aba and Port Harcourt. It looked like it was the first cosmopolitan settlement outside colonial district headquarters in the old Eastern region. An account has it that the town would have been the choice location of Port Harcourt after coal was discovered in exportable quantities in Enugu at the turn of the 20th Century. But Imo River was found not to be navigable by ocean liners. The British founders of Port Harcourt had to move down a few miles to the West where they discovered a natural harbour at the opening of the Bonny River and built Port Harcourt.

But that did not diminish the profile of Imo River Town with its prime location between Aba and Port Harcourt. People coming to the Rivers area from Igbo hinterland often stopped over at Imo River Town, which soon became popular as Imo Gate. People coming from the coastal settlements of present-day Akwa Ibom, Opobo and Ogoni areas to Port Harcourt and Aba followed the river and berthed at Imo River Town. Business and socials boomed and thrived.

It was by accident that I ran into Imo River Town a few months ago. I was working on a report on the devastated Ukwa West section of the Port Harcourt - Aba expressway. So, I boarded an okada from Oyigbo to get to the very bad spots. That's how we took a detour that saw us pass through what is now left of this former boomtown.

Wow! The town had features of a full urban centre: a major road, with adjoining street spurs, a railway line, a Shell location, schools, big churches and a mixed population. I took a second trip to Imo River and met a dying town that has been denied basic amenities.

The last time they had public power supply I was told was in 2019. One lady that operates a restaurant in the town said they cannot get power supply from Afam power station a few kilometres away because Afam is in Rivers State while Imo River is in Abia State. "Our light comes from Aba," the lady who disclosed that she could be moving out of the town in 2023 if the power situation does not improve said.

Residents get water for domestic use from private boreholes. The road leading into and out of the town are terrible. In fact are both the entry and exit points of the town are big morgues. But there are no big hospitals. They are water filled canals during the rains and open craters during the dry season. Ever since the alternative road to Aba was opened in 1970s, no touch has been made to the road passing through the town. Despite being an oil-producing community, there is no sight of an NDDC project. There is military presence in the town, which usually indicates that there is some rich facility that requires state protection. And this is likely the oil installation owned by Shell.

The major business in the town is sand mining on the river. Some lumbering also takes place. There used to be big rubber plantations. But they are gone. The young people are very well involved in illicit artisanal crude oil refining and trading despite the military security. The black film of oil spread on the river was indicative of the damage that crude artisanal oil refining could be doing to the aquaculture of the river. The big mortuaries at the entry and exit points could be ominous of the life in town?

The location of the multi-billion dollar Aluminium Smelting industry downstream the river at Ikot-Abasi, with the attendant proposal to dredge the river brought a flicker of hope to the community. But all that has died with the abandonment of the projects.

Talk of a once boomtown becoming a doom town

22/12/2022

22/12/2022

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22/12/2022

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22/12/2022

By Jay Kwashie

WORKING & LIVING WITH NIGERIANS ABROAD

Being a Ghanaian, I’ve had this bad impression about Nigerians. I grew up in Ghana thinking Nigerians were negative energies around anyone. I was literally brainwashed mostly by the media to see Nigerians as thieves, murderers, scammers, etc. But after 6 years of working and associating with Nigerians outside of Ghana, the following are what I’ve found and discovered about them. I’m writing this not because my best friend back in the UK is a Nigerian, and not because my senior manager and team lead at my present employer are Nigerians. This is my honest observation!

Arguably, if you put the average Ghanaian and a Nigerian under the same conditions and environment, the Nigerian would undoubtedly outperform the Ghanaian. They are bold, smart and have this relentless quest and effort for learning and perfecting their craft. What a Nigerian cannot do does not exist. I started a DevOps Engineering program for a career alternative and Nigerians especially their women from different career fields constitute about 60% of the class. I was scared to take this step—to move from risk management to pure IT but I was shocked to see Nigerians in nursing, HR, journalism, sales, etc here in Canada taking on the challenge. I quickly reached out to most of my Ghanaian friends but none seem to be interested. This is a fortune field in IT….and when I asked these Nigerians why many of them are here, they told me “this is the surest way to make money by doing less”. Truth is, if you’re starting anything abroad and there’s no Nigerian in it, just know that that thing has no promise 😂😂. A Nigerian wouldn’t attempt what doesn’t bring any monetary gain or value to them!

I’ve noticed that a Nigerian wouldn’t lie to you unless they’re scared of you or stand to gain something exceedingly beneficial from doing so. This confirms why the most genuine and honest folks I’ve ever associated with outside of Ghana are Nigerians. When a Nigerian is sharing an opportunity with you, they disclose everything dito-dito. They withhold nothing—they tell you as it is. My people would give you a half information and still be all over the place saying that they’ve helped you. You have no idea how many Ghanaians have made themselves demi-gods out here because they’ve been here for ages and feel everything must be ran through them. If you don’t go their way, you’re a target for gossip!

A Nigerian sees an opportunity in every situation, and it cuts across. They’re mostly interested in building a sustainable business than for a quick profit. This explains why wherever there are both Ghanaian and Nigerian traders, the Nigerian merchandise would cost less than the Ghanaian—even if they have the same suppliers. I see that here in Calgary at the various African markets.

Show me any work environment or office without a Nigerian and I’ll show you a work that’s less fulfilling and rewarding. The energy around Nigerians is positive and motivating. Nothing scares them than failure so they work hard for success because success is greatly celebrated in their culture. Where I come from, if you’re making any progress, there’s 100% chance you’ll lose 99% of your friends—they’ll spread lies about you out of dislike. Some would also attribute your progress to things other than your personal efforts. “You see that girl, she’s being chopped by so so and so person. You see that guy, he’s an occult. You see that guy, he’s rushing in life. Etc”. Your own family would turn themselves into avowed enemies—praying to see you fail so that they’ll use you as a bad example like “you see that guy, he was rushing in life but see how he’s crushed like a fragile glass.” My people have a long way to go. They must know that it’s okay for anyone irrespective of age to be great at what they do. In fact, people can build a fortune at age 40 or less through genuine means. Let’s inhale some positivity!

We glorify timidity, ignorance and sycophancy as signs of humility but Nigerians encourage boldness, assertiveness and being daring. If there’s a Nigerian in your trade or profession, get closer, you’ll learn a lot from them. I’ve learned a lot from my association with them and I’m always grateful for having one as my direct supervisor at work!

~The End~