|
Tuesday, 02 December, 2008 03:30 am
|
You are here:Home
| Warri of the Past Glory |
|
|
| Written by Zik Gbemre | ||||||
| Monday, 11 August 2008 | ||||||
     This used to be how most societies in Nigeria were known. As the years rolled by, especially with the dawn of modern civilization, these highly cherished moral principles began to disintegrate in our African societies to the extent that places like Warri in Delta State, that used to be a beehive of worthy activities and recognized for adding positive changes to the country in general, became an environment that is charged with all manner of societal vices and moral decadence that one begins to wonder, what actually went wrong? What happened to the glory of yester years? Some of us that were privileged to grow up in the city of Warri, when it was still part of the old Bendel State, would agree that Warri used to be a very peaceful, lovely and naturally endowed place to live in and raise one's family uprightly. Warri then, was very conducive and safe for business activities (both for big time traders and petty traders), Hoteliers, professionals in different careers, Musicians, sports and film lovers, night crowlers and what have you. The Elders-Town, also known as Odion road/Ijaw street and the Ginuwa Areas were like the centre of activities then in Warri. Ginuwa Street was the centre of middle class ranked Hotels, and on that street alone, there were more than 20 Hotels that were open for customers relaxation and comfort for 24 hours, seven days a week. The two popular night clubs then were: Zeina night club and Lido night club and the motels (for high class persons) include: Palmgrove motel, Mosheshe motel (which is now city of God), Enerhen motel, River valley hotel, Midwest Inn and Warri club were all there for evening relaxations. Social life then in Warri, especially every weekend was quite exciting. Top Nigerian Musicians were always around in town to play in any of these places. Some of these popular musicians coming to Warri to play then, for entertainment includes: Victor Uwaifo, Wrinkars Experience, Founder 15, the Wings, Ofege, Bongos Ikwe, Strangers, Semi colon, BLO, Sweet Breeze, The Apostles, The Funkees, Joni Maastrup and Monomono, Tunji Oyelana, etc. while Tony Grey was a Warri based musician who apart from entertaining people with music in Lido and Zeina night clubs for close to 3 decades, was also organizing afternoon jumps for students on holidays. Apart from these social outlets, there were three (3) Cinema Houses namely: Delta cinema, Premier cinema and New Rex cinema. One prevalent thing then was that there were no ethnic discriminations or hatred or anything of that sort amongst the three ethnic groups of Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo. Even after the end of the Nigerian civil war, Warri was like next to Lagos (the then capital of Nigeria) in terms of business activities. Then, the Warri Sea port was functional around the now NPA yard and the Warri Main Market was regarded as the biggest in the South-South, now popularly referred to as the Niger Delta. Some of the banks that operated around the Warri Main Market then include: the Standard Bank of Nigeria (First Bank), Barclays Bank (Union Bank), African Continental Bank (ACB), United Bank for Africa (UBA), New Nigeria Bank, National Bank of Nigeria, were all part of the sectors that made business activities lively in Warri. Most prominent rich people then were all ?traders / business men and women?. The likes of Sir Harrison Jefia, Chief M.O Kpohraro of Kpohraro & Sons and Chief Esiso of Oil Field Transport Services Company, were the only prominent people in Warri who were not traders, and the last two persons, made their wealth through the operations of Shell (SPDC) as at that time. Chief Kpohraro relocated from Ughelli to Warri when SPDC relocated its Western operations from Ughelli to Warri, while Chief Esiso also relocated his business empire from Port Harcourt to Warri when SPDC relocated its corporate office from Port Harcourt to Lagos. In other words, these two were the only notable personalities then that made money through the oil and gas business. And as for Sir Harrison Jefia, he was the only well-accomplished and successful seasoned banker who worked in the first generation of banks and rose to the top, as a senior Bank manager for close to three decades before he retired. He was also one of the first persons to invest in landed properties in Warri. Apart from these few above, all other Warri wealthy men at that time were traders who made their money through buying and selling of goods while most of them were importers. Some of these wealthy traders and their names include: Chief Evivie of the Ogheneovo trading stores, W.T Odibo trading stores, J.O Edewor International trading stores, P.B Djebah trading stores, S.M Urhioke trading stores, J.K.B Gbemre trading stores, Pinick trading stores, A.A Bakumo trading stores, Kagho printing press, Jefia Notoma trading stores, Yekovie Printing Press, Jigbale trading stores, Chief Ukueku of Johnson & Joe's Chemists, Mac Asore Patent medicine stores, Corner Chemists, Mabiaku trading stores, Bivbere trading stores, Alice Obahor trading stores, Lady Agbassa trading stores (the elder sister of Sir Harrison Jefia), Okotie Industrial Estate, Okome trading stores, Ododofo trading stores, Oluku trading stores, Bonsue trading stores, Francis & Felix trading stores , Onoherhe trading stores, Ruaife Egoruvwe trading stores, T.J Sokoh trading stores (the unbeatable), Alawuru trading stores, J.D Yembra trading stores, Peter Okoro trading stores, Fole trading stores, Oghenede trading stores, Mega trading stores, Pius Origho trading stores, Kpedi trading stores, Oghenekaro Electrical trading stores, Popular Electrical trading stores, Atumu trading stores and so many others alike. Moreso, these Warri traders were thriving so much in their businesses that they owned vast Housing Estates in Warri and its environs then, and even up till this moment. About 90 percent of landed properties were owned by these traders, some of whom were exporters and importers, sole distributors for UAC, John Holt, UTC, GBO, etc. As a matter of fact, traders from Onitsha, Aba, Benin and Port-Harcourt in those days were all trooping in and out of Warri and environs to buy goods. Another outstanding attribute of the then 'good-old-years' of Warri was that the city was also known to have brilliant and active lawyers that were second to those in Lagos. Warri based lawyers (most of whom were trained in the UK) were linked then to have handled cases all over Nigeria because of their versatile and active attribute in the legal profession, and some of them are still active today. And as a result of this active roles in the legal practice, those of them who went to the bench rose to be High Courts and Supreme Courts Judges. Among these crop of lawyers were Egbe, Arthur Prest, Ogbobine, Ayo Irikefe, D.D. Mowoe, Ovie Whiskey, Mudiaga Odje, Akpofure, Okpoko, Idigbe, P.E.S Ideh, Urhobo, Bazunu, P.O.K Munu, Atake, Jemide, Edodo Aghoghovbia, P.O.P Esi, O.N. Rewane, Emiko, Scott Emuakpor, Ajuyah, Rerri, Bukata, E.K Clark and many others. They were all successful lawyers, some of whom owned vast estates in Warri and environs. But as the years rolled by, things began to 'change' towards the negative. Even the Health sector was quite adequate then in catering for the needs of those living in Warri and environs. Apart from the then Warri General Hospital, there were two private Hospitals which are: Water View clinic (no longer in existence) and Esiri Clinic (still along Cementary Road), run by Dr Esiri, who is over 90 years of age. There were also two outstanding Maternity homes which were Numa Maternity (owned by Madam Rewane) and Susu Maternity (still in existence), all of which provide the health needs of the old Warri and its populace. Also, some companies that were then in Warri, provided skilled and unskilled labour for the youths / men in Warri and its environs. One of them is McDermott Company along McDermott Road (now taken over by Globestar Company). But the bottom line is that there was no room for any restiveness, or agitations amongst the populace then, everybody seemed to be engaged in a worthy venture. It is most unfortunate, from what it presently seems, that the new generation of Warri today, did not follow the footsteps of the old Warri generation. It was as if an unexpected wind of change, arising from the oil and gas sector, came and blew away our sense of reasoning, our cherished priceless moral values and even the true value of who we really are as a people. The get-rich-quick syndrome has virtually taken over our mentality to the extent that the old Warri status has disappeared without a trace. Cities like Aba, Onitsha and Benin have eventually taken over the centre stage, making Warri no longer relevant in commercial activities. It is pathetic that many products and goods, like spare parts, and some services, are no longer readily available or obtainable in Warri and environs. One has to travel to Aba, Lagos, Benin, Onitsha, etc to get them. Apart from the fact the oil and gas boom came with its benefits of providing money into the pockets of people, it also came with its attendant side effects of youth violence, sowing seeds of envy, greed, jealousy, hatred into the hearts of the people and class segregation, etc., all of which far outweighs the benefits. It also shifted Waferians' attention away from other vibrant sectors like Agriculture and commercial activities, not to mention tourism, music, sports, arts and culture. Everybody's mindset is now on the oil and gas wealth. It was as if what was supposed to be a blessing to us, has now become more like a 'curse'. Now we have conflicts, crises and misunderstandings here and there and most disturbing of all, guns and ammunitions that were never there in the good-old-days of Warri, are now common sights in the local populace. The truth of the matter is that, the government of the day and the entire good people of Warri and environs, including non-indigenes, need to come to the realization that Warri has to regain its lost glory. It definitely will not be like the way it was in the old days, but the new Warri will be more refined, more sophisticated, more modernized, more unified, more open to commercial activities and diversification into different sectors and generally, more focused towards making the city a nerve centre of attraction (like Dubai), recognized not only in the country, but across the globe. On the part of the government, a lot needs to be done in empowering the people so that they can delve into other sectors of the state's economy for commercial activities to thrive. This can only come to be when the state government, DESOPADEC and the local government council officials become more responsible and accountable in the management of the resources available to them for the benefit of all and not for their families, friends and aides. And on the part of people of Warri and environs, there is need for every one of us to see that peace is sustained and maintained in the city of Warri and the entire state in different aspects of our endeavours. This is the only panacea that will bring about the much needed change that will in turn, bring back Warri to its lost glory. It is sad to note that we are virtually allowing Warri and its environs to become unsafe and unattractive for business activities, to the extent that people now find it difficult to move freely at day time not to mention at night. Some of these unwholesome activities like youth restiveness, harassment of land developers, forceful collection of development money and what have you are enough to scare away investors. We can recall that when most of these current vast estates in Warri and environs were built by the old Warri traders, there was nothing like youth harassment or 'deve' money or anything of that sort. The Warri main market then was as busy as the Balogun market in Lagos and the Dugbe market in Ibadan. But today, every young man and woman in Warri and environs wants to 'meet-up' overnight by engaging in all sorts of social vices. It is absurd to even note that, most of the so called rich and wealthy people today in Warri and environs, include those who forced their way into politics and government circles, those who engage in illegal bunkering activities, those who extort money as motor park touts (Agberos), and those who are more like praise-singers/sycophants, supporting the perpetuators of the above misguided activities, etc. We must stop being the architects of our own misfortune by using our hands, to destroy the future of the next generation. There is no substitute for wealth and riches gained and acquired through hard work, patience, integrity and decency. It does not only give one ?peace of mind? that can never be bought with money, but it also sets a good example for the young ones to emulate. This is a clarion call to all and sundry, let us all put our hands together, forgetting our differences and orientations, no matter how highly or lowly placed one is, and bring back Warri and its environs to its former glory. This will not only make other cities to emulate and make Delta State as a state to reckon with in the country, it will also leave different indelible marks for posterity sake. Zik Gbemre is National Coordinator, Niger-Delta Peace Coalition.  Quote this article on your site | Print | E-mail
Write Comment
Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6 |
||||||
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
