New Port City: Gov. Fubara's Audacity of Vision

Friday, August 23, 2024 will go down the history of Rivers State as yet another remarkable day in defining the path of growth and development in the State.

Treading with the vision of decongesting the one city concept of the State which has gradually enveloped two closest

Local Government Areas, Governor Siminalayi Fubara thought of more viable development approach that will take people out of the clustered metropolitan city of Port Harcourt to the economic melting points of the State.

As one of the focal areas in the 2024 Economic and Investment Summit, Governor Fubara took advantage of the overwhelming interest of estate investors to open the latent opportunities inherent in the various economic belt of the State, one of which is found in the maritime and blue economy corridors of Eleme.

So, one of the early birds to grab the opportunity of investing in a massive housing project culminating in an organic Port City is the Rainbow Heritage Group Limited.

It is a coordinated project targeted at the economic potentials embedded in the maritime and blue economy sector which are apparently at the domain of Eleme.

The event of the groundbreaking ceremony held on Friday, August 23 preceded the memorandum of understanding signing between the Rivers State Government and the Rainbow Heritage Group Limited as partners in the project expected to seat on a 1,000 hectares of land.

Governor Siminalayi Fubara represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, at the groundbreaking ceremony emphasised that the development of new cities, urban renewal and development control is core to his administration’s strategy to ensure development spread and better the socio-economic welfare of Rivers people.

The Governor delightfully described the place Eleme Kingdom is occupying in his administration as quite special and admonished the people not to see the project as just by the Rivers State Government, but targeted at bringing along a lot of other industrial and commercial activities, which will galvanise the development of other businesses, industries, and towns around the project. He enjoined them to own the project so that it will be completed within the set time and appealed for more support for the government to attract more development to Eleme.

Elated by the project, Nigeria’s former Ambasador to the Netherlands and an incontrovertible son of Eleme, Amb. Orji Ngoja commended Governor Fubara for his holistic approach to development, and noted that the  smart city project  will not only serve the industries in Eleme and promote the environs it will also foster the well-being of Eleme people.

The commencement of this project has the latent potentials of attracting massive jobs for the teeming youths of Rivers State before, during and after in terms of construction, training, services, supplies, and consultancies. It is further believed that as a City at the corridor of a vibrant economic activity along the maritime belt, there will be industrial layouts and other sundry activities surrounding the blue economy. This no doubt will improve not just the economy of the State, but provide employment opportunities for the youths, a new smart city will emerge and there will be expanded development.

Describing the vision behind the project, the Acting Administrator of Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority, Dr. Tonte Davies, noted that the smart city is not only a housing estate, but a modern smart city having all infrastructural components situated in Eleme because the GPHCDA is premised on Development Polls- comprising the International Airport, the old Port Harcourt City and Onne Port.

According to him, “We have put the Phase One of Greater Port Harcourt around the corridor of the international airport. The old city has been developed and managed and it is time to go to the next pole, Onne Port.

He further noted, “That is the reason we have called this new city, the Port City. He pointed out that the key drivers of the Port City development involve ports infrastructure - the Onne Sea Port; residential district that covers 4 tiers of residential district – low, medium-low, medium and high density, most of which will be high rise development. It also include commercial agriculture, which emphasizes land use from agro production, processing, packaging for import and export, working in synergy with registered farmers.

He elaborated the benefits inherent thus; the commercial district to train and build the capacity of Rivers youths in technical and commercial skills needed to support the new city infrastructure; 24 hours independent power supply, bicycle and pedestrian lanes, portable water treatment, drainages, solid waste management system, fibre optics and telecommunications systems etc”

Indeed, for Biedima Oliver, the Group Managing Director of Rainbow Heritage Group, the private sector partners, "the project will serve as a symbolic display of what can be achieved when a visionary government, private partnership and communities come together to achieve a common goal. He said it is geared towards ensuring that the project delivers in harmony with the economic advantages of the state guided by inclusivity, sustainability, and dedication to excellence."

It is apparent that the incontrovertible audacity of vision has helped Governor Siminalayi Fubara to identify the most critical aspect of development in the State. He first demonstrated this with the 20,000 Housing Project for low income earners in the State. Now he has once taken the bold step in the new Port City to birth a new dawn in liberalizing development in Rivers State.

 Dr. Boniface Onyedi, is Senior Special Assistant, Media to Governor of Rivers State