By Godwin Chukwumaechi
An entrepreneur and chief executive officer (CEO) of Construction & Housing Mayor Limited, Mr. My-Ace China, has urged the media to capitalise on its strength and create a new era where people see Port Harcourt as where they can live and do business.
He charged the media to help in changing the negative perception some people have about Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
He made the call in Port Harcourt when the leadership of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State Council, presented him with a letter of partnership for the forthcoming 2023 Correspondents’ Week.
China identified two earlier eras, the period of the Ogoni crisis and the militancy era in the Niger Delta, adding that these led to capital flight from Port Harcourt because people saw the once beautiful Garden City as an unsafe place to live and do business.
He said: “The first era of Port Harcourt was a beautiful Garden City, between 1960s and 1970s. The second era was 1980s, during Ogoni crisis, oil spillages and all that. That negative era and perception continued until the militancy era and everybody saw Port Harcourt as a security threat.
“If I am to quantify the amount, it is in trillions of dollars that exited Port Harcourt in terms of capital flight, due to that perception that Port Harcourt is not secured.
“People still do business here but they don’t live here. If you want to understand, go to the airport on Monday morning and you will the inflow, then, on Friday evenings, you will see the exit. Even companies that have facilities here will rather have operational base here and have residential base in Lagos or Abuja.
“So, the third era we want to create is for people to do business and live in Port Harcourt. I was very delighted when the new governor mentioned social housing, housing revolution and Infrastructure consolidation as part of his programmes.
“When I heard about your week, I jumped on the bandwagon because the only people that can change the perception of a people is the media. If the place is good and safe it will be good for everyone including you, the media practitioners.
Presenting the letter, chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Amaechi Okonkwo, said as journalists, members of the chapel were ready to work with the CEO, popularly known as ‘Mayor of Housing’ to achieve set goals.
Okonkwo said: “We were excited when we heard that you were ready to receive us today. We wholeheartedly receive and promise to work with you to actualize set goals.”
He explained that the media in Rivers State, especially the Correspondents’ Chapel shared the vision of a peaceful and prosperous Rivers State and expressed commitment to partner with him to achieve set goals.
