When one talks about a garden city, the image that readily comes to mind is that of a serene environment much like the biblical Garden of Eden. Is it still possible to find a city that is close to nature in today's Nigeria? The answer is yes. Where could this haven be found? Try Port Harcourt, Nigeria's foremost oil city. Many will disagree but it is only because they have not seen the real garden city in Port Harcourt.
The only one they know is the Rivers State capital, affectionately called the treasure base of the nation. They know that Port Harcourt is perhaps the fastest growing metropolitan city in the country today. After Lagos and Abuja, Port Harcourt ranks as the third most sought after city in Nigeria, especially for those looking for greener pastures. Like a pot of honey, those with good taste buds are swarming into the city to quench their taste.
Those who miss the garden city, come looking for an acclaimed oil city. Do you blame them? It would be wrong to do so, for Port Harcourt is indeed an oil city. It is one of Nigeria's 36 states created from the then Eastern region in 1967. Before that historical rebirth, the territory was known as oil Rivers protectorate, deriving from its abundant wealth in oil and gas deposits. The area is the heart of the hydrocarbon industry in Nigeria. Statistics show that it is responsible for a huge chunk of the nation's foreign exchange earnings. “It is accountable for over 48 per cent of crude oil produced on- shore in the country and 100 per cent of the liquefied gas that Nigeria is currently exporting to several countries of the world,” states a Rivers State Government publication.
This is certainly inviting for oil merchants and fortune seekers, who would be drawn by the magnetic effect of crude oil and the wealth it holds. In an environment so blessed, job seekers would come in droves and merchants will be falling over themselves to secure a foothold in the land of plenty.
Now, you may ask, but where is the “garden” in this city of oil? That is the intriguing part. Only only those who have eyes for nature find the “garden”. Remember that in 2001, the world found its beauty queen in Port Harcourt. Miss Agbani Darego, a student of the University of Port Harcourt, was discovered and crowned Miss world. How did that happen? It was possible because the world looked beyond the surface. Beyond the hustle and bustle of an urban environment lies nature's beauty. The story of Agbani Darego is the story of garden city. Like the beauty queen, those with an eye for nature's beauty see the garden in Port Harcourt. To discover
Port Harcourt, you must go beyond the city lights and the concrete jungles that line the streets.
Just as Agbani's beauty came from the backwaters of Abonema, a riverside community, Port Harcourt's beauty lies hidden in the sleepy riverside communities surrounding it. So, if you are looking for the “garden”, don't go to the city center. Go instead to Abonema, Buguma, Okrika, Opobo, and Andoni.
Why should you go to these places rather than the Hotel Presidential in the heart of the city? Simple. Beauty lies beneath the surface. All the cosmetics in the world wouldn't have given Agbani Darego a miss World crown. What gave it to her was nature's beauty.
Beauty rides on a lion. As is often said, it lies in the eyes of the beholder. Like everything in accord with nature, beauty is the result of a perfect economy. Just like the cell of the bee is built at that angle which gives the most strength with the least wax; the bone or quill of the bird gives the most strength with the least weight, so also is beauty “the purgation of superfluities,” in the words of Michel Angelo.
Agbani Darego caught the eyes of the world for one unique reason; her simplicity. This shouldn't surprise anyone, for the simple reason that she hails from the treasure base of the nation. Nowhere can be closer to nature and treasure than Abonema. Agbani's success brings home one very important point. Beauty is at its best when it is natural. If you have a black skin, wear it proudly like Agbani and be at peace with nature. She demonstrated that bleaching the skin and abusing the body with chemicals couldn't buy beauty.
As Waldo Emerson would say “the felicities of design in art, or in works of nature, are shadows, or forerunners of that beauty, which reaches its perfection in the human form”. All men are its lovers. Wherever it goes, it creates joy and hilarity, and everything is permitted to it. It reaches its height in women.
