THE ROASTED PLANTAIN & FISH WOMEN OF PORT HARCOURT- AN ENDANGERED SPECIE

Watching some members of the immediate past EXCO of the Rivers State government tuck into platefuls of Bole (Roasted Plantain) and Fish at the Barbeque held in honour of the 46th Birthday of the State governor Rt. Honourable Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi at the government house in Port Harcourt last Friday, my thoughts as usual went off on a tangent. Just earlier that day my driver and I had driven to our usual bole spot just behind the Port Harcourt primary schoo
l in old GRA, only to be told that the Bole women had not showed up in the Last two days. We received this news with trepidation because we were certain that their absence meant that they had finally been asked to relocate out of GRA. “Poor women”,

I thought, believing they had finally lost the battle to continue their livelihood in the face of all odds; having been evicted from their first spot just at the corner from Orosi House; from where they relocated to the spot behind Isaac Boro park and to this PPS spot from where the curtains finally fell for them.

So you can imagine my delight at being able to indulge to my heart’s content that night as I tucked in. Every mouthful plunging me deeper in thought. I mean, I found it so ironic that while we enjoyed this meal in such “sterile” environment, the cultural phenomenom of Bole and Fish Roasting joints in “unsterile” designated areas and major roads around the city that I had come to consider staple fare in my over 18 years of sojourn in Port Harcourt City, was gradually becoming extinct.

Any dye in the wool PH resident will remember the railway Bole & fish joint located in Dline or the one found in Elekahia axis. These two major joints where go to places for any visitor to Port Harcourt eager to taste what the local culinary fare of the Garden City had on offer. The popularity of the joints preceded them and I remember my mother’s first visit to PH years ago and her scumbia and Bole baptism facilitated by my then roommate Ndudi. Back then no visits to the OPI beach Onne was complete without our cooler of Bole and fish from Dline. The Dline joint by railway especially was one of the major highlights of every pregnancy, because bole and shiny with its accompanying spicy sauce was “just what the Doctor ordered” for my cravings.

Sadly these dynamic spots with their spice laced smoke wafting into motorists noses are no more. The roasters have been evicted and the areas have now been fenced off and designated as part of the Parks and gardens project in the urban reengineering initiative of the government.

Granted we still have individual women engaged in this business scattered all over the city, whose patronage has undoubtedly received a boost with the absence of these major spots. On the other hand I can’t help but imagine what the fate of the women roasters of Dline or the majority of the Elekahia women is since the cessation of their source of livelihood. All that comes to mind is the fact that not only have they lost a source of livelihood but whether we like it or not, Port Harcourt has lost what was essentially a part of the fabric that makes up its sociocultural experience. An experience that knew neither social class or creed; the array of cars parked by such joints with patrons haggling over the smoldering wire meshes loaded with unripe, half ripe and the decadent fully ripened plantain and an assortment of heavily seasoned fish attested to that.

From the little I know about urban reengineering I am well aware that any sustainable plan would usually create concessions for elements of socio cultural influences aimed at preserving to a large extent the people’s identity and to this end I make my case for the Bole women of PH as follows:

• The state government should borrow a leaf from what Donald Duke did years ago when faced with the menace of the Bogobiri street suya men in Calabar, where he converted a seldom used bypass to a Cul -de -sac and built stalls with roasting spits. This two pronged approach of ridding the streets of suya vendors and still affording them an environment to continue their livelihood is worthy of emulation.

• While it might not be feasible to convert a road (with the dearth of motor able roads as a result of various ongoing road constructions), the ministry of Urban development should Partner with the Ministry of Lands to designate a few acres of land that can be developed for the purpose of a plaza of sorts for these women.

• This kind of move if properly implemented will among other things afford the women an opportunity for a livelihood, emergence of cooperatives like what happened with the FSP hair plaiting centres, revenue for the government…….

…..and of course I get to “wack” my newspaper wrapped Bole and shiny with palm oil dripping down my chin. Just hope I won’t be wearing white on that day…..

Although this is just my Point Of View