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The new Calabar master plan (1) By
Keywords: Town planning, inlets into Calabar, lay of the land, tourism potential, historical components and their crass distortions. Much as I must confess that I have no formal training in town planning, I refuse to concede ignorance on an activity that would impinge on my ability to function now and in the future. There has been a certain amount of information being propagated by the present political administration that Calabar is an unplanned town. I offer that such an opinion is borne out of sheer idiocy and ahistoricity. Calabar town was planned over one hundred years ago, that is why one sees remnants of the huge drainage gutter running through the town, non functioning street lights, public water supply and garbage disposal sheds still in existence. The next attempt to plan was carried out by Esuene. I agree that there is an urgent need to plan ahead for new layouts and retool the existing metropolis to cater for the needs of a larger population.
Calabar started off as a small beach head where the natives set out to fish. That point is now where an ugly and unrelated (to the history and fauna of the people) sculpture of a lion stands. With the advent of trade with Europeans beginning in the 15th century, that beach head expanded to encompass a vibrant settlement of about 50,000 people. In terms of 300 years ago, that was a lot of people confined within a small space of land. After the death of King Duke 1X, an accidental fire swept through this settlement and wiped out existing structures. This created an opportunity for the then colonial administrators to lay the first plan for Calabar. This was the advent of Edem Street, which leads off from the lion sculpture earlier mentioned, splitting into Archibong and Eyamba Streets. Anybody who believes that the big drainage system that splits Coco Bassey Street, and empties into the Calabar River, just came into being as an act of God should have his head examined. Archibong Street split into Tete Street, which led to the then European administrative quarters. Today, Tete Street has been sealed off, and the natural spring that supplied the water needs of the rapidly growing metropolis, cannot be accessed. There is even an old postcard picture of this water source which is now a collector’s item! The Marina Road also sealed off by the Nigerian Navy, was not even in existence then. Climbing up from this beach head at the Calabar River, the outline of the streets and whom there are named after, could tell any student of history when whom and whom, held sway in Calabar. That is why this writer believes that the renaming of Forsebery Road after Nelson Mandela, is an act of stupidity, ditto, the renaming of Mary Slessor Street after Victor Akan. These two individuals are late 20th century personages. Moving into the Efut part of the town, the way Edgerley Road and Whitehouse Street runs parallel to each other and their link with, streets like Maple, William George, Wilkie and Abua which abuts them, is further proof of planning. Therefore, anybody who thinks he is reinventing the wheel in an old town like Calabar is wallowing in self deception.
With the recent borrowing by the present administration of 4.5 billion naira from the financial market in our name and on our behalf, for the development of tourism within the state, we believe that a large chunk of this money would be expended on Calabar metropolis in furtherance of this lofty dream. Therefore, it behoves us, those who will bear the brunt if this idea fails, to make our input before this administration commits a faux pas. Calabar is already a planned town, but it was not planned for this level of rapid population and economic explosion. The problem for the present generation is how do we devise and shape the development of an old historic town, so as not to lose her quaint and tourism potentials and at the same time cater for the needs and demands of the modern world.
We could achieve this by first outlining and delineating what we have on the ground that was left behind by our forefathers, by depicting, sketching, tracing and drawing what we have in hand and then prepare, design, map, chart and draft a new plan over the old one in existence., taking into consideration the needs to maintain the historical significance of sites, institutions and the wants of the people. Any attempt to bulldoze an idea which the present administration thinks is right, is bound to end in failure. There is no amount of distortion, misrepresentation and muddling that would make this administration succeed, because at the end of the day Calabar is older than any of us, and most people have found out that you cannot fight nature and win. The present administration has the historical responsibility and opportunity to leave its mark and vision on how the people of Calabar would live, function and interact for the next 100 years. In other climes this is a responsibility taken very seriously.
This writer has identified three inlets into Calabar for visitors. If the present administration is serious about tourism development, projects or plans should be tied to these three inlets, where visitors first make contact with the town, and the lay of the land. There are three approaches to Calabar, namely the sea, air and road.
The sea perspective Much as ingress into Calabar from the sea has declined in recent times, the sea approach and development of the river banks present a puzzle and adds to the dazzling effect a town planner could imprint on the town. I now take time out to ask members of the present administration whom amongst them has ever approached Calabar from the sea. Who amongst them has ever entered the steam boat plying between Calabar and Oron, and seen Calabar as the boat approaches the shore. Now, how could anybody want to plan and develop a town whose greatest asset is the Calabar River without ever being on the River? Such a masterplan would only be one dimensional. An elementary knowledge of the geography and topography of this area is essential for understanding the challenges Calabar represents for a town planner. Climbing up from the sea, the planner is faced with high hills that drove the colonial administrators to Lagos, as the technology at that time was not adequate for them to build a railroad to the sea. The hills are the oldest part of the settled Calabar metropolis and needs special attention. If the present administration is serious, they should invoke eminent domain to procure all the land on the wrong side of Moor Road to Elder Dempster, including the old Police headquarters and barracks. This area would be enough for any hotel and amusement center. Any idea that involves crossing the river to the land opposite the Calabar settlement is shallow, anti environmental and dangerous. That mud slab acts as a buffer to the landed area on the Calabar Beach front and is home to crocodiles, monkeys, mudskippers, mangroves and other assorted wildlife which could itself serve as a tourist attraction and fishing expedition by tourists. There is still enough land to spare on the beach front for development with adequate funding and consultation.
Development of the Calabar River beach front should start from the Elder Dempster building, up to the Finn Beach and up, at the moment. The former Police Headquarters and barracks also along Moor Road should be relocated. The whole of that hilly area that runs on the opposite side of the Hill Spring (Idim Obot) is ripe for development. The old Calabar settlement should be left strictly alone. We have lost so many artifacts that anyone can think of touching such an anthropological site, which would definitely, become a Mecca for archeological studies in future and bring in the so called tourists into the town, is mind boggling. An anecdote - the road leading into Calabar from the north was supposed to pass through Ikot Ansa Town. Their Ekpe Lodge had to go, the people were consulted, they came back with the idea that, a round about should be created around the lodge, or in the alternative, the administration of the day should provide sacrifices to ease the relocation of the lodge. Don’t ask me what sacrifices were needed, but the government of the day turned tail and ran. I do not sincerely believe that today’s administration would have the stomach to move or relocate Efik shrines, but I have been known to be wrong!
The lay of the land perspective Climbing up the hills to the bush market, later renamed Watt Market, through Eyo Edem Street, is a pot pourri of the old town which is a tourist attraction by itself. The history of Calabar in the last 400 years was made in this area, and in all the old towns on earth, there are always old settlements, which are left alone for historical reasons. Even in modern times, the original building where the worldwide Brotherhood of the Cross and Star movement started is located in this area. That is a tourist attraction, maybe not in our life time, but it would one day be. This writer believes that the recent craze to force a road through the Watt Market is myopic. The question I ask the planners is, where would this essential road lead to? The cemetery? Why is it so important for this administration to build a highway to the cemetery? We will get there in due course, but what is the hurry.
We should all agree that Calabar was not conceived for this number of cars and people. And, most importantly, Calabar is a dead end town. You are either going to Calabar, or you are not. You do not drive through Calabar to get to another town. Also, Calabar is bounded by water, therefore this impedes and challenges the planner as to the best way to utilize available space and at the same time project the tourism dimensions of the town. A simple challenge is that of Calabar Road. With the building of the highway into Calabar from the north, traffic pouring into the town from this inlet suddenly gets boxed in as there is no major outlet leading to another town, this creates traffic congestion and the now dilemma for the planners. Their idea of relieving this problem by building a highway through the market is fraught with danger, for the public and for the historical monument on its path. There is another diabolical plan afoot to move the market to Henshaw Town Beach market. I assert that this is another exercise in futility because the topography of Calabar would defeat such a plan. Old towns have this frustrating habit of being already built up and almost always tend to possess narrow roads! First, the existing Henshaw Town market, even including the Fraser Beach is fed by Marina and Hawkins Roads. The only outlet valve is into Egerton Street. On the other side is the ubiquitous Calabar River, which would not give way to anybody. There is a market in existence there at the moment, it should continue and be expanded, but closing Watt Market and sending the traders to Henshaw Town, is mischievous. One, there is going to be a high demand for land that would affect ground rents. Two, the land area is limited, Three, it will suffer from worse traffic build up than the Watt Market area is suffering from. Finally, it might wake up certain buried ethnic differences that have long been buried in Calabar. I believe that attempts to move the Watt Market is borne out of greed for prime land, ill thought out and would create more problems than it would solve. It does not even make economic sense.
We have to accept that after driving into Calabar from the north, the commuter or potential tourist is now faced with the bottle neck created by a market in her path. To be able to resolve this dilemma, the whole area should be re planned in a holistic fashion. My suggestion is to designate the area from Barracks Road to Hawkins Street, a commercial or mercantile district. Calabar Road could be widened by having the road bend onto Garden Street, sweeping part of the Atakpa police station, the Red Cross building, the existing petrol station, part of Nsisuk, Eyo Edem, and Egerton Street in its wake. The road behind the old Clerks Quarters would then become a main link road, while the beginning of Forsberry Street, between Bedwell and the Effigy would be sealed off to traffic or used for parking. This proposed road should be a dual carriage way. On the opposite side, members of the African Club should be made to decide whether they want to relocate their Club, renovate and fence it around or give up part of the overgrown tennis courts. A look should be taken at the beginning of Goldie Street, which ideally should be sealed off and the traffic coming up from Bedwell Street then directed into the road running behind the Club. In this zone or area, the mantra should be: park, walk around and shop. The current Watt Market should be redeveloped into a modern shopping complex, with standard facilities. That would satisfy its status as a market, and also provide an economic boost to the town. For a dead end town, what we want is for people to come to Calabar and spend money. We would only achieve this by creating an environment where they would be willing to come out of their cars and walk around, instead of driving through the market on the road to nowhere.
The air perspective Calabar is now most often accessed from the air. The government has obviously forgotten this simple fact, that the first impression a visitor gets a town is from the airport. In most modern towns, the area around and in front of the airport is littered with hotels. The land opposite the Calabar Airport, on the way to Akpabuyo has not been fully utilized; the writer hopes part of the 4.5 billion would be expended to give the town a balanced development. What is the name of the road that leads to the airport? Is it Akim Road, Airport Road or IBB Way? How does the Quas feel about their name being wiped off by government fiat? The area around the airport should also be designated a commercial or mercantile zone, and efforts should be made to marry that into the over all plan.
The road perspective The third and final entry into Calabar from the north – the Highway, (misnamed after Murtala) has been mentioned previously, and the writer acknowledges that this axis is developing properly. There are two dangerous bottlenecks here which must be mentioned. One is at the entrance into the Metropolitan Hotel. And the other is at the Calabar Stadium (misnamed after Esuene), at the junction of the Airport Road and the road leading into the Quas ancestral town, with its abundant artifacts and history. This area should be reworked to make for easy flow of traffic; the petrol stations around here should go. A bus stop and toilet facilities along with shopping malls and modern developments should be incorporated. I make bold to call this area the Edim Itakpo junction. Signage leading to the archives and artifacts being housed in the Ika Ika building should be set up. The writer commends the present administration in opening up this part of the town, and suggests that efforts should be made to contact the indigenes and a program set up to welcome and accommodate tourists interested in her history.
The writer has tried to enunciate his general idea as to how Calabar should be further developed, taking into consideration its location, topography and history. I have purposely left out the Efut area which is the main residential part of the town, houses a university and could do with an industry or two. If the reasons for further retooling of the Calabar masterplan, is for the efficient and functional utilization of the land and space by her inhabitants, then habits and mores of the people should be taken into consideration. Though, there might be a better forum for articulating this view, this writer feels that the renaming of streets, buildings and structures in Calabar, removes from the historicity and tourist potential of the town This write up is not all embracing, Creek Town, Okoyong, Qua Falls etc., have not been mentioned. As I earlier pointed out, this sort of 21st century dream needs a holistic approach, beginning from: What do we want to achieve, how long would it take to reach that point, how much is available to get there and how do we go about getting there? I suspect that no one man has the answers to these queries, and for this administration to succeed, the current thinking would have to be subjected to practical and intellectual rigor. The present approach of hiding or hoarding the new Calabar masterplan as if only the town planners and members of the administration alone have a stake and would live in the town is fucatory.
Dec 2003
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