Makurdi, the Benue State capital is one city that cannot boast of a functional amusement park. Concerned residents say government intervention in the uplifting of recreational facilities would not only enhance the aesthetics of the city but attract tourists and boost infrastructural development. SOLOMON AYADO reports
When the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, returned from a one week vacation at the Obudu Mountain Resort in Cross River State,in company of her husband, president Goodluck Jonathan shortly after the April 2011 general elections, she? confessed that there was no good reason why anyone would waste resources to travel to far away Switzerland for holidays.
The first lady may have only been giving credence to a Nigerian proverb which says “What you are looking for in Sokoto is in your Shokoto pockets.”
Perhaps, what she experienced there informed her decision to choose the location as venue for a retreat with wives of the 36 states’ governors, later on.
In Makurdi, the Benue State capital, the case is not the same, as over 100 amusement parks lie moribund, begging for attention.
Many of them are now used for purposes other than that they were meant for, while the few that are struggling to survive are faced with a barrage of challenges.
The amusement parks in the town have all been abandoned, while the ones operating have been turned into gambling dens where games betting, drafts, Ludo games among others are played.
?Many have been turned into horticulture gardens where flowers are nursed and sold.
Some others have been turned into refuse dumps.
The political dispensation may have worsened the situation also, as political analysts as well as football fans are often seen at the parks, engaging each other in endless arguments.
Even though Makurdi town is one beautiful and peaceful town in the country where people would always wish to visit, the absence of a functional amusement park in the city is definitely a minus for prospective tourists.
Some of the amusement parks in Makurdi include Kenville Park, Cool-off, Makafa, The Beach. The list is endless.
Despite efforts by the government to see that the parks are functional, nothing seems to be working and it is difficult to tell if the slack is from the government or the parks managers.
Many of the amusement parks look derailed, shattered and more of slums, and may not regain their initial outlook until proper intervention is given.
But how soon will this come? And even if it does, how will the parks be repositioned to achieve their original plan and purpose?? What about the dilapidated nature of some of them? Who owns them and who manages them?
These are some of the questions begging for answers.
Narrating his ordeal, Mr. Ngbede, who operates at Kenville Park, High-level Makurdi, told LEADERSHIP that he had been doing his best to keep the park clean. He lamented the erosion problems, saying that anytime it rained, the park is flooded, just as waste dumped beside the park finds its way inside the park.
He appealed to Benue State Environment and Sanitation Agency? to reposition the waste bins placed beside the park, which he said generates a repulsive stench that permeates the park and turns potential patrons away.
The manager of Cool-off Park, Low level, who pleaded anonymity said her major challenge is the grass around the park.
According to her, apart from dumping refuse there, some people usually come around there to pass feaces. She also lamented the absence of portable water supply in the metropolis which had greatly affected her business.
For Samuel James, a patron at one of the parks, expressed disappointment over the unkempt and deadly nature of the parks
He said amusement parks in Abuja were the hallmark of beauty as according to him, such is not the case with Makurdi parks based on the disorderly nature of the people. He suggested that only the state government can restore order and relief to these abandoned parks.
Though the state commissioner for Water Resources and Environment, John Ngbede had earlier ordered that all recreational parks in the city be vacated by squatters, road side vendors, observers say this alone is not enough to reposition the parks.
Many of them who spoke with LEADERSHIP SUNDAY were of the opinion that the parks should be leased to competent hands to manage them.
? It would be recalled that commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Comfort Ajene had on the occasion of her swearing in, remarked that the state government was out to restore the lost cultural fortunes of the state and take it to an exceptional height.
“This will be extended to tourism where the amusement parks would be revived to meet international standard”, she had said.
It is hoped that the ministries involved would join hands to reposition the amusement parks in the state capital. The policy of Build-Operate and Transfer (BOT) could be applied. After all, goodness and hospitality are some of the investments that never fail.
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