Photo courtesy of Starwood Group The Qua-Iboe is a working river.

By Kevin Lambert

Africans today are quick to downplay their old ways, and tell you that they are not "living in trees, like some foreigners think." In truth, they never did. Africans, like any other people on earth, have their roots in villages, self-sufficient, with strong laws and customs.

The Washington Times Special Reports Team became among the first visitors to set off from the jetty to take the trip down the Qua-Iboe river to its junction with the Imo, which leads to Port Harcourt, and the Cross River, which flows to Cameroon. Traveling in a small canoe, we visited villages, played with children and visited a vanishing way of life. The river is a working river, a commercial highway. All of the other voyagers use it as rivers have always been used, to take goods and people to and from market towns. Some of our fellow travellers were in boats of up to 12 passengers, some were alone. All waved and smiled as we passed. No crocodiles, no insects were sighted.

Village life

Sam Etek is an Akwa Ibomite historian and businessman who publishes a magazine called African Sport Digest. His father was a fisherman along the Qua-Iboe. According to him (and others), 100,000 people live between the jetty and Port Harcourt, a distance of approximately 129 kilometers, "Fishermen," he says, "can have 3 to 4 wives, and this includes many children. The men set out in their canoes, made of cedar or ukpa (a local tree) and toss out their nets. Their wives do farming. The main crop is cassava, for fufu." So has it been for centuries. Village people have such a timeless rhythm to their lives that they describe even African city folk as "white people, as they are living under a different set of influences."

Photo by Kevin Lambert Villagers on the Qua-Iboe live in a landscape that recalls Shangri-la.

The people’s needs are met in this sort of pastoral existence. After the roaring streets of Africa’s cities, to visit a place where the loudest sound is an angry bird is almost dizzying. Naturally, the villager’s biggest dream is to for the government to run a highway through it.

Palm’s products/river commerce

The fruit of the palm tree was the first staple of the river trade. The palm tree (generally named ayuh) has been Akwa Ibom’s most important agricultural staple, and beyond its nutritional value it has had some surprising other uses. Nineteenth century Britain, France and Germany found palm oil and kernel to be vital raw materials used in the manufacturing of soaps, lubricants, candles and margarine. In the mid-20th century, growers from Malaysia came here and took the seeds back with them, creating their own thriving palm industry. It kept its place of prominence right up to the discovery of petroleum.

Today, it still has a market, but one that has been eclipsed by fish. Tilapia, catfish, bullhead, shrimp and oysters are the most prominent today. Any hotel in the region will have fish on the menu, generally cooked with jolof rice and fried plantains. It is taken straight from the river and shipped by canoe to the various market towns: Cross River (Calabar State), Port Harcourt (River State), Oron (Akwa Ibom State) and to the countries of Cameroon and Benin. River fish are generally preferred to pond or lake fish. Since all natural lakes, wetlands and reservoirs are supplied with fish by their inflowing rivers, the rivers are characterized by a higher species diversity than the natural lakes, wetlands or reservoirs.

Fishing gear used is limited to long-lines, traps, basket-nets and clapnets; gillnet and castnets are used in restricted areas without obstructions. Fishermen have been known to use unorthodox fishing methods, such as explosives.

Taxi drivers

There are water taxi drivers, who ply their canoes up and down the rivers, from the bush to the market towns. An exclusive chartered ride from the jetty to Port Harcourt can cost $200.00. Communal journeys can run $40.00, but the pilots stop at every "rest area" – usually a gaggle of branches in the middle of the Imo – and bring out the palm wine. They’re a lot more fun, but don’t set your watch by them.