by Onyinyechi Eboh

Have you ever wanted to experience the natural and the appetizing? If so, you may have to visit the Rumuokoro market in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. The market is located a walking distance from the city gate (Airport Road). It is actually an expanse in the basement of a structure, so that when you look up what you see is a decking. At the moment, the upper floor is being constructed to make room for more shops.

The sight of fresh vegetables and fruits (like banana, Orange, Pineapple, water melon, carrot, avocado pear, sugar-cane) and several trays of ripe plantain offers you this unique combination.
Items on sale are displayed on tables and in rows and sections: a place for everything and everything in its place. Ice fish, periwinkles and snails have specific rows, while the dry fish, crayfish, condiments, cooking oils, cocoyam, vegetables (ugu, Oha, Okazi, water-leaf and Uziza) occupy another busy section of both markets. Garri has its separate row and at the extreme is the meat section. And neatly arranged in a single role are engines for those who grind things.

Almost every item on sale calls the buyer's attention, sending one's thoughts wandering, the tongue salivating even. The shop owners don't make it any easier as they beckon from all sides. The intense competitiveness in the corporate marketplace finds expression in this largely informal setting. The traders, anxious to make a sale, lure, drag or cajole as soon as they set eyes on you and are within hearing distance. Most interestingly, they baptize you with names they think will best fit your looks, gender, age, stature and complexion, all in a bid to get your attention to their wares.

You are most likely to hear an enterprising seller holler: “Customer, come see this fishthe price dey okay; come see am now. I go reduce money for you oh and I go put jara!”

The sound of several machettes banging on the tables and bones drives your gaze directly to the blood-stained meat-sellers, who also invite you to their corner. A lady walked into the market and was surprised when a meat seller called her by a name. She burst into laughter. According to her, that was her cousin's name.

In another corner of the market, I heard, “Mummy, price the plantain well, everything don add money. Wetin you dey price never reach cost price.”
“No, I no fit buy am like that. I go pay fifty naira,” came the retort.

The pepper grinders are no different, except that these ones, mostly young boys in their teens, approach you with questions:”Aunty wetin you won grind? Pepper, Crayfish, Egusi, Ogbono…which one? My engine fine,I go do am well for you.” I understand that each grinder costs on the average N4, 000. 00 at the Mile 1 market and the owners pay a monthly rent of between N2500-N6000 in a month to operate on the spot.

“We sometimes break even and make by month end,” one of them says,”some other times, we don't. It all depends on the number of customers we get.”

The fun in this whole scenario is that a regular visitor to the market is familiar with the various segments and knows where to get what. And for the simple fact that the demarcations are invincible, buyers can easily sample goods from a distance.