The decision to revive the relic of an effete dispensation is usually borne out of a keen understanding of the linkages between the past and the future and an informed ambition to bequeath the future with the ethos, values and glories of that past.

It is this trajectory of thought that birthed the decision of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) to transform from relic to reality the defunct Bonny Consulate Building, which served as the administrative headquarters of the British led colonial government back in the 18^th century, from a waning memory to a contemporary architectural masterpiece.

This much was acknowledged and applauded by the Amanyanabo and Natural Ruler of Grand Bonny Kingdom, His Majesty, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, CON, Perekule XI, on Friday, December 26, 2020 at the King Perekule Palace in Bonny.

The occasion was the Signing Ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited and Julius Berger Nigeria Limited for the rebuilding of the Consulate, which he presided over. He had earlier on Saturday, October 13, 2019, participated in the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Consulate, which rebuilding idea emanated from a picture on a wall.

According to Nigeria LNG’s Managing Director, Tony Attah, the idea emanated from the picture of the Consulate which he saw at the home of the Chairman of the Bonny Chiefs Council (BCC), Chief Dagogo Wilcox. Upon being briefed on the significance of the building and strategic roles it played in the colonial administration, Attah, alongside his management team decided it was a project worth doing. 

He stated that the company’s bent in achieving its dream of upscaling the prominence of Bonny and helping to make it a major investment destination was in consonance with its Bonny-Dubai vision which seeks to develop Bonny community to be like Dubai in terms of tourism and economic activities.

Hear him: “We believe firmly that restoring the historic colonial antiquity which portrayed the economic significance of Bonny Island to the British colonial masters, will elicit tourists’ interest and the community can also reap from the economic benefit of tourism”.

He informed that the building was part of the company’s sustainability CSR projects in the Kingdom which includes its N60 billion commitment to the building of the Bonny-Bodo road that will connect the Island to the mainland and state capital, as well as, the Bonny Community Health Insurance Programme (BCHIP), a project to promote good health on the Island.

Both events, the MOU Signing and Groundbreaking ceremonies served as auspicious occasions which the Bonny Monarch utilized to commend the Nigeria LNG for its unique and ubiquitous contributions to the development of Bonny Kingdom, noting that the Consulate Building project was “a huge gift from Nigeria LNG to Bonny Kingdom”.

Records show that the Bonny Consulate Building, which was built in 1897 as the administrative headquarters of the British colonial government, was a colonial style three storey building that was decorated with metal railings on roofs and had two exterior staircases in front of the building. The consulate housed the district commissioner, a doctor, police officers, and several offices for the Marine Department.     

The new Bonny Consulate Building is envisaged as an iconic structure that will be carefully choreographed to replicate the old Consulate Building with its rich history and significance. It is expected to cover a land area of circa 10,000m2, house the Office of the Amanyanabo of Bonny, the Bonny FM Radio Station, Staff Offices, Movie Hall, Conference Room/Hall, Souvenir Shop, Library, Museum, Café, Security House, Car Park Area, as well as offices for those who will manage the tourism Initiative and various aspects of the facility.  

According to the NLNG: The Magazine (Vol. 5, No1 – 2019), “To walk into the new Bonny Consulate Building is to induce a hallowed state in which one is in a suspended space between the historic past and the timeless historic present; it is to lose oneself in the original ‘look and feel’ of the old Consulate and yet to be unobtrusively aware of the rich luxuries of the 21st century engineered by the Bonny-Dubai Vision.”

Reconstruction of the old Bonny Consulate Building is a major part of the drive to transform Bonny Kingdom into a major tourism destination comparable to such other destinations across the world. Obviously, the choice of the Consulate Building is not by accident because the Consulate has the potential to propel the growth of tourism on the island.

Indeed, the Bonny Consulate Building, which was the centre of administrative power in the past, is expected to serve as the hub of the tourism initiative in the present, constitute a huge revenue earner for Bonny Kingdom, recreate its rich history and significance not only in Bonny but in Nigeria, and also serve as a one-stop shop for exploring the rich history of Bonny Kingdom.

This project is one of the many ways, the Nigeria LNG, which is jointly owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (49%), Shell Gas B.V.  (25.6%), Total Gaz Electricite Holdings France (15%), and Eni International N.A. N. V. S.àr. l (10.4%), has continued to demonstrate its commitment to the development of Bonny Kingdom.

This trajectory of Nigeria LNG inspired development is evidenced in the current status of Bonny Island being the only part of Nigeria experiencing 24/7 electricity supply and availability of constant water supply, which reticulation parameters are in the works to be upgraded to fully service every home in the coming days.

Over the years, Africa’s foremost gas company, the Nigeria LNG has made deliberate interventions in Education, Economic Empowerment, Healthcare Delivery, Governance Support, and Security, amongst many others in Bonny LGA, and across its other host communities. The company has also been scaling up its involvement in almost every facet of life in Bonny and acquitted itself as a responsible corporate entity that was committed to conferring a human face to its business profile.