00:00Hello 7%! My name is Mzee Chan, an Afro-African artist from Nigeria and today I'm going to be
00:05taking you on an exciting journey of my city, Port Harcourt. You're welcome to the Garden City.
00:10Port Harcourt is Nigeria's fifth largest city with a population of 3.6 million.
00:16This bustling metropolis is rich in natural resources,
00:20its most prized possession being its abundant reservoirs of crude oil around the city.
00:27The beauty of water, the welcoming people with the character of the umbuntu of river states.
00:33When you look around you, you know that truly it is the Garden City. You can see the greens
00:39all over the place, how neat it is and for sure we are the treasure base of the nation.
00:47Port Harcourt is also a breeding ground for superstars. It is where music legends like
00:53Burna Boy, Mr Easy and Omale kick-started their careers. Rising talents like Wizard Chan
00:59are now joining their ranks. Wizard uses his music to celebrate the beauty and culture of River State
01:05and his lyrics are mostly in English. His rhythm, costumes and imagery heavily draw from his Ijo
01:12heritage where masquerades and ancestral connections play an important role. As you can see this is a
01:19cloak. My name is a wizard right. I have to look the part, play the part as always. We call this
01:25the masquerade pants. It's just like, like I said it's all cultural at the end of the day
01:30to make sure everything is Africa first before any other thing.
01:36Not all the old people were good people, but the young you know them.
01:47In addition to the oil that made the city rich and its musical scene, Port Harcourt is renowned
01:53for its diverse culinary offerings. One local delicacy is the street food Bole, a combination
01:59of roasted plantains served with flavorful fish stew. Yeah if you come to Port Harcourt we are known
02:07for specific food and one of them is the Bole. If you look over here you can see this is basically
02:13what a typical Bole joint looks like. But where we are currently is the best Bole joint that I know
02:19of in Port Harcourt. A lot of famous people have come here to eat Bole. I think we have to bring
02:23more people. We'll bring more people to come. Every year top artists in Nigeria come to Port Harcourt
02:31to celebrate the Bole Festival. This vibrant event has become one of the most highly anticipated
02:37festivals in Nigeria, drawing in crowds from far and wide to celebrate the unique flavors
02:44and culture of the region. The tick of our Bole Festival is tonight bringing the best musicians,
02:50save your money, come to Port Harcourt, come and chop life.
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