Deep Seaport: An Economic and Social Shelter For Akwa Ibom

By Otobong Nsekpong

When on the 2nd day of January 2020, the Akwa Ibom State governor led the people of the state to God in a solemn assembly to pray specifically for an approval from the federal government for the construction of a deep seaport in the state, many had had thought of it as a mere waste of precious time.

This, according to them did not require prayers but the ability of the government of the day to pull the necessary political strings to get the much sought after approval for the commencement of construction. Maybe, they had forgotten that the idea of a deep seaport in the state was not entirely a new one initiated by the Udom Emmanuel’s administration and therefore failed to realise why approval was not given to past administrations in the state.

It was therefore the failure of past administrations to secure an approval that made the yearly spiritual exercise for year 2020 to be entirely dedicated to prayers for the actualization of that dream by previous administration for a seaport in the state because only God can do what men had failed to do in the past.

Emboldened by the PDP electoral victory of 2019 which had as its slogan ‘Only God ‘ that saw the politically strong and mighty fail to secure electoral victory, Governor Udom Emmanuel approached the throne of grace asking for just one favour which was to secure an approval from the federal executive council for the commencement of an all important project like the seaport.

True to his word that a day before the Lord is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day, the federal executive council meeting of December 16, 2020 gave an approval for the construction of a deep seaport in Akwa Ibom with an initial release of $2.016b for the construction of the first phase of the project. A breaking news that gladden the hearts of Akwa Ibom people at Christmas.

The success of today did not just happen as the government of Mr. Udom Emmanuel had made the Ibom deep seaport a priority from the early days of his administration with the inauguration of a technical committee for its actualization. The ten man committee headed by a renowned maritime key player,Mrs Mfon Usoro, was mandated to navigate through the processes towards actualization of the project. Barr Usoro had served Nigeria as Director General of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency. Together with other members of the committee, she went to work with experience and wide contact that has made the dream of yesterday a reality today.

The seaport holds lots of opportunities for the state and her people. India as a nation has a rich history of trade across the seas and Akwa Ibom with the deepest shoreline will have a seaport designed for vessels that can carry 120,000 dead weight tonnage.
The Ibom Deep Sea Port will be an industrial mix that will pump our economy to its highest calibration of performance like it is in other climes.
According to the commissioner for Economic Development and Deep Seaport, Mr. Akan Okon, the Deep seaport comes with an industrial city with every activity associated with the Maritime sector.

The commissioner speaking during an end of the year media parley in Uyo said the Deep seaport will come in phases and will be built on the public private partnership of 40% for Akwa Ibom state government and 60% for the investor Bollore ChinaPower Consortium who is already managing 23 ports in Africa.
“We already have a bidder with the financial strength and the port construction will be done in phases. The processes leading to the approval was done in most transparent manner and today we have an approval which is a major milestone in the construction of the seaport” he stated.
No doubt, the approval by the federal executive council is a big boost to the realisation of deep seaport project especially as it relates to job and wealth creation.

For instance, it is on record that more than 13.3 million Americans work in port-related jobs that generate nearly 650 billion Dollars in annual personal income and 212.4 billion Dollars in federal, state and local taxes. In Florida specifically, sea ports generate more than 550,000 direct and indirect jobs. The story is not different in Singapore and other Asian Tigers.
In Nigeria, Lagos state economy is sustained by activities carried out within and around seaports available in the state to an extent that they can survive without revenue from federation account.

Akwa Ibom with an Airport and a Seaport has already launched itself on the path of economic sustainability beyond oil and gas. The idea of an airport with an airline together with a Deep Seaport that takes heavier vessel with no fewer than ten terminals signal a new beginning for the people in the coming years.