By Sunny Edemenang – South-South
The recent appeal to the people of Akwa Ibom State by the Chairman of the Technical Committee for Ibom Deep Seaport, Mrs Mfon Usoro, to be patient “that seaports always take long period of 20 years from inception to commissioning”, from logical inference, has revealed the inability of the present committee to move the project past the level it has come to meet, after 25 years of inception.
No reason was adduced however on why it has taken this long.
The statement nonetheless presupposes that, Ibom Deep Seaport Project has no destination in sight, but a mere political journey. It is like anticlockwise relay-race jumpstarted over and over again.
Even at that, it should not be misconceived to be one of the failures of the ARISE Agenda of Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, PhD.
At the moment, the project has taken about 25 years and what is trending in the media space is a mere presentation of feasibility studies to the 4th governor on the line. The project did not start with Pastor Umo Eno and may not end with him. The issue of Ibom Deep Seaport has remained a front burner in the political pipelines of every successive administration.
From the foundational works of Obong Victor Attah to the Uncommon Transformation push by Godswill Akpabio and Udom Emmanuel’s Dakkada policy, the project has politically evolved through successive administrations as always earmarked without tangible remarkable progress. The presentation of the Feasibility Studies to Governor Umo Eno is seen as a giant concrete strides between conception and completion of a project that has lived in the realm of political vision, spoken about, planned, and deferred every year after Budget appropriation.
For over two decades, the project has remained on the drawing board and has offered no realizable deadline. As it stands, with election at the corner, the project will still remain a grandiose bargaining project in continuity slogan.
As commented by a veteran Elder statesman, comrade Tony Ukpong, “this particular project cannot be completed within this tenure, except, a state of emergency is declared on it”. The current unity in the state, following the political migration to the center should be a means to bargain for more development to the state, facilitate the actualization of
Ibom Deep Seaport that offers historic opportunity to decentralize pressure from congested ports and unlock the vast economic potential of the eastern corridor. Incidentally, it has been an item of political bargaining for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the people of the state and the governor in particular.
MMS Plus recalls that President Tinubu had promised Gov Umo he would help him deliver the project as a bait to cross carpet to the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) from the People Democratic Party(PDP). So far, no work has commenced at the site since after the promise.
The Ibom Deep Seaport, strategically located along the Gulf of Guinea, is originally designed to function not just as a national asset but as a regional transshipment hub for West and Central Africa.
It has a most immediate and visible impact in its potential to transform the lives of young people and transform trade in Africa in the context of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement(AfCFTA).
A fully operational deep seaport will:
Expand Nigeria’s trade capacity, reducing congestion and turnaround time.
Attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into logistics, manufacturing, and services.
Boost export competitiveness, especially for agro-industrial and manufactured goods.
Generate massive employment, both direct and indirect.
Catalyze urban and industrial growth, particularly through its integration with the Ibom Industrial City and Free Trade Zone.
The current political cycle of Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, PhD, by popular acclimation, remains just a little over four years while this project is yet to be earmarked.
As widely known, large-scale projects like the Ibom Deep Seaport are generational in scope, it outlives political cycles and demand continuity of vision, policy, and execution.
According to the governor, “Ibom Deep Seaport is not a sprint but a marathon, and we are taking deliberate steps to assure its success”.
