Efforts by successive Akwa Ibom State administrations to actualise the construction of a deep seaport have continued to hit the proverbial brick wall. Akwa Ibom is a littoral state, with a shoreline that sits on some of the deepest portions of the Nigerian continental shelf.

In 1999 when the government of former Governor Victor Attah, an architect, was in power, the plan to build a seaport was mooted. It was initially sited at Ibaka in Mbo Local Government Area. But the project had to be moved to Ibeno because of alleged countless petitions from the Oron people who own the land. The relocation was necessitated by the withdrawal of investors who complained of hostile environment.

The Ibom Deep Sea Port, IDSP, is a tripartite partnership of the State Government with the Federal Government through the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, and the private sector. Out of these three, the Federal Government has been the one most infamously dragging its feet.

In September 2024, Governor Umo Eno visited President Bola Tinubu and solicited his assistance toward realising this vital project. Last weekend, he again led a 104-man high-powered delegation of the Akwa Ibom elite drawn from across party lines to Aso Villa. He even conferred the title of “Otu Ekong” (traditional commander-in-chief) on Tinubu.

Curiously, the president, who once resided in Akwa Ibom as a senior staff of Mobil Oil, merely said the usual “sweet nothings” but did not publicly make any concrete commitment about the mission that brought the august delegation.

We call on the president to seize the opportunity of his proposed state visit to Akwa Ibom to make ground-breaking commitments to ensure that the IDSP is swiftly implemented. He should not give room to the speculation that he does not want the IDSP or any other deep seaport to “rival” the ports in Lagos State which he once governed. We want the same speed with which the Lekki Deep Seaport was done to be visited on the IDSP.

The construction of the IDSP and full revival of other ports in Warri, Koko, Port Harcourt, Onne and the river ports on the Niger will ease the congestions of the Lagos ports. They will diversify shipping and impact greatly on the local economies of the South- East and South-South and the deeper hinterlands up North.

Whatever political issues that main-streamed the attrition of hostility of the Federal Government towards the development of seaports and railways in the Eastern flank of this nation must be buried forthwith. For about 26 years, Akwa Ibom has demonstrated ample zest to facilitate the creation of the first deep seaport in the East. This is not just about the state and the region but the glory of the nation as a whole.

Ibom seaport must be actualised!