A high-wired plot to obstruct the actualisation of the Ibaka Deep Seaport project within the deep waters of Akwa Ibom State, by some highly placed persons working in tandem with some officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has been uncovered.
Daily Sun checks revealed that the plot is being hatched by some opposition governors and some highly placed Nigerians to obtain an ‘obnoxious letter’ from the NPA with a view to presenting the seaport project as not viable.
The plot, investigations revealed, was designed to ensure that the Ibaka Deep Seaport Initiative does not see the light of day, thereby paving way for development of new seaports in other parts of the country.
It was gathered that the conspiracy against Akwa Ibom State seeks to discredit the seaport project under a ‘non-viability cover’, despite the fact that the Federal Government had set up an implementation committee to facilitate preparatory works and captured the project in the 2014 budget, having been convinced that the port would boost the nation’s economy and that of the West African sub-region.
The Akwa Ibom State Government in collaboration with the NPA is planning to develop a Deep Sea Port within the Ibom Industrial Free Trade Zone to facilitate economic development of the South Eastern part of Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
Checks by Daily Sun further revealed that in December 2012, the government had engaged international consultants to assist NPA in the execution of preliminary technical, bankability and feasibility studies which found the project viable and bankable with proven economic development capabilities within the region.
Sources revealed that the choice of Ibaka for the proposed seaport dated back to 1952 by the British government, and a feasibility study to that effect submitted to the British Crown even before the shallow and inland water ports at Calabar and Port Harcourt were established.
Maritime analysts posited that Ibaka is the most viable location for the seaport, going by the deep sea draught of 16m, which would need no dredging as well as the strategic proximity of the proposed port to the corridors of the main Gulf of Guinea and the commercial cities of Aba and Onitsha, noting its nearness to Exxon Mobil and other major oil concerns as well as the Sao Tome and Principe is a great advantage to the nation’s economic drive.’’
An investment expert advised those plotting the failure to look elsewhere, saying no right thinking government would allow such a huge economic opportunity to be sacrificed on the alter of blind politics against principles of justice and fairness particularly for a state that was the highest crude oil producer and biggest contributor to national wealth.
He said it would be counter-productive to the ongoing Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan and a great disservice to both the South-South and West Africa’s hope for economic renaissance.
On the commitment of Akwa Ibom State Government to ensure that the project was a reality, officials of the government said the Akpabio administration had done all necessary preparatory works and that the state had made a huge financial commitment to its realisation, which included and acquisition of 14,400 hectares of land, appointment of transaction advisors as well as the setting up of an implementation committee to help drive the initiative.
State officials said the state governor’s readiness in supporting the Federal Government and other investors to actualise the dream was unshaken.
