By Akanimo Kufre (The New Diplomat’s A/Ibom|C/River Correspondent)
The Akwa Ibom State Government has expressed appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the construction of Ibom Deep Sea port 20 years after the plan was first conceptualized.
The State Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Ini Ememobong in a statement said through the approval, the federal government has supported the state in achieving one of its years-long goals.
The state also extended its appreciation to Vice President Yemi Osibanjo and the entire members of the Federal Executive Council, including the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, the Nigerian Ports Authority, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, and Bureau for Public Procurement involved in the landmark decision to approve Ibom Deep Seaport.
The Federal Government’s approval for the full commencement of the port has been the expectations of Akwa Ibomites for two decades now and therefore calls for the festive mood in Uyo since Tuesday.
Ememobong said: “This approval is coming on the heels of the vigorous push by the Udom Emmanuel led administration for the actualization of this long awaited vision. It will be recalled that previous administrations since 1999 have made several attempts at kick starting the seaport, without success.”
According to the state government, the Ibom Deep Seaport concept was designed for very large vessels that can load over 13 thousand containers in one voyage.
“It will be a trans-shipment port as smaller vessels will re-distribute cargo from the mega vessels to sea ports, river ports closer to the consignees within Nigeria and outside the country.
“Strategically located to serve West and Central African Region, JDZ Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroun, Angola, Gabon, Congo, Congo DRC, Chad and others, the 14,400 hectares maritime cluster is visualized with SMART Ibom Industrial City (IIC) as Free Trade and Export Processing zone.”
As at 2013, Ibom Deep Sea Port was projected with capacity of creating about 70,000 job opportunities for unemployed youths in the country when completed.
Following the development, Governor Udom Emmanuel is expected to layout a full scale implementation plan for both the Deep Seaport and the Liberty Oil and Gas Free Zone, also recently approved for commencement.
“The state government is also appreciative to the Technical Committee for the Implementation of the Deep Seaport led by Mrs. Mfon Usoro and the entire State officials who worked tirelessly to achieve this gladdening success story,” the statement added.
