The lizard jumped from the top of the iroko tree to the ground, and yet survived. Then it looked around but no one was commending it. Quickly, it said aloud, “whether you commend me or not, I have accomplished a huge feat”.
And that is why we have to commend the Nigerian government and its partners for making the Onitsha port come to live: “The Onitsha River Port received its first barges last week, paving the way for the expansion of shipping activities in the Southeastern mini-port. The concessionaire of the port, Elysium Consortium Limited, which took over the management last year, said it has revamped its operations.” Ya gazie [may it continue to go well]
Senator Akpabio: among all the important tasks as the Senate President, remember the Ibom deep seaport. If we do that, we will reduce the cost of shipping and boost our economy.
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I did geography in secondary school and in the physical & human geography and map reading sections, my teacher, Mazi Oji (Thank you for all the efforts, Sir), would push us to draw the maps connecting cities. Maiduguri is closer to Uyo* than it is to Lagos, and if we have a deep seaport in the Uyo axis, Maiduguri and broad Northeastern businesses would save more than 15% of cost in shipping, if they go through Uyo* over Lagos. We Want Ibom Deep Seaport.
In short, North East Nigeria through the old Maiduguri – Enugu – Ovim – Umuahia – PHC railway lines were there for a reason. The colonial era leaders used those routes to ship the goodies out because the distance was better. We need to expand opportunities in the nation because Nigeria has got everything!
Ibom deep seaport or Ibaka deep seaport (pick your location or name) MUST be deployed urgently. It’s about time!
Ibaka/Ibom deep seaport in Akwa Ibom will be a great promise for Nigeria. If you have that seaport and link Aba with a railtrack, making it easier to move cargoes from Ibaka/Ibom to Enyimba city, Nigeria will advance.
But Akwa Ibom may not have the capacity to build that seaport alone. Yes, unlike decades ago where Nigeria was organized regionally, for development, the states of today do not have financial muscles for grand infrastructure projects. Here is a solution: Abia and Akwa Ibom can come together to execute the playbook.
*pick your location: Ibaka, Ibom, etc work for me.
Comment on Feed
Comment 1: This write up is an example of how LinkedIn can be frustrating: someone writes an idea and gets hailed. But it is often hard to get clear answers to the questions that the write up raises:
Just looking at a map of Nigeria, this post makes no sense without first explaining the following:
- Where does the Onitsha port connect? The idea of an inland port at Onitsha has been discussed for years. It required dredging of parts of the River Niger. When was that dredging done?
- Port Harcourt is so close to Onitsha (130 km by air and 170km by road) that flights from Abuja to PH start their descent shortly after Onitsha. Why not deepen PH port. And then use roads/rail to connect Rivers, Abia, Imo and Anambra States
- Why “Uyo Axis”, wherever that is. Is there not a port in Calabar already begging to be utilized? For a country that is on its knees financially, does it not make sense to deepen Calabar port than start from scratch at so-called Uyo axis?
- Is this really the best way Sen Akpabio can use his clout as Sen Pesident to benefit his state and Nigeria? Would the country not be better served if Akpabio helped establish something at Uyo to complement, rather than duplicate Calabar
My Response: Not a balanced comment since we’re limited to few words when summarizing here; you could have clicked to learn more as everything is on the links: “… undertake the dredging of the river channel. This action, he emphasized…” Then on your questions:
1 – While you need to dredge to expand, you can start small from where you are today. They did that last week and plan to expand via dredging.
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Your point can work but that does not mean the water is not also an option. Onitsha is the largest market in Africa and having that port will make it grow. What is wrong having all options?
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We wrote DEEP SEAPORT, no port. Read for the differences. There is no deep seaport in SS or any place but Lagos. Again, DEEP.
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You have no point. That section began with “among all the important tasks “, that means he can do more. Again, there is nothing in Calabar since there is no DEEP seaport in Calabar.
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Good that the Onitsha Port is coming on stream. For every fix, we have to also see how it makes things better, that is how progress is measured. If we build things that are unusable or too stressful to use them, they end up becoming another waste of resources.
We don’t often situate economic centred developmental projects in places where they are most viable and impactful, if we do – we would have gone much farther than we are now. Some of the railway projects we borrowed heavily to construct may never return anything, that is if they are ever get completed. This is because there’s never a major economic incentive for siting those projects, and without government free largesse, nobody will find such projects attractive and profitable.
Both our self-interest and self-destructive tendencies need to be put in check, so that we can begin to do things the right way.
Don’t mind the evil idea of obj he purposely close sea port and air port in south east and south south in order to creat more jobs and revenue to his people I don’t blame him rather akpabio who was sleeping in Abuja for good eight years couldn’t use the opportunity to change rather they became emperor in their state as a governor.
Deep sea port compared to a Federal Ocean terminal, which one is greater than the other? Port Harcourt is the only capital in the Country that plays host to the federal Ocean terminal Onne. Lagos does not have an Ocean terminal. We pursue lopsided policies that gives undue advantage to Lagos, which defies the essence of fiscal federalism.
which one be federal terminal ocean
this one shocked me
comparing elephant with ant
by comparing Lagos with p/h
point number three from the first responder,that there’s nothing in Calabar? Interesting! Please you are free to fight for whatever you are fighting for without disparaging another state.