A’Ibom Deep Seaport Project’s Location And Name-Change: Politics Of Marginalization Or Necessity?
By UbongAbasi Ise
Wants of jobs for teeming unemployed population in Akwa Ibom, and government’s quest to boost domestic revenue profile have primarily made the Ibom Deep Seaport and Industrial City projects the mother of all initiatives in recent times. It is believed that at completion, the operation of the seaport would inspire commerce and industrialization with over 300,000 jobs provided on a go. But before the project move away from paperwork phase to geophysical site, it has already caught up in the vortex of interests. So far, different sections and individuals in the state and beyond have particularized their interests overtly and covertly towards this prospected world-class seaport and its accompanying industrial hub. To Oron nation, who are inhabiting the south-eastern portion of the Atlantic coast in the state, the finally approved site for the harbour and subsequent change of name from ‘Ibaka’ to ‘Ibom’ Deep Seaport have vitiated their dream of playing host to a seaport touted to become one of the best in Africa. It was this loud agitation over the location and name-change of the project that prompted the meeting between the officials of the Akwa Ibom State Government and the stakeholders of Oron nation on Saturday 17th April 2021 at Oron Civic Centre.
At the meeting, a delegation of Akwa Ibom State government which include the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, the State Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport, Mr. Akan Okon, the Chairperson of Technical Committee on Ibom Deep Seaport, Barr (Mrs.) Mfon Usoro, and other state government officials took turns to explain to the host how the present site of the seaport project was arrived at contrary to allusion to political interest and influence. The meeting was going on smoothly and almost ended in a gentlemanly manner when Engr. Mkpubre Okon Mkpubre, the Chairman of Oro Technical Committee on Deep Seaport who virtually joined through Zoom, raised the tone and voice to express what he described as the marginalization of Ibaka, stating that Oron nation is strongly against relocation of the project site from Okposo near Ibaka Bay to Unyenghe where he claimed was annexed to Ibeno by late Brigadier U.J. Esuene, the former military governor of the then South-Eastern State. Mkpubre, who is the former managing director of Engineering, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and currently the Managing Consultant, Green Seas International Nig. Ltd, emphasized Okposo as a natural harbour suitable for seaport project, mentioning that a petition dated March 15, 2021 had already been sent to Governor Udom Emmanuel by Oron Union. He tasked the Chairman of Oro Think-Tank Committee, Prince Chris Abasi Eyo, to leave the copy of the petition with the Ibom Deep Seaport Implementation Committee of the state government for proper understanding of their position.
POSITION OF ORON NATION
The petition to Governor Udom Emmanuel was against what Oron Union termed as the relocation of ‘Ibaka’ Deep Seaport from the preferred location near the natural harbour at Ibaka Bay, to be built as a dug-out port, which they claimed is an artificial ocean created on land. Secondly the petition speculated against digging out an artificial ocean (1km2) out of scarce land anywhere near Oron nation; and dumping of excavated sand near Oron land and water territory.
The union said apart from former governor Victor Attah’s choice of Ibaka as the best location for deep seaport, the Nigerian Government in time past had made some moves to site a Deep Seaport at Ibaka which seems to be the most suitable location for a viable seaport that could carry the needed tonnage of sea freight. According to them, each attempt had always pointed to Ibaka but stressed that the final choice had always been decided using other primordial non-technical data to sideline Ibaka in favour of other inferior locations, which they see as the politics of ethnic marginalization.
The letter reads, “we the people of Oro (Oron) nation unanimously write to express our opposition and rejection of the planned relocation of Ibaka Deep Seaport from Okposo, near Ibaka Bay in Oron nation, which had been extensively studied and established as a preferred location by many experts, to a fresh site (Ibeno) where it is to be built as a dug-out port. The existence of a natural harbour at Ibaka was what led the government of Obong Victor Attah in 2003 to conceptualize the Ibaka Deep Seaport and the existence of a natural habour at Ibaka was also reflected in the SWOT analysis in the Due Diligence studies report by experts as a major strength of the Ibaka Deep seaport project. Oron nation therefore views the planned relocation of Ibaka Deep Seaport out of Oron nation where a natural harbour exists, to be built as a dug-out port in an artificial ocean at Ibeno, as nothing but as an attempt at continuous deprivation of Oron nation due to its ethnic minority status.
“Excavating one square kilometer of land to the depth of 20 meters to create an artificial ocean for a Deep Seaport will generate about 50 million cubic meters of loose sand and debris. How and where is this huge amount of sand and debris going to be disposed? Oron nation totally rejects the dumping of the sand excavated from the proposed Dug-out Port in any Oron nation’s land and water territory.
“Apart from the Ibaka Deep Seaport, the trending subject in Akwa Ibom State more than 20 years ago has been, the Ibaka (Ibom) Industrial City (IIC) which was conceptualized by the government of Obong Victor Attah to be predominantly located in Mbo LGA of Oron nation. Recently, we are hearing of Liberty Free Trade Zone which includes none of the Local Government Areas in Oron including Mbo and some IIC type projects have been mentioned in connection with this Free Trade Zone. International Jetty is already being built for the Liberty Free Trade Zone and companies like Hendai Chinese Industrial City are already advertising their presence there. But not even the Oil and Gas Park approved by the Federal Government for Akwa Ibom State is deemed fit to be located in the IIC in Mbo LGA which produces the bulk of the oil for Akwa Ibom State.
“It is crystal clear that the relocation of the Deep Seaport from a well-studied and preferred location at Okposo near Ibaka Bay is not backed by scientific, technical, economic or any tangible and credible reason. Oron people therefore consider the move as the politics of ethnic marginalization, deprivation and subjugation which Oron people have suffered since the creation of Akwa Ibom State.”
The Oron Union also stated in the petition to Governor Udom that in backing their claims, they have in their possession certain documents that have whole lots to do with establishment of the Deep seaport.
The first document they mentioned in the letter is the Initial Due Diligence report for Ibaka Deep Seaport and Free Trade Zone with status “Final” dated January 2013, submitted by Felak Concept Ltd and Maritime & Transport Business Solution BV which they said was based on nautical studies carried out under the supervision of the Project Development Team (PDT) for Ibaka Deep Seaport and Free Trade Zone Project. They referred to pages 5-87 of the report, which is said to have appointed Okposo, near Ibaka Bay, as the preferred location for the Deep Seaport. The second document is final Outline Business Case Report on Ibaka Deep Seaport and Free Trade Zone, dated 24th April, 2013 where comparative total Capital Expenditure from phase 1 to phase 3 of the Deep Seaport development was estimated for selected locations with Ibeno allotted $2.135 billion while Okposo had $2,003 billion.
The third document, being the Ibom Industrial city final master plan report by Delta Afrik and Worley Parsons where Okposo was allegedly agreed as a preferred option as found on page 112, but the union decried the existence of a caveat speculating that Ibeno should be preserved as an option in case a secured investor find the technically preferred location “undesirable.” According to Oron Union, “This caveat was clearly a forced addition by the Government of Akwa Ibom State as it began to nurse the idea of relocating the Deep Seaport out of Oron nation to Ibeno.” They claimed that Delta Afrik and Worley Parson were paid by the Government of Akwa Ibom State to do a parallel study to that commissioned by the Ministerial Steering Committee for the IDSP and supervised by the Project Development Team.
But the Union said the fourth, which is a document titled “Overview- site selection” dated 15th October 2014 (Page PD-20) bearing the logo of Felax Concept Ltd and NTBS , was used to overturn the previous excellent technical assessment of selected locations carried out by the same Felax Concept in conjunction with the Project Development Team. They claimed that in making assessment in this ducument, Plus (+) and Minus (-) signs that lacked qualitative value were employed with very ambiguous criteria for technical evaluation of locations, adding that “It appears to be a ‘cooked up’ document to support a premeditated relocation of the Deep Seaport to Ibeno.”
AKWA IBOM STATE GOVERNMENT’S EXPLANATION AND ASSURANCES
The officials of the Akwa Ibom State Government, during the meeting, had explained to the stakeholders of Oron nation how the present site of Ibom Deep Seaport project was arrived at emphasizing that the entire development was not swayed by political undercurrents as suspected by the people of Oron nation.
During her presentation, the Chairperson of the Technical Committee on Ibom Deep Seaport, Barr. (Mrs.) Mfon Usoro, said her committee, following the inauguration in 2015, had received the Outline Business Case, OBS, on the project which was previously done and signed on October 15, 2014 at the time of Chief Godswill Akpabio’s administration.
According to Usoro, the location that was found in the approved OBS still remains the approved spot for the harbour, adding that “the government of Governor Udom Emmanuel has not changed it.”
She said her committee, through research, discovered that Akpabio’s administration had engaged Worley Parsons as well as MBTS of the Netherlands to do feasibility study and to come up with ideal location for the seaport project. The chairperson of the technical committee said far from politics, the two companies, which are internationally acclaimed engineering and port consultants, did a professional job and could not have dabbled into Akwa Ibom politics.
According to her, five potential locations considered for the project include Oron (location 5), Tom Shot (location 4), Okposo (location 3), West Point (location 2) and Seaside (location 1).
Mfon Usoro said out of five potential locations considered by these foreign port consultants, it was Seaside (location 1), which is the present project site near Unyenghe, that was appointed as the most favourable location for the Seaport project.
On how the site was chosen ahead of others, Usoro said Oron, which was marked location 5, was dropped because of its position outside the Industrial City zone.
She explained that Seaside scored +7, West Point had -3; Okposo and Tom Shot scored -2 and -11 respectively, and the result came out with an October 2014 date, noting that the location for the seaport was since determined during Godswill Akpabio’s administration and not this present government.
“I reiterate that the location of the seaport at where it is now was made by the previous administration, and it was approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria. We have nothing to do with it,” she said.
Speaking further, the chairperson disclosed that evaluation factors considered by the consultants for the choice of the site include technical compliance, development feasibility of the site, social impact, time to market, nautical access, environmental impact, opportunity, amongst others.
The Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, clarified that the approved site for the seaport project falls within unpopular fishing settlement at the shore of the Atlantic Ocean with proximity to Ibaka.
On why the state government chose to go with Ibom Deep Seaport instead of Ibaka Deep Seaport as the project name, Ekuwem said it is the policy of the state government to use ‘Ibom’ or ‘Akwa Ibom’ appellations to describe its projects, mentioning Ibom Power Plant, Ibom Specialist Hospital, Ibom Le Meridien Hotel and Golf Resort, Ibom Tropicana, Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic and so on as clear examples.
He said following personal clarification of the approved name for the project by Governor Udom Emmanuel, it had taken him over 17 occasions to explain to Oro indigenes the rationale behind the name preference.
The Secretary to the State Government assured Oro nation that name-change would not stop them from benefiting from numerous socio-economic opportunities that would come with Ibom Deep Seaport and Industrial City on completion.
He said besides Ibom Industrial City, Oro nation will benefit from access roads to the seaport as new road will be constructed from Etebi-Enwang Road T-Junction to the harbor while a superhighway will take off from the seaport to Ibeno area.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOST COMMUNITIES
In his PowerPoint presentation during the April meeting, the Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport, Mr. Akan Okon, said it is expected that the Ibom Deep Seaport and industrial city, when operational, would produce up to 300,000 job opportunities, pointing that a lot of opportunities would open from construction stage to when the port would be operational. He was of belief that the projects would bring paradigm shift to the economy of Akwa Ibom State.
Okon noted that a major challenge that would likely face the indigenes host communities as well as the entire state is lack of basic maritime skills, calling on the people to be fully equipped with skills and position themselves in readiness before the port become operational.
“It is very important for us to strategically position ourselves so that we can take advantage of the opportunities that would come out from these projects.
“As we are all aware, in every profession and any trade, there are basic skills that you must have. Until you equip yourselves with those skills, you will not be marketable or get employment at the place. As a people, we begin now to update ourselves.
“For Ibom Deep Seaport, we should not wait until we commence operation before we update ourselves. As parents, my advice is that, we should send our children to learn courses that have relevance to maritime industry,” he said.
Mr. Akan Okon warned against the reoccurrence of the situation at the Victor Attah International Airport whereby over 50 pilots were needed to be recruited for the four aircrafts but the management could not get applicants from Akwa Ibom State because of lack of skills in aviation thus forcing the authority to consider people from other states. He enthused that at the Ibom Deep Seaport and Industrial City, there would be a lot of opportunities, adding that “As a people, we should prepare because at the end of the day it would be sad that we have this port running and we have people from other states coming to take over work here.”
The Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport further illustrated how job opportunities would be created in the areas of civil/structural, electrical, mechanical, and electronic engineering as well as information technology.
He also explained that jobs would also be available for the indigenes in the areas of administration, commerce, import and export businesses, crane operation, transportation, logistics and so on, saying it is a project that everyone should support.
WAY FORWARD?
While responding to the explanations by the delegation of the Akwa Ibom State Government at the end of the meeting, the President General of Oro Union, Bishop Effiong Ante, said the state government should ensure that Oro interest is accommodated and properly integrated in the Deep Seaport and Industrial City projects.
He regretted that a lot of people had already moved to Ibaka to acquire landed properties with the hope that the seaport project would be sited there given much publicity the last administration gave to Ibaka as the location for the project, stressing that what was known to be Ibaka Deep Seaport has now moved to Unyeghe and by extension to Ibeno.
The President General demanded that another meeting be scheduled as soon as possible to help get a technical committee from Oron nation to interact with the Akwa Ibom State Implementation Committee of the project to ascertain the true position of the matter.
A copy of a petition written by Oron Union to the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, was handed by Bishop Effiong Ante to the chairperson of the Technical Committee on Ibom Deep Seaport, Barr. (Mrs) Mfon Usoro. The petition, dated 15th March, 2021, was written against the relocation of the seaport from where the Union described as the natural harbour at Ibaka Bay to where they also termed as an artificial ocean created on land.
CONCLUSION
With all the opportunities expected to come with a functional Deep Seaport and industrial City to Akwa Ibomites and all Nigerians, stakeholders should not allow the determination of the location and naming of the project to be conditioned by variegated ethno-sectional interests; it should not also be allowed to be controlled by power politics with cynic manipulation to favour certain interests. It is time to fine-tune all interests and weave them together towards promoting the overall goal, ensuring that Akwa Ibom State succeed in having a world-class seaport and industrial city that would revolutionize the state’s economy, modernize the infrastructural setup, create jobs and transform Akwa Ibom to a popular maritime destination in Africa. Choice of location based on merit, coming as a result of accurate scientific finding and technological verification should be encouraged by all and sundry. All stakeholders should understand that the earlier the implementation of the project hit the ground running, the closer we are to the realization of dream of this laudable project.
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