The African Action Congress (AAC) governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Iboro Otu has pledged to revert to the hitherto known Ibaka Deep Seaport conceived more than 20 years ago by making its implementation, a priority, if elected.
The project which is located in Mbo Local Government Area of the state and initialed by ex-Governor Victor Attah due to its 13.5 metres depth of the project was later renamed Ibom Deep Seaport to be owned by the Federal Government through Nigerian Ports Authority.
In an interview with Straightnews team in his Ewet Housing Estate residence, Uyo, Mr. Otu, who is also an ICT entrepreneur, said ‘‘On the Ibaka Deep Seaport signature project, I’ve been receiving a lot of concerns and interests in my position on the above mentioned topic after the governorship debate about my position on the signature project. My position remains that this great project will employ a lot of people, especially the people of Ibaka and Akwa Ibom.
Also read: Bakassi Deep Seaport Moves Ahead, Tames Ibaka
‘‘I, however, added that as a result of opportunity cost, the level of poverty and hopelessness in the state today hitting over 80% of the population, Akwa Ibom state doesn’t have the financial capital at the moment to plough into the deep seaport project and the science park project concurrently.
‘‘As such, my government will be prioritizing, short term projects that immediately will enable us create 100,000 jobs every year from year one. Like the science park, which will commence immediately we assume office, as we will utilize the 18 smart storey building and the e-library as the annexes, while we begin the construction of the main campus of the science park.’’
According to him, ‘‘Strategic investments in areas of Agriculture, Education, healthcare as itemized in my manifesto will add to the 100,000 job opportunities yearly.
‘‘Nevertheless, with the Ibaka Deep Seaport, we will support all federal government measures and investor appetite by providing all forms of support needed from my government to make the Ibaka Seaport project come to pass in the shortest possible time, albeit direct state financial commitment won’t be part of this support.’’
He explained ‘‘We should note that there are two components to this project: the Deep Seaport and the Ibaka Mega/Industrial City project. The Mega/Industrial City project, however, will be fully supported and part funded by the state government. The Ibaka Mega/Industrial City project will provide immediate, direct jobs, employment and city expansion opportunities for innovators and workers.
‘‘We should remember the Ibaka Deep Seaport has been going for a long time, over several governments and several billions of state funds invested in it without any meaningful result. At the moment, the way I see it is that it is a channel for siphoning/wasting funds we don’t have.’’
Otu stated ‘‘My government will take deliberate steps to direct the project until realistic and measurable investments are committed to it by the federal government, investors, technical partners and others, probably in a BOT format/arrangement. This is because we recognize that a working seaport in this region will be very beneficial to our nation.
‘‘However, we need other ecosystem infrastructure to be in place, from highways to security to production and manufacturing support within the region so this project can come to life and remain useful. Let’s assume that the seaport is ready today, Akwa Ibom doesn’t have the financial, manufacturing or export strength to be a major player. a
‘‘We will have to depend on our brothers and sisters from the South-East and South-West and other countries to use this port. But where are the trucking highways linking these states to ours? Where is the security? Where are the relevant local employable work experiences in this sector? These are the questions I want to answer as we build this project,’’ the governorship candidate queried.
On empowerment of the indigenes of the immediate community, he emphasized the need to empower the people to industrialise and these questions will be answered when the Mega/Industrial city component of the project. The Ibaka Deep Seaport is also very important to the Oro nation and I will make sure it comes to pass.
I will make sure the head of the Ibaka Deep Seaport will be from the Oro Nation so the people can have a sense of ownership and belonging. I hope I wasn’t misunderstood? Two minutes of speaking time was too short to express myself adequately. I am very proud of the Oro nation and their capabilities in several sectors especially in the seafood business.
Commenting on the expenditure profile of the state, he said ‘‘I want to reset the capital expenditure per location format of Akwa Ibom State, presently, in the 2023 budget. Taking the Eket Senatorial District, for example, one quickly notices that the Oro nation combined has less than N2 billion of capital expenditure allocated to them; whereas Eket Local Government Area has N8 billion, Onna N15 billion, and Ikot Abasi N6.2 billion. This isn’t fair. Uyo Local Government Area has N94 billion; Nsit Ubium N14.5 billion while Nsit Ibom has just 207 million. We can do better. And like I said, Local government Autonomy holds another important key to unlocking development funds where needed.’’
Speaking on the security infractions, he observed ‘‘Unfortunately, Ibaka as we speak is being terrorised, the fishing community is being hounded by sea pirates and their boats taken from them for ransom. We will support the communities and support their businesses through our Youth Development Fund and Agricultural Fund so foreign ownership of 90 per cent of businesses will be reduced to a minimum. There is no reason why seafood should be more expensive in Uyo market than in Adamawa.
The Ibom Science Park, which will commence and come to life from day one of our resumption of office, will have both the 18-storey building and the e-library as satellite campuses until we build the main campus. It will be the foundation of revenue generation for Akwa Ibom in the near future.
It will employ 20,000 jobs directly and contribute 30 per cent of our IGR by 2027 and by 2031 contribute over 60 per cent of our IGR and create over 50,000 jobs directly. My conversation with H.E., Obong Attah on this project has been very extensive and exclusive. He got the idea from the Taiwanese Science Park which I have visited for three months to understudy.
I am also presently in talks with the Taiwanese government through the consulate in Nigeria on possible partnerships between both our tech business communities. I believe we can start this partnership as soon as the end of the year. This is the future- digital money- Digital export in services and products.
Tourism, Nollywood, the creative and cultural industry holds another key to unlocking great employment, innovation and financial opportunities for our young people. I have itemized our plans in my manifesto. As an expert in the field alongside a Deputy Government known globally as a major player in the sector, we look to make our coastlines overlooking the Atlantic as a destination of choice for tourism and filmmaking.
Oro nation has many opportunities and possibilities for development. We have great tourism sites across the state, my government looks at this opportunity as low-hanging fruits, the natural components are already freely in place. We will put in capital to promote tourism and local content development so we can compete in regional and international film, music and fashion festivals.
We will provide ecosystem support and put Akwa Ibom music and film industry on the global map, create jobs for talents and our young people, my relevant industry experience speaks for itself like I successfully did with attracting investment into the Nigerian entertainment industry in the first ever industry ecosystem-wide support project I pioneered with the World Bank in 2009, a 300 million dollars GEMS (Growth Enterprise in Markets and States) project.
My government will be about human capital development and our targeted intervention in the areas of Healthcare, Agriculture, Science and Technology, Tourism, the creative and cultural industries and Education will create 100,000 direct jobs every year,’’ he added.
