A’Ibom Targets 50,000 Jobs At Ibaka Port

Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, is pushing for a deep sea port.

Well placed government functionaries told our correspond ent on telephone on Tuesday, that the governor was looking at making Akwa Ibom a major player in the country’s evolving maritime industry.

To though the Ibaka Deep Sea Port Governor Akpabio is hoping that not less than 50, 000 citizens  will be gainfully employed.

He has expressed the determination of his administration to partner with the Federal and Government towards the realisation of the Ibaka port project in Mbo Local Government Area of the state.

As a demonstration of his determination, Akpabio has promised to provide the necessary infrastructure for the smooth take off of the project.

He made this known in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city,  when he handed over the Certificate of Occupancy for the 5,129 hectares of land and the master plan of the project to the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Alhaji Omar Suleiman.

The governor, said the presentation of the certificate was a giant step towards the building of a second functional sea port in Nigeria.

According to Governor Akpabio, “the water depth in Ibaka stands at about 17 metres without dredging. This has given Nigeria an opportunity to take advantage of the water depth to build a viable sea port that could compete with any other international sea port around the world’’.

The governor, however, cautioned leaders not to subscribe to what he described as   ‘’ethnocentric development’’, noting that Nigeria is in dire need of economic revolution and called for a complete renaissance in the way things are done if the economic future must be secured.

Continuing, he said, ‘’from the history in the archives of the NPA, it is clear that this is not the first time the federal government has realised the inherent potential in Ibaka as a deep sea port, but successive administrations had not taken advantage of this potential’’, and accordingly commended President Goodluck Jonathan for his initiative towards the project.

The governor also cautioned that there could be a revolution if the issue of youth unemployment is not seriously tackled. “One of the greatest problems we would have in this country would be an implosion if we don’t take the right economic steps because of the millions of graduates who are churned out yearly. A time would come when there would be an internal revolution if we don’t take the right steps now. Part of what we should do is what we are doing now,” he said.

He said the vision of his administration was to make Ibaka a maritime hub to serve the Gulf of Guinea and reiterated his resolve to provide the enabling environment for the realisation of the project.

Reacting on behalf of the federal government, the Managing Director of NPA, Alhaji Omar Suleiman, who described Governor Akpabio as “Infrastructure Governor” said the Federal Government was glad to partner with Akwa Ibom State Government in Ibaka. He noted that the natural advantage of Ibaka and the excellent road network in Akwa Ibom State would provide the needed impetus for the project.