*Akwa Ibom indigenes express disappointment over apparent abandonment of over 20-year-old Seaport dream
By Ime Silas and Ronke Akase
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured investors of regulatory clarity and full federal backing for the takeoff of a $7 billion Gateway Deep Seaport and Blue Marine Special Economic Zone in Ogun State, South West Nigeria, a development that has reignited disappointment in Akwa Ibom State over the continued limbo of the Ibom Deep Seaport project conceived over 20 years ago.
The President gave the assurance in Paris, France, on Wednesday, September 24, 2026, at the signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between the Ogun State Government and DP World, one of the world’s leading ports and logistics operators, for the development of the Ogun State projects.
The State House Press Release signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, stated that Governor Dapo Abiodun led the Ogun delegation which included the Secretary to the State Government, Tokunbo Talabi, Commissioners and host community representatives.
Also present were Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, Nigeria’s Ambassador to France, Emmanuel Ayodele Oke, NPA MD, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, Group CEO of DP World, Yuvraj Narayan, MD of SkyKapital, Karim Noujaim, and Senior Vice President, Business Development, Sub-Saharan Africa, DP World, Mohammed Rashid Ismail.
President Tinubu described the Ogun projects as bringing together vision, expertise, capital and execution capacity, and assured that the Federal Government would facilitate road, rail and power connectivity, strengthen investment security and remove bureaucratic obstacles.
“These agreements envisage an initial investment of more than $7 billion in the Nigerian economy. At full development, the projects are projected to create more than 50,000 direct jobs and many additional indirect opportunities, while generating substantial non-oil export earnings.
“This is economic diversification made tangible. This is industrialisation made visible. This is Renewed Hope in action. I commend Governor Dapo Abiodun for securing the land, structuring the investment framework and reducing project risks for global investors.
“This is cooperative federalism as envisaged by our Constitution: subnational vision supported by federal facilitation,” Tinubu said.
The President explained that the proposed Gateway Deep Seaport at Ogun Waterside with a four-kilometre berth and 18-metre draft will decongest the Lagos port corridor, ease pressure on Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, accommodate larger vessels and serve as a gateway for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market of 1.4 billion people.
The Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone is proposed on 10,000 hectares.
But just as the Presidency rolls out the red carpet for Ogun, stakeholders in Akwa Ibom State have expressed deep disappointment over what they describe as the apparent abandonment of the Ibom Deep Seaport (IDSP) project, which was conceived over two decades ago during the administration of former Governor Victor Attah.
The Ibom Deep Seaport, located in Ibaka, Mbo Local Government Area, was envisioned as a deep draft port with natural depth of over 18 metres, capable of berthing super post-Panamax vessels without dredging, unlike most ports in Nigeria. It was designed to be the flagship maritime hub for West and Central Africa, with an integrated Industrial City, and was granted Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval, Outline Business Case (OBC) and Full Business Case (FBC) compliance, as well as a 50-year concession.
Successive Akwa Ibom governments from Attah to Godswill Akpabio and Udom Emmanuel spent billions of naira on consultancy, preliminary works, community engagements and international roadshows to market the port. The project was at various times listed as a top priority by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
However, over 20 years after its conception, not a single berth has been constructed, while the site has remained largely fallow, with only clearing and access road works to show.
In contrast, analysts who privy to what they described as ‘port politics’, noted that the Ogun project, which is only just signing its MoU in Paris, is already receiving presidential guarantees of road, rail and power connectivity, including linkage to the 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, with the 28-kilometre Ogun section scheduled for completion before the end of 2026, as well as proximity to the proposed Nigerian Navy Operating Base and OK LNG Project.
A maritime stakeholder in Uyo, who pleaded anonymity, said: “We are happy for Ogun State, but Akwa Ibom people have every reason to feel neglected. Ibom Deep Seaport has everything Ogun is promising – deep draft, large berth, free trade zone, oil and gas corridor. We have natural depth that Ogun Waterside does not have without massive dredging. Yet Ogun is getting presidential assurance of takeoff, while Ibom is still in MoU and committee stage after 20 years.”
Stakeholders have also argued that the takeoff of Ibom Deep Seaport would have solved the unemployment and underdevelopment bedeviling the coastal communities of Akwa Ibom State in particular, and the adjourning states in general.
They called on President Tinubu to extend the same “cooperative federalism” and regulatory facilitation granted to Ogun State to Akwa Ibom State, to ensure that Ibom Deep Seaport finally moves from pipeline to port.
President Tinubu in his Paris speech said Nigeria lies at the heart of West African trade, but its advantage has been constrained by port congestion, inadequate draft capacity and logistics bottlenecks.
Observers in Akwa Ibom say that is exactly the problem Ibom Deep Seaport was designed to solve, and wonder why it remains in limbo while new ports are being greenlit elsewhere.
For many in the South-South state, the Paris signing ceremony is a reminder that Ibom Deep Seaport, once described as the “port of the future”, now needs urgent political will to become the port of the present.
