The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, on Friday appealed to the federal government to support the construction of a natural deep seaport in the state. The governor said the Ibom Deep Seaport Project (IDSP) which is to be constructed on a 14,400-hectare site will contribute immensely to the economy of the state and the nation.
Speaking in Abuja at the launch of the biography of the late Clement Isong, the second indigenous governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Emmanuel said ”all the state need is just the approval of the federal government as it has investors who are ready to invest”.
“The major gateway to industrialise any place on planet earth is what God has created naturally, water, road. Except we fix them, you are not creating access,” he said.
According to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), a federal agency overseeing the project, the IDSP project is intended to become a major national and regional economic gateway that will provide additional container handling capacity for the country.
Mr Emmanuel accredited the rise in criminal activities to the growing number of frustrated unemployed graduates in the nation. He said the project could provide employment to a minimum of 5000 youth at the construction stage.
“We want to see how we can also be the hub of logistics, of services, where people can connect to the economy of the south region from Akwa Ibom State,” he said.
A former governor of the state, Victor Attah, was also at the event to honour the former CBN Governor who held the office during the Nigerian Civil War and during the subsequent oil boom.
Mr Attah said the deceased lived a life of integrity, discipline, public service and a tremendous accomplishment.
The Executive Vice-Chairman of the board of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Udom Inoyo, described Mr Isong as an individual who understood what public service was all about.
“Service for the people and not to self, he brought professionalism into politics and promoted excellence in public administration,” he said.
The event, which was chaired by the chairman of the board of commissioners, Nigerian Communications Commission, Olabiyi Durojaiye, had in attendance the wife of Mr Isong, Nne Isong, and his first son, Nyong Isong.