Crisis rocks Ibom Deep Seaport over location, identification

Crisis of identity is rocking the Ibom Deep Seaport in Akwa Ibom State following disagreement over its location and proper identification barely two months after the Federal Government approved the port’s Full Business Case(FBC)

According to investigations, Oro Nation are engaging in squabbles over alleged relocation of the port’s gateway and the actual identity of the port, which should be known as Ibaka Deep Seaport and not Ibom Deep Seaport as proposed by the state government.

The Ibom Deep Seaport as presented by the state government covers Mbo and Ibeno local government areas in the southern senatorial district of Akwa Ibom State, known for their extensive coastlines and a pristine beach and maritime resources.

But the people of Oron community which covers five local government areas of the state, including Mbo have faulted the naming of the project as Ibom Deep Seaport and the extension of the project to Ibeno LGA, saying it is a well conceived plan to deny them the benefits of their God-given natural resources.

Accordingly, they have vowed to stall the commencement of the project unless the issue of the location and the name is addressed as they insist that the port should be located at Ibaka, which has a natural harbour and named Ibaka Deep Seaport, and not Ibom Deep Seaport.

Emem Benson, a lawyer and leading campaigner for the rejection of the present name of the project in a series of posts on his timeline said Oro people must reject the name Ibom Deep Seaport for the port at Ibaka giving examples of other ports in the country, their locations and how they are named.

“There have always been attempts by regional politicians to relocate the proposed Ibaka Deep Seaport to another location based on selfish political considerations.

“The least we expect from well-meaning politicians from Oron nation in particular and Akwa Ibom State in general is for them to be vociferously against this move,” he posted on his Facebook page

In a communiqué issued at the end of their emergency meeting, traditional rulers from the five local government areas that make up Oro nation, they urged the technical committee on the realization of the Ibom Deep Seaport to brief the Oro people on issues concerning the development of Ibaka Deep Seaport as soon as possible to douse the tension.

In addition, they frowned “seriously at any nocturnal meeting without proper consultations with strategic stakeholders of Oro Nation maintaining that they have not authorised any person or group of persons to sign any document or documents on behalf of Oro people, particularly on the purported relocation of the Ibaka Deep Sea Port to any part of the state and whosoever does that does it as his or her own peril.

Benson in an interview, noted that the people from Oro Nation asked for a committee to be set up to amplify their campaign against the relocation of the gateway of the port project from Ibaka in Mbo to Ibeno LGA, adding the move is part of the plan to further marginalize the people of the area.

He said: “It is a struggle; we are doing things for posterity, Oro people are not happy that they are being treated unfairly in the state. We are setting up a committee to draw the attention of the world to the plans to relocate the seaport from its original location in Ibaka in Mbo to Ibeno LGA, we want Ibaka Deep Seaport and nothing less,” he said.

Defending the naming of the seaport as Ibom Deep Seaport, Ini Ememobong, commissioner for Information and Strategy in an answer to a question said the seaport is not located in one particular area, adding that it is part of the Ibom Industrial City project which the state government intends to develop.

“The seaport is part of a development plan to help the entire stretch of the coastline and bring development further into the mainland. So, if all the communities, where the port stretches want their names on the project, then you can imagine the length of the name.

Akan Okon, Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport in a recent interaction had assured that the project given its economic benefits would bring about the rapid transformation of the region and solicited the support and cooperation of the people in the host communities.

CREDIT: #TheSouthernExaminer