Worry over benefits of seaport to you, rather than location- Gov. Udom’s CoS to Community

Chief of Staff to Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, Akparawa Ephraim Inyang-Enyen, has advised the people of Oro nation and other indigenes to channel their energy on how to exploit the economic opportunities the Ibom Deep Seaport would generate, instead of focusing on the part of the state, the Seaport would be located.

The Federal Government had recently given a licence to Akwa Ibom state for the construction of the deep seaport.

The project was initially proposed to be sited in Ibaka, Mbo local government but was later moved to Ibeno based on ‘viability and accessibility, the state government had explained.

But the community where the project was initially proposed to be sited had continued to agitate for the reversal of the decision insisting that the government’s latest decision was politically motivated to shortchange and marginalize them.

The Chief of Staff to the governor, however, in a chat with Correspondents in the state on Wednesday said the people should look into the future and see how to exploit the opportunities the Deep Seaport will bring adding that the location of the project may not make an impact on their lives.

The former Works Commissioner who hinted that the construction of a deep seaport does not take less than five years urged parents to start preparing their children by sending them to read related courses in school so that when the opportunity comes, they would be quickly absorbed noting that, ’employment into strategic offices would be based on expertise and not indigenous.

He said, “quarrelling about the location of the deep seaport should not be the issue. What should matter to us is how to benefit from the project? look into the future. See, even if you put the project in someone’s backyard. People from other states who have foresight will still come and take the resources to their land you want to tell me that if the deep seaport is at Mbo and I have the resources to operate the logistics of that seaport that I won’t do it? do you think that Mbo people will tell me to take my truck away if they don’t have any?

“When this seaport comes, custom will give licence to Nigerians irrespective of the ethnic group and how are our people working towards that? How are we building structures to take advantage of that seaport? how many people in our localities are using their little money to build a house so that during the construction people will see where to rent?

“The way it stands, less than 3.0% of our people are ready to exploit the opportunity. It is one thing to have these facilities, it is another thing to use them.”

Inyang-Enyen recalled that a similar scenario played out during the construction of Ibom Air saying that the indigenes never prepared to take over strategic positions even being aware when the construction of the airport was ongoing but were complaining that they were not employed.

“Ibom air was in the air since 2016, manifested in 2019 how many of our people took time to raise money to send their children to school to become pilots? When the airline came, some outsiders were employed as pilots how many of our people were in the aviation industry outside Mfon Udom, the MD and the few others and then our people began to scream, oh they should have recruited us if they recruit me, Ephraim Inyang and you board the aeroplane and you see me as your pilot, will you fly that airplane? Because I’ve not been trained as a pilot. Will you say out of sentiment let you board the aircraft?

“So what we should rather be worried about now is that seaport will come to fruition eventually, what we should be worried about now is how are we getting ready, positioning ourselves to take the advantages and opportunities therein? How are we projecting into the future? The federal government has given the licence, it will be built but a little slow.

Construction of a seaport is not a tea party, many investors who indicated an interest in the seaport later lost interest when there was a long delay but His Excellency the governor is working seriously to get investors back and any moment from now it will start, but to construct a seaport will not take less than five years it’s not road construction.

“MRO is coming and you will still see outsiders coming to take up key positions. In such thing we need experts, it is not an indigenous business but expert business and I tell you if an expert is having green, a yellow-black colour he will have it and they will pay him well and he will take the money to his land while we are here complaining, we have to wake up and do enlightenment to our people such that they will take advantage of this deep seaport rather than talking about the location or whether the deep seaport will come to fruition or not.” Inyang-Enyen insisted.

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