By Edet Ikotiden

The conversation around the proposed Ibom Deep Sea Port has largely been presented as a symbol of development, ambition and economic transformation. Nobody should oppose development for its own sake.

Does Akwa Ibom Really Need a Deep-Sea Port Now?

But development also requires asking difficult questions: What exactly will the port serve? Where are the industries that will use it? What cargo will it handle? And what economic activities will sustain it when the excitement of commissioning is over?

Akwa Ibom should therefore have a serious conversation about whether its immediate priority should be a deep-sea port or a functioning industrial and commercial ecosystem capable of making such a port viable.

The Question We Must Ask Before Building

The state government’s own documents describe the proposed project as part of a much larger industrial strategy.

The planned port is associated with the proposed Ibom Industrial City and a Free Trade Zone, while the state’s industrialisation roadmap acknowledges that sustainable industrial take-off requires entrepreneurs, skilled workers, infrastructure, power and utilities.

That raises the fundamental question: should the port come before the industries, or should industries and cargo-generating businesses be developed alongside it?

Lagos offers an important lesson as Lagos did not become Nigeria’s commercial capital simply because it had a deep-sea port. The Lagos Port Complex was established in 1913, with construction of its first four deep-water berths beginning in 1921. Its development was closely connected to the railway and the growing commercial economy around Lagos.

The Nigerian Ports Authority’s own history is revealing. Port Harcourt, for example, was developed in connection with the discovery of coal in Enugu and the railway infrastructure needed to transport coal for export. In other words, cargo-generating economic activity helped justify port development.

Akwa Ibom needs to ask whether it has built enough of that economic foundation.

A port is not an industry, this is where the public debate needs to become more practical.

A deep-sea port can provide enormous opportunities, but a port does not automatically create factories, exporters or manufacturers. Ships need cargo. Containers need to be filled. Warehouses need goods. Trucks and railways need freight. Exporters need products.

If Akwa Ibom imports more than it exports, a major port could become predominantly an import gateway, rather than the industrial engine many people imagine.

What will Akwa Ibom export through the port in large volumes?

Palm products? Agricultural commodities? Manufactured goods? Petrochemicals? Machinery? Processed foods? Industrial equipment? If the answer is that these industries will emerge after the port is constructed, then the state must demonstrate a credible plan for making that happen.

The government’s 2026 Business Enabling Reform Action Plan actually identifies expansion of the state’s industrial base as an objective and links it to areas including the Ibom Deep Seaport, agriculture and Ibom Industrial Park.

That suggests industrialisation and the port should be viewed as interconnected projects, not the port as a substitute for industrialisation.

The biggest concern is not that a deep-sea port is inherently bad. It is that a very expensive piece of infrastructure can become underutilised if the economic activities required to support it do not materialise.

A port requires continuous expenditure on dredging, security, navigation, maintenance, equipment, roads, rail connections, customs infrastructure, warehouses, power and other supporting facilities.

And the port will compete for cargo with established facilities elsewhere.

The Nigerian Ports Authority already lists Lagos Port Complex, Tin Can Island and other port facilities, while Lekki Deep Sea Port has added another major deep-water facility in Lagos.

Therefore, Akwa Ibom cannot simply say, “We need a deep-sea port because Lagos has one.”

The better question is: what competitive economic advantage will make shipping companies, importers, exporters and manufacturers choose Ibom?

Perhaps Akwa Ibom needs to reverse the order of the conversation.

Also Read: Beyond Speeches: How Eno’s 39 Project Inaugurations are Changing Akwa Ibom

Before celebrating the port, the state should aggressively pursue industrial estates, manufacturing companies, agro-processing plants, petrochemical-related industries, export-oriented businesses, logistics companies, warehouses and large-scale commercial agriculture.

Power must also be reliable.

Roads must connect production centres to the port.

Rail infrastructure should eventually connect the port to major markets.

There must be a strong customs and logistics ecosystem.

And, most importantly, investors must have a reason to establish factories in Akwa Ibom.

The state’s own industrialisation roadmap recognises transportation, power, utilities, ICT and other infrastructure as conditions for industrial take-off.

The port should be the servant of the economy, not the economy itself

There is nothing wrong with dreaming big. Indeed, Akwa Ibom needs big economic ambitions.

But we must avoid the temptation to measure development by the size of concrete projects alone.

A deep-sea port without sufficient cargo is infrastructure waiting for an economy.

An industrial economy with factories, exporters, agricultural processors and logistics companies, on the other hand, creates a natural reason for a port to exist.

The state government says the Ibom Deep Seaport has undergone feasibility work and is being advanced through a PPP-oriented process, with technical studies and investment discussions continuing. The same thing as guaranteed commercial success.

The real question for Akwa Ibom is therefore not “Do we want a deep-sea port?”

“What economic production will fill the ships, containers, warehouses and trucks when the port eventually opens?”

If the answer is convincing, then the port becomes part of a broader economic strategy.

If the answer is unclear, perhaps the state should first build the industries, strengthen agriculture, attract manufacturers, improve power, develop logistics and create an export economy—and then ensure the port is built to serve that proven demand.

Akwa Ibom does not merely need a port. It needs an economy capable of sustaining one.