Ibaka Bay had since the Colonial Administration been established as an oceanic formation with a stable deep depth suitable for the development of deep sea facilities at minimal cost for dredging.
In the 1970s when the Federal Government of Nigeria wanted to build a Sea Port in the South Eastern flank of the country, feasibility studies recommended Ibaka Bay as the most suitable location. Unfortunately, a regrettable political influence caused the Port to be built in Calabar at a location up the Cross River.
The huge cost of Channel Dredging has rendered the Calabar Port operationally unviable. In the early 1990s when most of the Nation’s hydrocarbon reserves were found in the offshore and deep offshore terrain which would require numerous FPSOs to exploit, the Federal Government of Nigeria contemplated the development of a deep sea facility for integration of FPSOs in Nigeria. A Technical Team established only Ibaka in Akwa Ibom State and Amasoma in Bayelsa State as most suitable locations in Nigeria for such a deep sea facility with Ibaka being more preferred.
Ibaka Bay had therefore long gained popularity and global attention as the best location in Nigeria with a natural deep draft suitable for the development of a Deep Sea Facility. This was what motivated Obong Victor Attah, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State(1999 -2007) to conceptualize the development of a Deep Sea Port at Ibaka to take advantage of Ibaka Bay with a natural draft of about 13.5 meters which has remained stable for many decades. The Government of Akwa Ibom State then, commissioned an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies for the suitability of the Deep Seaport at Ibaka. The EIA studies was diligently carried out, Ibaka location approved and the EIA Report for Ibaka Deep Seaport registered by the Ministry of Environment. Approval was given by the Federal Government of Nigeria for the development of Ibaka Deep Sea Port and appropriation of N10billion was approved by the National Assembly in the 2012 Budget of NPA as equity contribution of the Federal Government of Nigeria to kick start the Ibaka Deep Sea Port project.
Because of the global interest generated by Ibaka Deep Sea Port, in 2015, a group of both Local and International Researchers conducted further studies on Ibaka Bay to establish the effects of dredging approach Navigational Channels to Ibaka Bay on the hydrodynamic stability of the Bay. Their findings, in a publication titled “Navigational Channel Depth For Ibaka Deep Seaport in Nigeria” was presented during “Dredging Summit and Expo 2015” of Western Dredging Association and Texas A&M University Center for Dredging Studies. The publication made far reaching conclusions which puts Ibaka again far superior to any other location in the region for a Deep Sea Port.
The attempt by the current Government of Akwa Ibom State under the leadership of Mr Udom Gabriel Emmanuel to relocate Ibaka Deep Sea Port from Ibaka to any other location is politics taken too far. The attempt is chauvinistic, illogical, insensitive and violates all dimensions of rationality. Udom Emmanuel has been accused of sitting nearly all his touted Industries in Akwa Ibom State near his community. To want to relocate an Internationally recognized Ibaka Deep Sea Port because he wants it to be near his community is an extreme case of clannishness.
Ibeno where Udom Emmanuel wants to relocate Ibaka Deep Sea Port to is heavily encumbered. Ibeno has the biggest Gas Flare site in Nigeria with immediate air corrosive pollutants having negative impacts on the maintenance cycles of equipment and structures. Ibeno also has one of the largest Crude Oil storage Tank Farms in Nigeria with a cluster of Subsea Pipelines delivering crude oil from various Oil Wells to the Tank Farm and transporting Crude from the Tank Farm to SPM loading terminal off the coast of Ibeno for export. Ibeno coast is a known Sand Beach with a shallow draft exposed to frequent Ocean Surge depositing sediments around the coast. It is therefore unimaginable for any sane person to contemplate the relocation of Ibaka Deep Sea Port from Ibaka Bay to Ibeno coast. If the relocation is allowed to happen, the case of the Deep Sea Port will be worse than that of the Calabar Port which has become a white elephant protect.
Flowing from above, interested investors are hereby advised to strongly object to the relocation of the Deep Sea Port from Ibaka where it was originally planned for. They should Ignore any fraudulent Consultancy Report procured to support such disastrous relocation. A Deep Sea Port at Ibaka will be built and maintained at minimal cost. A Deep Sea Port at Ibeno will be built and maintained at humongous cost. Nobody makes foolish investment decisions in this 21st century where competition is high.
The post IBAKA DEEP SEA PORT RELOCATION INVESTORS BEWARE appeared first on Champion Newspapers Limited.