President Bola Tinubu says the Bakassi Deep Seaport in Cross River State would open new commercial corridors, stimulate industrialisation and create jobs.
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Key Highlights
- Tinubu, represented by VP Kashim Shettima, performed the groundbreaking of the Bakassi Deep Sea Port in Calabar on Friday.
- The 20-metre-draft port will be linked to a 260-kilometre superhighway.
- Governor Bassey Otu helped secure a $3.5 billion Afreximbank financing arrangement.
- Tinubu said the port will complement, not undermine, Lagos.
- More than 80 percent of Nigeria’s foreign trade currently passes through Lagos.
It is a defining milestone in Nigeria’s economic diversification and a strategic national investment, Tinubu said in Calabar, while performing the groundbreaking ceremony of the Bakassi Deep Sea Port on Friday.
Represented by his Vice President Kashim Shettima, Tinubu said the port is expected to accommodate large vessels that currently bypass Nigerian ports and is also linked to a 260-kilometre superhighway to move cargo to markets across the country.
Tinubu recalled that the project was conceived in 2014, with an environmental and social impact assessment developed in March 2015, before receiving renewed impetus and designed as a 20-metre-draft facility.
He credited Governor Bassey Otu’s determination which helped to overcome institutional and financial obstacles, including efforts to secure a $3.5 billion Afreximbank financing arrangement and formalise the PPP framework in February 2025.
“This is beyond a Cross River dream. It is a Nigerian project. It is a poverty breaker,” he declared.
‘Lagos is not our enemy’
He stressed that the port would complement, not undermine, Lagos. “Lagos is not our enemy. Lagos is our elder brother in trade. No country eats with one hand. No country carries all its loads on one shoulder. That shoulder will break,” he said.
More than 80 percent of Nigeria’s foreign trade, he noted, passes through Lagos, contributing to congestion and rising costs.
A second major maritime gateway, he argued, would strengthen the national economy, adding that “when Calabar works, Nigeria works on two legs.”
Tinubu said Nigeria has not fully exploited its Gulf of Guinea coastline, while neighbouring countries benefited from trade Nigerian ports could attract, adding that the Bakassi project will help retain regional cargo, expand international market access and strengthen the country’s maritime competitiveness.
Tinubu further observed that roughly 90 percent of cargo moves by sea, yet Nigeria handles only a fraction of regional cargo trade despite its economic weight in West Africa.
He explained that the port will help close that gap, reduce dependence on a single gateway and position the country to capture a greater share of maritime commerce.
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‘Not the end of your story’
He acknowledged the territorial and economic losses Cross River State suffered following the Bakassi peninsula ruling and the loss of oil revenue, but said these setbacks have not diminished the people’s courage, hospitality or resilience.
“The peninsula was not the end of your story, but the beginning of your next chapter,” he declared, urging residents to protect the project from political interference and regard it as an inheritance for future generations.
Governor Bassey Otu hailed the groundbreaking and credited President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda with providing the decisive federal support that revived the project.
He said political, administrative, legal and environmental challenges had stalled implementation until Tinubu’s plan to expand and upgrade maritime corridors created a fresh opportunity for Cross River State.
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