…as governor blames ethnic group for stalling seaport project
By Ubong Sampson – Uyo
Chairman of Oron Nation Technical Committee on Ibaka Deep Seaport, Engr Okon Nkpubre has accused the incumbent administration of Udom Emmanuel of being unfair and insensitive to Oro nation and its people.
Nkpubre aired his accusations in reaction to a statement credited to Governor Emmanuel during a media chat, in which he blamed the Oro people for the stalled progress of the Ibom deep seaport.
The governor was quoted to have said, “the problem we have with Ibom Deep Seaport is that the people of Oro wrote a lot of petitions. Anybody entering plane to Akwa Ibom says he’s going to Uyo, not Uruan or Nsit Atai where the airport is located.
Ibom is a brand name we should enjoy brand equity from but they have written petitions and driven our investors away. If I leave office without achieving that project, hold them responsible, not me.”
Oro nation is a collection of the five Oro-speaking local government areas (Oron, Okobo, Mbo, Udung-Uko and Urue-offong Oruko) and the third largest ethnic group in Akwa Ibom after Ibibio and Anang.
Reacting, Nkpubre said the narrative by agents of the government that Oro Nation drove away investors from the seaport was false and deliberately cooked to give a wrong perception about Oro People in the eyes of the public.
According to Nkpubre, the government of Akwa Ibom state has been very unfair to Oro Nation and insensitive to the feelings of Oro people concerning the handling of Ibaka (Ibom) deep seaport and free trade zone projects, adding that of all the much talked about industrialisation of the state by the current administration, not even one of the industries is sited in any of the 5 LGAs of Oro.
It would be recalled that earlier, stakeholders of Oro had taken to the media space, protesting alleged attempts by the government to relocate the seaport from Ibaka in Mbo LGA to Ibeno LGA which presently hosts ExxonMobil’s QIC Terminal. This apparently was caused by suspicion prompted by the change of the seaport’s name from Ibaka to Ibom deep seaport.
However, in reaction, the government had denied having any intention to relocate the seaport.
Nkpubre has maintained that Oro Nation is not particularly averse to the rebranding of the seaport but vehemently against is its relocation from a location within Ibaka Bay, selected during due diligence studies as the best and preferred location, to a location rejected during the same due diligence studies, which according to him, will have the seaport being built in an artificial ocean as a dugout port.
He stressed, “it is alarming that a littoral State like Akwa Ibom, which is surrounded by water and endowed with Ibaka Bay Natural Harbour, would be contemplating to dig out an artificial ocean for a Deep Sea Port. This is nothing but the evil of ethnic discrimination in the siting of development infrastructures.
“Oron Nation deserves to be appreciated for maintaining the peace in the face of intense provocation due to blatant acts of discriminations by the government of Akwa Ibom state.
“For instance, Ibaka Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone (FTZ) was conceptualized to be in Mbo LGA of Oro Nation which produces the bulk of oil accruing to Akwa Ibom State.
“The Free Trade Zone was in the list of Free Trade Zones awaiting approval for about the past ten years. Later the whole world was told that Liberty Free Trade Zone was a NICKNAME for Ibaka Free Trade Zone. And when Ibaka FTZ was finally given approval, the name was changed to Liberty FTZ. But, with utmost impunity and insensitivity to the feelings of Oro People, not even an inch of the area previously covered by Ibaka FTZ is included in Liberty FTZ.
“Not even one LGA of Oro Nation including Mbo, which was the host of Ibaka FTZ, is included in the 6 LGAs covered by Liberty FTZ. One may ask, why is Liberty FTZ not branded Ibom FTZ?
“It would be recalled that it was Udom Emmanuel that the then Governor Godswill Akpabio used to deny Oro Nation her turn to produce the Governor of the state in 2015.
“One would have expected that Udom Emmamuel, after becoming governor in the place of an Oro person, would be more sensitive to the plight of Oro people. But the reverse is the case. This is a classic case of adding salt to injury.
“We must be reminded that there is a God above who unquestionably presides over the affairs of men. Therefore men should desist from acting as if they were God” Nkpubre concluded
