Southeast seaport key to ending Lagos gridlock – Igbo Community President

Southeast seaport key to ending Lagos gridlock – Igbo Community President

BY OLAIDE SHITTU

ABUJA — The Igbo Community Association, FCT, has renewed its call for the federal government to approve a seaport in Nigeria’s southeast and upgrade existing ports in the Niger Delta to ease the severe congestion affecting Lagos ports.

The association argued that a seaport closer to the southeast, an active hub for international trade, would reduce logistical bottlenecks, lower business costs, and boost economic growth, framing it as a strategic move for the country.

The proposal highlighted Lagos’ Apapa area, where port activity has pushed population density to 8,172 people per square kilometre—far above the national average of 261. In contrast, the south-south region records 253, while the southeast stands at 1,800.

In a statement signed by Engr Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe, President General of the Igbo Community Association, FCT, the group emphasised that redistributing maritime resources would decongest Lagos and improve trade efficiency, especially given the southeast’s dependence on Lagos ports.

“The statement reads, “The tenets of democracy support an equitable spread of infrastructural development across the regions of Nigeria.

“It even makes for a good business decision to house the seaport closer to the source and facilitators of the international trade activities. This over-focus on the seaports in Lagos has become counterproductive and a tad nepotistic. It only makes economic sense to refocus the resources of the ministry of maritime and blue economy to decongesting that already congested Lagos.

“ICA FCT is proposing for the Tinubu administration to begin aggressive consultation with experts to develop the working plans for a seaport in the south east.

“ICA FCT is calling on all South East based Unions and organisations to join in this push. There is a need not to continue to feed to the perception of South East being marginalized by the Federal government of Nigeria. It is not only morally right, it’s good business practice for the country.

“The south east and the Igbo speaking areas of Nigeria are equal partners in the Nigeria project. We should be treated as Nigerians that we are. Housing of a Seaport in the south east will definitely wither down the urge for agitation to a significant minimum.”