Tinubu Fags Off Bakassi Deep Seaport, Says Project Will Redefine Nigeria’s Maritime Economy 

* Otu hails historic milestone; Oyetola projects massive investment

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has described the groundbreaking of the Bakassi Deep Seaport as a defining milestone in Nigeria’s economic diversification, saying it was a strategic national investment. 

Represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, at the ceremony in Bakassi on Friday, November 13, 2026, the president said the port would open new commercial corridors, stimulate industrialisation and create jobs. 

He commended Governor Bassey Edet Otu and the people of Cross River for sustaining the vision and advancing it towards actualisation.

Tinubu recalled that the project was conceived in 2014, with an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment developed in March 2015, before receiving renewed impetus under Otu. 

Designed as a 20-metre-draft facility, the port is expected to accommodate large vessels that currently bypass Nigerian ports. It is also linked to a 260-kilometre superhighway to move cargo to markets across the country.

He credited Otu’s determination with helping 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.

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 per cent 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: “When Calabar works, Nigeria works on two legs.” 

The president said Nigeria had not fully exploited its Gulf of Guinea coastline, while neighbouring countries benefited from trade Nigerian ports could attract. 

The Bakassi project, he maintained, would help retain regional cargo, expand international market access and strengthen the country’s maritime competitiveness.

Tinubu further observed that roughly 90 per cent of cargo moves by sea, yet Nigeria handles only a fraction of regional cargo trade despite its economic weight in West Africa. 

The port, he said, would help close that gap, reduce dependence on a single gateway and position the country to capture a greater share of maritime commerce.

He acknowledged the territorial and economic losses Cross River suffered following the Bakassi peninsula ruling and the loss of oil revenue, but said these setbacks had 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.

The state governor, Senator Bassey Otu, in his speech, 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. 

Lauding Tinubu for guiding the state through the processes leading to the Certificate of Compliance and final federal approval, Otu described him as “a bastion of economic diversification and social equity.” 

He recalled Calabar’s long maritime heritage, saying the new facility would reinforce Cross River’s established littoral status, adding that the project’s approval and delivery demonstrated the value of cooperation between the federal and state governments.

The governor said the state had completed preparatory work, including an Environmental Impact Assessment and hydrographic, geotechnical and geophysical surveys, and secured federal approvals. 

The project is to be delivered through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, with an initial funding approval of $2.27 billion. 

He said logistics, trade, fishing, shipping, tourism and shipbuilding would benefit, positioning Cross River as a Gulf of Guinea maritime hub. The surveys, he added, exposed flaws in the 1903 navigational charts, which the Federal Government replaced on October 1, 2026, affirming the state’s littoral status.

Otu disclosed that selected Cross Riverians were undergoing specialised training for construction and operational roles, with knowledge transfer planned. 

He pointed to the state’s three-way economic corridor—the airport, seaport and Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway—to facilitate cargo movement and attract investors. 

He invited investors in maritime and related industries to take advantage of the project’s prospects and the state’s investment-friendly environment, including a one-stop investment hub and tax incentives. 

He described the economic possibilities as boundless and called on development partners to help build a resilient economy.

In his goodwill remarks, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Gboyega Oyetola, praised Tinubu’s efforts to unlock Nigeria’s maritime potential, citing the creation of the ministry in 2023 and approval of the country’s first National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy. 

Oyetola disclosed that revenue generated by agencies under the ministry rose from N700.79 billion in 2023 to N1.83 trillion in 2025, attributing the increase to improved revenue assurance and the closure of leakages. 

He also cited the elimination of piracy in Nigerian waters, approval for modernisation of the six legacy seaports, stronger port governance through the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Act, and Nigeria’s election to the decision-making Council of the International Maritime Organization after almost two decades.

He also cited the lifting of United States Coast Guard restrictions on Nigerian-bound vessels in August 2026, release of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund to shipowners and growth in fish production from 1.1 million to 1.4 million tonnes. 

He said Bakassi would improve market access and create industrial, investment and employment opportunities. Its integration with the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, he stressed, would enhance commercial viability and extend benefits across Cross River, the South-south and the wider Nigerian economy.

Oyetola pledged the ministry’s support for a modern, efficient and environmentally sustainable port. He described the seaport as an important instrument for translating Nigeria’s maritime advantages into sustainable growth.

The minister said the groundbreaking marks a shift in Nigeria’s maritime geography, offering Cross River the prospect of converting its coastal location and heritage into investment, jobs and sustained economic activity, while helping Nigeria diversify its economy, ease pressure on existing ports and strengthen its role in regional trade.