?President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the $3.5 billion Bakassi Deep Seaport in Cross River State, describing the facility as a fiscal game-changer designed to position Nigeria as a leading hub for the blue economy while dismissing rumours that Abuja and the South-West opposed port development outside Lagos.
?Represented at the event by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the President declared that the administration was in Cross River not "to cut a ribbon and dance Ekpe masquerade," but to "break ground and break centuries-old jinx."
?"Many people believed this port would never happen. They said it would be a pipe dream. They said Bakassi would only be remembered for what we lost.
Today, we answer them with a shovel, with concrete, with steel, and with hope, a renewed hope that a dream deferred can become a dream actualised," he stated.
?Addressing claims that federal authorities and regional interests in Lagos or Abuja deliberately suppressed maritime infrastructure in other regions, President Tinubu rejected the notion of a regional monopoly and framed Lagos as a partner whose commercial success must be replicated across the country.
?"There is a rumour I hear in some corners. That the West, Lagos, or Abuja never wanted a port to work anywhere outside Lagos. If that were true, would I be standing here today with a shovel in my hand? Lagos is not our enemy," he said.
?"Lagos is our elder brother in trade. No country eats with one hand. No country carries all its load on one shoulder. That shoulder will break. When over 80% of our foreign trade flows through Lagos, and Lagos alone, that is not strength. That risks congestion: ships queueing, goods delayed, and prices rising in the markets of Calabar, Onitsha, and Maiduguri. The nationalist in me cannot stand that. This project is not against Lagos. It is for Nigeria. When Lagos is free, Nigeria breathes. When Calabar works, Nigeria walks on two legs."
?President Tinubu noted that the project revives an initiative first envisioned during the colonial era and re-engineered in 2014, with its Environmental and Social Impact Assessment completed in March 2015.
Engineered with a 20-metre draft to accommodate high-capacity vessels, the port is paired with a 260-kilometre superhighway to serve as an evacuation corridor linking cargo to the North, East, and West.
?"But like a canoe without a paddle, the idea drifted into the doldrums until His Excellency, Governor Bassey Otu, gave it new legs. Securing $3.5 billion from Afreximbank became the oxygen it needed. In February 2025, the state formalised a PPP to drive it forward.
Today, the Federal Government is standing fully behind it. This is beyond a Cross River dream. It is a Nigerian project. It is a feather in my shackle-breaking cap. It is a poverty breaker. It is history rewritten with love and commitment," the President said.
?Highlighting Nigeria's blue economy as a potential $44 billion annual revenue source once regional cargo traffic is captured, Tinubu recalled Cross River's loss of the Bakassi Peninsula, oil wells, and revenue following the International Court of Justice verdict.
He urged residents to safeguard the project as a new chapter of prosperity.
?"The same water that took something from you will now bring something back. The Atlantic that people feared will now feed your children. Please stand with this project, protect it from politics and rumour and own it in your soul and by faith," he said, urging voters to remember the administration's commitment on Election Day and "vote for continuity."
?Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu thanked the President for clearing longstanding political, administrative, legal, and environmental bottlenecks, noting that federal backing enabled the state to secure its Certificate of Compliance and final approval. He invited maritime investors to take advantage of the project's primary and ancillary opportunities.
?Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, stated that the seaport underscores the administration's focus on economic diversification, private-sector participation, and regional competitiveness. Similarly, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, noted that the facility will unlock trade corridors for landlocked West African nations including Chad, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
?President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Dr George Elombi—represented by Executive Vice-President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development, Mrs Kanayo Awani—described the $3.5 billion investment as a major boost for Nigeria's maritime capacity and trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
?Earlier on Friday in Calabar, Vice President Shettima addressed the 6th African Sub-Sovereign Governments Network (AfSNET) Investment Conference 2026, themed "The Role of Sub-Sovereigns in Catalysing Development through Trade and Investment." He urged state and local leaders to unlock their competitive advantages and convert untapped potential into bankable projects.
?"It is at the state, provincial, county and municipal levels that roads connect producers to markets, electricity powers industries, agricultural resources are transformed into valuable products, businesses create employment, and communities experience the benefits of economic growth. National policies and continental frameworks provide direction, but their success depends significantly on what happens at the sub-national level," Shettima said.
