The groundwork began quietly very early in the first few weeks of the Umo Eno Administration. Preliminary discussions took place inside the ground floor Meeting Room of the Governor’s Office, with Governor Eno personally presiding.
This was followed by a couple of technical sessions of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. Then three weeks ago, on December 29, 2023, amidst the end of year festivities, Governor Eno sat down with the Nigerian No.1 Naval Officer, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, and together supervised the signing of a contractual agreement with the Naval Shipyard Limited, NSL, for the construction of a 100-seater ferry that will commute daily between Oron in Akwa Ibom and Calabar, the capital of Cross River State. The Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Orman Esin, signed on behalf of the Akwa Ibom State Government, while Rear Admiral Fredrick Damtong, the Admiral Superintendent of the NSL, signed on behalf of the Nigerian Navy.
This singular step by the seven months old Administration of Governor Eno signalled a new era in maritime transportation for the adventurous Akwa Ibom government. It was not just a fulfilment of his campaign promise to kick-start a robust maritime trade and commerce in the state; this venture is seen as a bold step that instantly ignited the nostalgia for the good old days of South Eastern State. It set the tone for a thriving sea transportation business that will not just be a veritable job creator for Akwa Ibom youths, many of whom are already undergoing training in the foremost Nigerian Maritime Academy in Oron.
The first ferry will be delivered on or before June 2025. The contract says delivery is 18 months. NSL sources confirmed that the two-deck or two-floor ferry is 24-metre long, made of mild steel, with shallow draught capable of carrying eight vehicles per trip. It will be manned by four crew, apart from other service providers in the ferry.
Said a Nigerian Navy source with indepth knowledge of the design: “The ferry will be propelled by two 400 horsepower inboard diesel drive engines with a fuel capacity for 2,000 litres”.
No name has been officially given to the liner yet. Some excited Akwa Ibom netizens have however variously suggested Ibom Ferries, Ibom Sea, Ibom Line, MV Ibom, etc. Whatever the name may be, one thing is certain: Ibom, the brand name for the state businesses and corporations will be part of it, just like Ibom Air.
It seems the name of the new venture is not the major or immediate concern of Governor Eno for now. His preoccupation as far as the maritime sector in the state is concerned is securing the waterways in Akwa Ibom to guarantee a robust blue economy, maritime tourism and the enviable position of the state as one of the most peaceful entities in Nigeria. These are the key areas that the governor is not leaving any stone unturned. For instance, on the same day that Governor Eno contracted the NSL to build the ferry and ahead of the arrival of the ferry, he instantly donated 14 patrol gunboats to the Nigerian Navy, to keep Akwa Ibom waterways and riverine communities safe and free of pirates and other criminals.
Here is how the governor captured the essence of the new venture: “Our intention in line with the ARISE Agenda is to expand water transportation, support maritime security and see the best we can extract from the blue economy…We have plans to add a second ferry soon. Maybe six months down the line, we should be able to place an order for another ferry, so that if one goes for servicing, there will be no interruption in our operations…”
The governor took time to justify the preference and choice of the NSL for the ship building. He said the State Executive Council chose the NSL for the deal in line with his Administration’s determination to invest in the domestic economy, inspire the development of local content and ensure availability of spare parts and the security of the ferries, given the stake of the Nigerian Navy in the venture.
The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ogalla, was ecstatic that the NSL scaled through the bidding process on merit.
“Note that this contract was not signed with a Chinese company or a Russian company or an American company, but with the Nigerian Navy Shipyard company in Port Harcourt.The first ferry will be delivered without fail within 18 months and possibly in a shorter time frame… because this partnership is very, very key to the development of the blue economy, improvement in water transportation and the development of our local content capacity and capability”, Ogalla said.
The venture is a clear pointer to the new era of alternative transportation between Akwa Ibom and the sister state of Cross River, especially for the coastal people of Oron, Ikot Abasi, Ibeno, Eket, Eastern Obolo, Onna, etc. Once in operation, most of the residents of riverine communities may not need anymore to travel to Uyo to board vehicles to Cross River State and beyond.
Many grown-ups in the state still take a trip down memory lane, before the Calabar-Itu Highway [a landmark achievement of the Gowon Administration] was constructed in 1975, when ferry transportation between Oron and Calabar was the only means of transportation between what is now Akwa Ibom and Cross River states. With the neglect of the highway over the years and the subsequent collapse and slow attempts at reconstruction by succeeding Federal Administrations in Abuja, the peoples of the two states and beyond have found it agonising to commute and conduct businesses between themselves. This underscores the excitement about the new maritime venture by the Umo Eno Administration.
Said Okon Isangedighi, a businessman in Oron: “Akwa Ibom is making tremendous progress in many directions. Certainly, the success of Ibom Air, the initiative of former Governor Udom Emmanuel, is the inspiration behind this bold, new frontier by Governor Umo Eno”.
*Anietie Usen is Senior Special Assistant on Media to Akwa Ibom State Governor. He is also a regular contributor to The Frontier.
