By Prince Ben Ahanonu
The Federal Government’s recent appeal to communities in Ogun and Ondo states to fully support the Dangote Industrial City and Deep Seaport project, on the surface, commendable. Described by official spokespersons as a transformative initiative designed to unlock economic growth and spur community development, the project represents the kind of forward-thinking infrastructure Nigeria desperately needs. However, looking at this development through a national lens reveals a stark and troubling imbalance that lends weight to accusations of systemic marginalisation and hypocrisy.
While the South West corridor continues to receive aggressive federal backing, regulatory alignment, and massive infrastructural concentration—hosting the Lekki Deep Seaport, the Badagry Seaport project, and now the Dangote initiatives—the South East remains entirely locked out of the maritime economy.
For decades, the Igbo Nation has consistently clamoured for a world-class seaport in AlaIgbo to stimulate its commerce-driven economy. Yet, these yearnings continue to meet a wall of federal indifference and bureaucratic inertia.
To understand the frustration of the South East, one must look at both economic logic and geographical reality. The region is home to some of the most vibrant commercial hubs in West Africa, including Onitsha, Aba, and Nnewi. South East merchants constitute a massive percentage of the importers utilising the Lagos State ports, enduring exorbitant logistics costs, extortions along the federal highways, and severe supply chain bottlenecks to move goods across the country.
The economic justification for a functional seaport—or the proper dredging of existing waterways to accommodate large vessels in or near the South East—is undeniable. It would centralise maritime traffic, drastically reduce pressure on Lagos infrastructure, lower the cost of doing business, and create millions of jobs for a restless youth population.
Instead, the Federal Government appears impervious to these realities. This selective enthusiasm for infrastructural development raises critical questions about national equity. How can the administration passionately advocate for economic transformation in one region, while completely ignoring identical, highly viable demands in another?
When the state selectively acts as a catalyst for development in specific zones, while maintaining a posture of calculated neglect towards others, it undermines the very fabric of national unity. It validates the growing sentiments in the South East that federal policy is driven more by political expedience, and exclusion than by objective economic planning.
True national development cannot be lopsided. If the Federal Government genuinely believes that deep seaports are transformative drivers of community growth, that transformation must not stop at the borders of the South West.
For Nigeria to experience balanced prosperity, the administration must move past its apparent apathy, and treat the establishment of a world-class maritime gateway in AlaIgbo not as a political favour, but as an urgent economic necessity.
As the 2027 presidential election approaches, the AlaIgbo Development Watchdog will continue to press this demand. If the Federal Government, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, refuses to hearken, we will encourage the Igbo Nation to make critical decisions.
(Ahanonu is the spokesperson of AlaIgbo Development Watchdog)