By Clement Abayomi
The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has condemned a new agreement between the Federal Government (FG) and the United Kingdom (UK) to upgrade two seaports in Lagos.
The group’s leader, Comrade Igboayaka Igboayaka, criticised the deal in a press statement released on 22 March, describing it as evidence of the continued marginalisation of the Igbo people.
The deal, valued at £746 million, focuses on modernising infrastructure at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports.
President Bola Tinubu witnessed the signing at Lancaster House in London. Finance Minister, Wale Edun, signed the documents for Nigeria, while Minister Blair McDougall signed for the British government.
Igboayaka claimed that the federal government is ignoring viable natural harbours in the Southeast.
He specifically pointed to the Ose-Akwa and Ose-Moto sites in Ihiala and Oguta.
He stated that these locations are only 18 nautical miles from the Atlantic Ocean and have a natural depth of 22 meters.
In contrast, he noted that the Lagos ports are 60 nautical miles from the ocean.
Igboayaka claimed that these Eastern ports were abandoned by colonial authorities as far back as 1959.
He mentioned other neglected sites like the Obeaku Ndoki Sea in Abia State and Ozziza Beach in Ebonyi State.
These sites, he maintained, made “Eastern Nigeria the most developing region in Nigeria, with a growth rate surpassing that of Singapore and China between 1953 and 1963.”
As revealed by Igboayaka, the refusal to develop these areas explains why many people support Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s call for Biafra.
Again, the council criticised Southeast politicians for not pushing for regional projects during international trade talks.
Igboayaka noted that true national unity requires justice.
The council called on the government to begin dredging the Ose-Akwa and Ose-Moto seaports to prove that the Southeast is a valued part of Nigeria.
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