Lekki Deep Sea Port will boost our economic recovery, says Buhari

• Published date: 24 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that the $1.5B Lekki Deep Sea Port is in line with his administration's Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP), adding that he is ever-ready to lend his support to game-changing infrastructure projects that can impact positively on trade and commerce in the country. He said this yesterday in Lagos after he inaugurated the Lekki Deep Sea Port, the largest in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.

President Buhari, who landed at exactly 3.33pm at the Presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, was received by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat and some members of the State Executive Council. In his entourage were Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji, his Ogun State counterpart Dapo Abiodun, former governors Kayode Fayemi and Ibikunle Amosun, service chiefs, Chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) Abike Dabiri, Minister of Information Lai Mohammed, among others.

The multi-purpose Deep Sea Port offers enormous support to the burgeoning commercial operations across Nigeria and the entire West African region. Buhari, in the company of his entourage, took a brief tour of facilities in the project. Governor Sanwo-Olu described the Sea Port as a total combination of the efforts of the Federal Government, Lagos State Government and the private sector, saying the project was started and completed during the administration of Buhari. He added that the size of vessels that would berth at the port could be up to four times the size of vessels that currently berth at the Tin Can and Apapa Ports. While thanking everyone that made the project a reality, Sanwo-Olu said the project would also provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs to Nigerians.

He said: 'The project is a total combination of efforts of the Federal Government, Lagos State and the private sector, and we are happy that this is happening in your time. It all started within your time and it has been completed within your time. The size of vessels that will be coming here could be up to four times the size of vessels that currently berth at both Tin Can and Apapa Ports. So, it is a massive infrastructure and we are excited that something fresh has been impacted into this country, and it is going to generate thousands and thousands jobs directly and hundreds of thousands of jobs indirectly in the entire ecosystem. This is your own project and we are excited.'

The Governor said the construction of the port was completed in record time, despite the slowdown in the pace of work occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic. He said speed and consistency of construction testified to the determination of all the partners to deliver project. He said: 'The last Sea Port construction in Lagos took place in the late 1970s, when Tin Can Island Port was built to relieve Apapa Port. Now, with the support of President Buhari, federal authorities and the investment of the private sector, we are home to the newest Sea Port in the world, and the first Deep Sea Port in Nigeria. The economy of Lagos and Nigeria will be massively transformed by this investment, with enormous benefits in terms of direct and indirect jobs creation in their thousands, tens of billions of dollars in government revenues, reduced shipping and logistics costs, trade facilitation, and...