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As the take-off of the Ibom Deep Seaport and the larger Ibom Industrial City, ICC, draws nearer, the Akwa Ibom State government has urged its citizens to equip themselves with requisite skills in the maritime corridor so as to be gainfully employed and profitably engaged when the time comes.
The Commissioner for Special Duties and Ibom Deep Seaport, Comrade Ini Ememobong, made the call on Friday, during a Maritime Trade and Logistics Sensitisation Workshop held in Uyo.
The theme ‘of the event was ‘Harnessing the Economic Potentials of Blue Economy Value Chain in Akwa Ibom State for Productivity and Sustainable Growth’.
The commissioner said the state government decided to organize the workshop so that citizens would gain deeper insights into the maritime and blue economy and encourage a pool of highly skilled manpower for employment at the port and the industries that would be set up.
He said, “While the administration of Pastor Umo Eno is diligently working to bring Ibom Deep Seaport and Ibom Industrial City to reality, it was important to ensure that Akwa Ibom people are prepared and well-positioned to be active players in the maritime sector.*
Also speaking, a lecturer at Maritime Academy, Nigeria, Dr. Friday Ufia, noted that while maritime trade was the exchange of goods and services across the oceans and seas, the logistics was about customer service. He added that there are short courses at the Maritime Academy to equip people in the area to be part of the Ibom Deep Seaport.
Ufia noted that Akwa Ibom people should take the opportunity of the presence of Maritime Academy in the state to get trained on how they can benefit from the Ibom deep seaport even as he noted that the state has the longest coastline of 129km.
In her address titled ‘Maritime logistics’, Aniefiok Iton, who is the President of Brightflow Conglomerate, explained that given the great potentials, the maritime sector, if well harnessed, would surpass the gains of oil exploration.
She described maritime industry as a vital component of global trade, which shipping plays a critical role in the movement of people, commodities, cargo, materials, goods and services across international borders.
On his part, the Rector, Marine and Oceans Academy, Nigeria, Dr. Kingsley Ekwere emphasized on the need for skills acquisition not just onshore but in the waterways.
He said, “There is no greater time to look into this than now that the Ibom Deep Seaport is about to emerge for West Africa. Whatever anybody can do, we can do also, and we should be very interested in skills acquisition to function once the Ibom Deep Seaport is birthed.”
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