Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has announced plans to establish a seaport in the state.
The project, which will be located in Owazza, Ụkwa East LGA Abia State, will be flagged off on September 30, 2023.
The governor made this announcement at the ongoing South-East Security Summit in Owerri, Imo state.
He also announced that the flag off of the seaport will be done together with the Abia industrial and innovation park, located on over 1,000 hectares of land. It would host multiple layers of businesses including modular refineries and petrochemical and fertiliser plants.
He also revealed several other chains of enterprises that would take advantage of the oil and gas deposits in Ukwa, nearness to Aba and Port Harcourt cities.
According to Otti, his government had already secured the support of a major stakeholder to build an innovation and incubation centre within the Park.
The facility would train and expose young minds to the best tools and platforms for their trade. He said the innovation and incubation centre would specially benefit university students, graduates and start-ups in several ways.
Speaking further at the event , the Governor said as political leaders, they must set the pace by identifying investment opportunities within their domain and commit adequate public resources to motivate private investors.
“We must lead the way and there are lots of opportunities waiting to be harnessed in oil and gas, hospitality, transportation, education and so much more, ” he added.
He said while it may make sense to say that government has no business being in business, it is also factual to say that without government direction and commitments, no business will remain in business for a long time.
Otti advised that government must intervene directly in business where necessary.
According to him, United States spends $28bn to $30bn annually to subsidize agriculture and keep over 600,000 farmers at work.
