Oblong Media Global Intelligence.
Nigeria has once again unveiled another ambitious maritime expansion plan. Government officials recently announced progress on certification and compliance approvals for five proposed deep seaport projects spread across different parts of the country, Badagry in Lagos State, Olokola in Ondo State, Ibom in Akwa Ibom State, Bakassi in Cross River State and Bonny in Rivers State.
The official explanation is familiar. Nigeria wants to reduce congestion at Lagos ports, recover cargo traffic reportedly diverted to neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic, strengthen exports and modernise the nation’s maritime infrastructure.
On the surface, it sounds logical.
But beneath the celebration lies an uncomfortable and increasingly unavoidable question: why does every major maritime expansion conversation in Nigeria consistently bypass the South-East?
The proposed ports, Badagry, Olokola, Ibom, Bakassi and Bonny, are all coastal or near coastal deep seaport projects. That gives them obvious Atlantic advantage. But that does not erase the South-East case. It only clarifies it.
The South-East argument is not that Oguta or Onitsha is a conventional oceanfront deep seaport. The argument is that Nigeria is ignoring viable inland maritime corridors that can connect the South East’s massive commercial economy to Atlantic bound waterways.
Badagry is directly positioned between the lagoon and the ocean, and NIMASA states that the project is located in Gberefun, about 55 km west of Apapa and Tin Can ports. It is therefore a true Atlantic-facing deep seaport project.
Ibom Deep Seaport, located around Ibaka Bay, also has strong natural coastal advantage. A technical study describes Ibaka Bay as part of the Cross River Estuary, which empties into the Gulf of Guinea, with an average non-dredged draft of about 13.5 metres.
Bakassi is similarly Atlantic facing. Cross River State describes it as a gateway to the Gulf of Guinea, designed to link the North, South-East and South-South corridors.
Bonny is already in Rivers State’s Atlantic maritime belt, while Olokola sits along the Ogun/Ondo coastal axis. In pure ocean proximity, these ports are naturally ahead of the South-East’s inland options.
But that is precisely why the exclusion of the South-East is troubling. Nigeria is not only supposed to be building oceanfront deep seaports; it should also be building feeder ports, river ports, inland ports and dredged waterways that connect major commercial regions to those Atlantic gateways.
The Oguta-Orashi-Degema route is officially recognised as a proposed sea route to the Atlantic. In 2023, the Federal Government flagged off the hydrographic survey and dredging of the route from Oguta Lake through Orashi and Degema to the Atlantic Ocean. Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo stated that the route had been used since 1914 to connect the hinterland to the coast for exports such as palm oil, timber and coal.
That means Oguta is not “too far” in any meaningless political sense. It is inland, yes, but it is connected to a historical Atlantic-bound waterway. The issue is dredging, channelisation, security, port infrastructure and political will.
Oguta-Orashi-Degema and Onitsha River Port are inland maritime corridors that can feed into Atlantic and national waterway systems.
The bias is not that the coastal ports have no merit. They do. The bias is that Nigeria keeps treating coastal projects as “national priorities” while treating South-East inland maritime access as a regional afterthought.
A balanced plan should therefore include both: deep seaports on the coast and South East inland ports linked to them by dredged waterways, rail and road. Otherwise, Nigeria will keep expanding ports while still forcing Aba, Onitsha, Nnewi, Owerri and Enugu traders to depend overwhelmingly on Lagos.
The omission is becoming too glaring to dismiss as coincidence.
For decades, Lagos has carried the crushing burden of serving as Nigeria’s dominant maritime gateway. Apapa and Tin Can ports have become global examples of infrastructural overstretch. Endless queues of trailers stretching for kilometres, collapsed access roads, extortion rackets, delayed cargo clearance, corruption, inflated haulage costs and chronic gridlock have become normalised realities within Nigeria’s logistics ecosystem.
Importers lose billions through demurrage. Manufacturers face crippling supply chain disruptions. Businesses absorb excessive transportation costs that are ultimately transferred to ordinary Nigerians through inflation.
Yet despite the obvious dangers of overconcentration, Nigeria continues funnelling maritime expansion predominantly toward already favoured corridors while one of the country’s most commercially strategic regions remains largely excluded from meaningful federal maritime investment.
The irony is staggering.
The South-East is arguably one of the most commercially active regions in Africa. Onitsha, Aba and Nnewi are not ordinary commercial towns. They are massive indigenous economic ecosystems powering trade, manufacturing, spare parts distribution, pharmaceuticals, electronics, fabrication and industrial supply chains across West Africa.
The Onitsha market network alone handles commercial activity that rivals some national economies within the subregion. Aba remains Nigeria’s indigenous manufacturing capital, while Nnewi has evolved into one of Africa’s most important local industrial clusters.
Ironically, a significant percentage of the containers processed through Lagos ports are ultimately destined for South East commercial centres.
In practical terms, this means that traders and manufacturers from the South East are among the biggest users of Nigeria’s maritime infrastructure, yet they remain among the furthest removed from it geographically.
The consequences are enormous.
Goods travelling from Lagos to Aba, Onitsha, Nnewi, Owerri and Enugu face:
massive transportation costs,
multiple checkpoint extortions,
Endless delays,
Insecurity risks,
Damaged goods,
Inflated logistics expenses,
and avoidable supply chain inefficiencies.
The result is a structurally distorted national economy where one region bears enormous commercial pressure without corresponding infrastructural support.
What makes the situation even more disturbing is that the South-East is not lacking in maritime potential.
Far from it.
In fact, one of Nigeria’s greatest untapped economic opportunities lies hidden within the neglected waterways, river systems and inland maritime corridors of the eastern region.
At the centre of this forgotten possibility is the Oguta Orashi maritime corridor.
Oguta Lake in Imo State is one of the largest natural freshwater lakes in Nigeria. More importantly, it connects directly into the Orashi River system, a vast navigable river network flowing through parts of Imo, Rivers and Bayelsa States before linking into the Atlantic basin through the Niger Delta waterways.
Historically, this corridor was not an insignificant local water route. Long before modern highways emerged, the Oguta Orashi axis served as an active transportation and trade artery connecting hinterland communities to coastal commercial routes.
Communities along the Osemotor Oguta riverine axis and adjoining waterways participated in river based commerce that linked agricultural zones, fishing settlements and regional trading networks across what is today southeastern Nigeria and the Niger Delta.
What nature already provided was a foundation for an inland maritime economy.
What Nigeria failed to provide was development.
If properly dredged, modernised and integrated into a national logistics framework, the Oguta Orashi corridor could fundamentally alter Nigeria’s economic geography.
The possibilities are enormous.
The corridor could support:
Inland container shipping,
Industrial cargo transportation,
Agricultural exports,
Petroleum and gas logistics,
River-port operations,
Marine engineering services,
fisheries,
Tourism,
Ship maintenance facilities,
Export processing zones,
and integrated industrial corridors.
The South-East also possesses another major but grossly neglected strategic asset, the River Niger system.
The River Niger provides direct inland navigational access into Onitsha and surrounding commercial territories. The Onitsha River Port was originally conceived as a strategic inland commercial gateway capable of reducing pressure on Lagos while opening eastern and northern Nigeria to cheaper water-based cargo transportation.
But decades after its commissioning, the port remains underutilised due to poor dredging, inconsistent policy implementation, weak rail integration and lack of coordinated investment.
Meanwhile, Lagos continues suffocating under impossible cargo pressure.
The contradiction could not be clearer.
Nigeria acknowledges congestion.
Nigeria acknowledges cargo diversion.
Nigeria acknowledges logistics inefficiency.
Nigeria acknowledges the need for maritime expansion.
Yet the same Nigeria repeatedly sidelines one of the most commercially strategic inland maritime corridors in the country.
This is why many increasingly suspect that the issue is no longer about technical viability or economic logic, but political preference and infrastructural centralisation.
A properly developed eastern maritime network built around:
Oguta Lake,
The Orashi River system,
The Osemotor riverine corridor,
The Onitsha River Port,
and integrated rail-road logistics
could dramatically reduce pressure on Lagos while unlocking trillions of naira in economic opportunities.
Such a system could transform the South-East into:
A logistics powerhouse,
An export processing hub,
A manufacturing gateway,
A blue economy corridor,
and a major inland maritime zone.
It would stimulate industrialisation across Aba, Onitsha, Nnewi, Owerri and Enugu while creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
Most importantly, it would create a more balanced Nigerian economy.
No serious maritime nation concentrates almost all strategic cargo pressure within one overburdened corridor while neglecting naturally viable inland waterways elsewhere.
The current structure is economically dangerous, regionally imbalanced and strategically shortsighted.
Nigeria cannot continue speaking about national development while systematically overlooking the maritime potential of the South East.
The waterways exist.
The commercial demand exists.
The geography exists.
The economic justification exists.
What appears absent is the political will to fully integrate the South East into Nigeria’s long term maritime future.
By Chima “Oblong” Nnadi-Oforgu
Duruebube Uzii na Abosi
For Oblong Media Global Intelligence
OBLONG MEDIA GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE 
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