The Riverside CountryHome has lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun following the landmark signing of a $7 billion investment agreement to develop the Gateway Deep Seaport and the Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone.
The club described the agreement, which was sealed in Paris, France, between the Ogun State Government and global maritime logistics giant DP World, as a historic milestone that will permanently alter the economic landscape of Nigeria and the West African sub-region.
A Catalyst for Industrialization and Job Creation
In a statement issued by the club’s President, Baa’royin Dayo Rufai, the Riverside CountryHome expressed profound appreciation for the political will and synergy demonstrated by the Federal and Ogun State governments. The group emphasized that the integrated project represents “economic diversification made tangible,” echoing President Tinubu’s vision under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The project, which is projected to attract an initial private-sector capital injection exceeding $7 billion, is expected to generate over 50,000 direct jobs alongside hundreds of thousands of indirect employment opportunities in manufacturing, logistics, and maritime services.
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Strategic Infrastructure and Regional Relief
The Riverside Country Club highlighted the strategic engineering specs of the proposed Gateway Deep Seaport at Ogun Waterside, noting its four-kilometre berth and 18-metre draft. These specifications will allow the port to accommodate modern, large-capacity ocean vessels that previously bypassed Nigeria for neighboring West African ports.
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Crucially, the club lauded the project’s capacity to:
- Decongest Lagos Ports: Dramatically lower the pressure on the perennially gridlocked Apapa and Tin Can Island port corridors.
- Reduce Cost of Doing Business: Minimize costly delays and demurrage for Nigerian importers, exporters, and consumers.
- Drive Regional Supply Chains: Leverage the 10,000-hectare Special Economic Zone to process raw Nigerian materials into finished goods for global markets.
Unlocking the Coastal Transport Corridor
The club also commended the synchronization of the deep seaport with the ongoing construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. The 28-kilometre Ogun State section of the superhighway, which runs in close proximity to the coastline, was praised as the definitive logistical link required to seamlessly connect the maritime hub to the Nigerian hinterland and the broader African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) network.
“For three decades, a deep seaport along the Ogun coastline remained an unfulfilled dream on official charts,” Governor Dapo Abiodun noted during the signing, thanking the President for serving as the “Facilitator-in-Chief”. The Riverside Country Club mirrored this sentiment, stating that posterity will remember both leaders for turning long-standing geographical potential into actual commercial prosperity.
With the Federal Government promising complete regulatory clarity, policy stability, and investment security, the club called on local business stakeholders to position themselves to capitalize on the massive industrial boom anchoring in Ogun State.
