The port in which the Nigerian government has invested the most money is Onne Port, not Lagos Port. Onne has seen twice the investment that Lagos Port has witnessed. Please fact-check me.

So, nobody should say that Lagos is only great because it has a port. Oyo State does not have a port, and Oyo is farther away from any port than any other Southern state. Yet, Oyo state generates more VAT revenue for Nigeria than the entire Northwest, Northeast, and North-Central and three times what the entire Southeast contributes combined.

And how is Oyo State achieving this? Through agriculture.

So, no state or region should complain that it does not have a port, and that is why it is not doing as well as it could economically, especially when it is closer to ports than Oyo state.

If any state wants a port, it can get one, even if it is part of a landlocked region. There are two options. They can dredge their rivers and have a river port, or they can have an inland port.

However, they do not need the Federal Government to do that. They can achieve that on their own, such as Ondo State is doing, because ports are not on the exclusive list.

Stop blaming the Federal Government and the Nigerian state. Nobody hates you. First, love yourself.

Lagos State built the Lekki Free Trade Zone and Port. Not the Federal Government. Lagos state. Please fact-check me. And when they built it, Dangote went there to invest $23 billion to build a refinery there. Build your own, and you will likewise attract investments.

Ondo State is building the Ondo Multipurpose Deep Sea Port, and Akwa Ibom State is developing the Ibom Deep Sea Port.

Do these states have Governors with two heads, while your own state has a one-headed Governor?

These states do not have this ‘Money na water’ behaviour. Yet they are spending money on water by building ports. That is the highest epitome of Money na water!

Stop blaming Nigeria. Nigeria has provided the enabling environment for states to build their own ports, railways, and independent power stations. Some states are taking advantage of that freedom, while others are still waiting for a feeding bottle from the Federal Government.

If you look at what some regions contribute versus what they take out of the VAT pool, it is Nigeria that should be complaining of cheating, not them.

Reno Omokri

Gospeller. Deep Thinker. #TableShaker. Ruffler of the Feathers of Obidents. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Hodophile. Hollywood Magazine Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Business Insider Influencer of the Year 2022. 21st Most Talked About Person in Africa, 2024.