THE long-delayed Olokola Deep Seaport has returned to the national spotlight after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved its immediate take-off, raising hopes of a major economic turnaround for Nigeria’s South-West coast. But the renewed attention has also reopened an old territorial fault line between Ogun and Ondo states, with both now locked in a public dispute over ownership of a nearby oil-rich island, Daily Trust reported.
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun disclosed the twin approvals while hosting the Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Abubakar Mustapha, during a courtesy visit in Abeokuta recently. According to him, the president authorised the resumption of work on the multibillion-dollar Olokola Deep Seaport project in Ogun Waterside Local Government Area and also gave clearance for commercial oil drilling within the same coastal corridor.
The announcements were presented by Ogun as a breakthrough for a region that had waited more than a decade for large-scale industrial development. The Olokola port, originally conceived to complement Lagos ports, is expected to decongest Apapa and Tin Can Island, shorten cargo turnaround times and attract international shipping lines to a modern deep-water facility.
Mr Abiodun said the port and the oil project were of special interest to the president because of their potential to unlock jobs, boost revenue and drive inclusive growth across coastal communities. He added that oil exploration would further empower residents through local participation and expanded economic activity.
Confusion
However, the optimism was quickly overshadowed by confusion after Ogun State released conflicting information about the location of the oil well. In the first statement, the governor was quoted as saying that drilling would take place on Tongeji Island in Ipokia Local Government Area.
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Hours later, a second statement contradicted the first, saying the approved site was actually Eba Island in Ogun Waterside Local Government Area. The government admitted that the earlier version was an error and blamed a press officer for the mix-up.
The clarification immediately drew a sharp response from the Ondo State Government, which rejected Ogun’s claim and insisted that the oil deposit is located within Ondo territory.
In a statement, Special Adviser to the Ondo State Governor on Communication and Strategy, Mr Allen Sowore, said the well is situated in Atijere, Ondo State, and that the landowners are indigenes of that community.
He said Atijere had existed since at least 1937 and that Eba Island had historically fallen under the Atijere Native Court Authority. Tracing the island’s lineage, Mr Sowore said it formed part of the Ilaje/Mahin area under the defunct Lagos Colony before the 1914 amalgamation and later became part of the Ondo Province and Okitipupa Division.
According to him, the island was designated a forestry reserve under the Atijere Native Authority and later incorporated into the Ilaje District Council around 1950. When Ilaje/Ese-Odo Local Government Area was created in 1975, the island remained under its jurisdiction, and after the creation of Ese-Odo Local Government Area in 1997, Eba Island continued under Ilaje Local Government.
He added that communities around the oil well, including Ago Alaja, Balogun Bode and Fasuyi, were cluster villages of Atijere, whose traditional rulers were installed by the Ondo State Government.
Mr Sowore called on the National Boundary Commission to publish authoritative records that would clarify the true location of the oil deposit, assuring residents that Ondo would defend its territorial integrity through lawful means.
Ogun State responded on Sunday, dismissing Ondo’s claims as misleading and capable of stoking communal tension.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Kayode Akinmade, the state insisted that Eba Island falls squarely within Ogun Waterside Local Government Area.
He said official maps and records from the National Boundary Commission placed the island in Ogun State and argued that there had been no constitutional amendment, court ruling or federal gazette altering its status since Ogun State was created in 1976.
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“Since 1976, there has been no constitutional amendment, judicial pronouncement or federal gazette that altered the boundary placing Eba outside Ogun State,” he said.
Mr Akinmade also said there were two locations known as Eba, noting that while one lay near Ondo’s forest reserve, the larger Eba Island hosting the oil well was within Ogun’s coastal corridor.
He added that the drilling approval followed extensive verification by NNPCL and other federal agencies, and that the presence of naval assets around the site reflected federal recognition of Ogun as the host state.
Despite the growing dispute, Ogun officials continue to promote the Olokola Deep Seaport as the region’s biggest opportunity in decades. Yet, as investment plans gather pace, the unresolved boundary fight now threatens to overshadow the port’s revival and turn a landmark development into another inter-state flashpoint.
