Ogun Needs Agro Cargo Not Passenger Airport, Abiodun Tells NASS

TOgun State Government has promised to continue with plans to construct an agro- cargo airport in the state. Governor Dapo Abiodun who disclosed this on

Friday, when he received the Senate Committee on Aviation, led by Senator Smart Adeyemi, at the Exco Chamber of the Governor’s Office, Oke- Mosan, Abeokuta, said the agrocargo airport project, conceptualized by the Gbenga Daniel administration in 2007, has lots of potential in the overall development of the state and the country in general. It would be recalled that the immediate past administration of Senator Ibikunle Amosun jettisoned the idea of a cargo airport, opting instead, in 2018, for a passenger airport with its proposed location in the Ewekoro area of the state. However, Abiodun noted that what Ogun State is yearning for is an airport that will support its massive agro development potential. Abiodun maintained that the people of the state entrusted his administration with qualitative representation to create the enabling environment for a public private sector partnership, which is fundamental to the creation of an enduring Economic Development and individual.

According to him, the decision to continue with the agro- airport project, located in Ilishan- Remo in Ogun East Senatorial District, was made by the state’s joint interministerial committee, which evaluated and placed priority on it as against the Ewekoro passenger airport.

The Governor noted that a lot of verifiable work had started on the agro- cargo airport project, which had the approval of the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA). He, however, informed the committee that there were no details or information on the Ewekoro project in the handover note of the Amosun’s administration. “This administration is deliberate and methodical. The needs to have a Cargo airport was made by our joint inter ministerial committee and we consequently evaluated the initiatives that were started by previous administrations because government is a continuum.

The State Commissioner for Finance, who doubles as Economic Adviser to the

Governor, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo, in a presentation described the project as viable, which according to him would unlock significant value addition opportunities across agriculture and manufacturing sectors. In his remarks, a member of the committee, Senator Solomon Adeola, representing Lagos West, maintained that Ogun needs a cargo airport than a passenger one. He added that the Committee would look into the project.