Furore over State Airport Projects
There are several reasons why many Nigerians oppose state airport projects. One, they see it as not being a priority for any state; two they believe that there are more important things that will benefit ordinary people which the state could plough the funds; three, airport construction is capital intensive and four, such facility serves the interest of the elites, which constitutes barely one per cent of the population of these states.
So, it is more of ego trip and self serving that prompted many governors to embark on the project. Besides, many argue that existing airports and air strips have interconnected the whole country that no matter which state you may be, you could be only one hour away from an airport, so why should state governments embark on new airport projects?
The above were the views expressed by many Nigerians who have collectively argued against establishment of new airports by state governments.
Late last year, Aero flew to Bauchi airport on charter service and when the air stairs could not be provided, the impatient passengers harangued the cockpit crew until they allowed a ladder to be used to disembark them. The airport did not have more than one air stairs and when that one broke down, there was no alternative. This means that the airport was ill equipped and therefore did not meet given operational standards.
The airport in Kebbi built by Kebbi state government could be described as world standard airport but what is the level of utilisation? It is grossly underutilised; so the funds literally dumped in that facility could have been utilised to build more hospitals, more schools, and more roads for the teeming population to benefit from. Practically it is the governor and his retinues that daily utilise the airport. There was a saying that it would be used to evacuate farm produce. That was ideal conception but since it was built and commissioned in 2014 no cargo plane has airlifted farm produce from the airport.
Out of the recent airports built by state governments the only ones that are strategic are the Asaba airport, which was built at the threshold of the huge Onitsha market and the Uyo airport where regular scheduled flight operations take place. Others record lean patronage, so there was no major justification for the projects.
Recently the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, advised state governor to desist from building airports, describing such project as elitist and remarked that it serves very narrow interest and it is unjustifiable, looking at the lean resources of the states that wished to embark on the projects.
Amaechi was reported by the media to have said that no governor should undertake to build airports now, unless the socio – economic fortune of such a state and the country can support new or additional airport facilities.
“Governors should focus on those things that would improve on the lives of the poor, not the rich. It’s the rich people that fly plane. How many poor people know where airport is, much more to fly an aircraft?
“I believe that the construction of airport should be backed by the growth of the economy. There are some airports that are constructed just for the governors to land and take off. That won’t be the idea for me as Minister of Transportation.
“I’d prefer that all airports that are constructed would be backed by economic demand. And when we look at the numbers, if the numbers add up… We would not discourage Ogun State if you like to construct an airport, but we would like to advise that they should look at the economics of an airport,” Amaechi was quoted to have said.
Although air transport is described as the catalyst to the growth of any economy, currently Nigeria has about 27 airports and numerous airstrips located ubiquitously all over the country, so no state could say that it is in desperate need of an airport to galvanise its economy. Besides, building an airport does not mean that airlines could start operating there; except when such airports are seen to be a profitable route before an airline could decide to operate from there. So what some state governments do is to subside the airlines, an action which could gulp so much money from the already lean resources of so many states, including the ones aiming to build new airports.
According to media reports, some of the governors planning such projects include those of Osun, Abia, Ogun, Anambra, Ekiti, and Nasarawa, but Nigerians who oppose the airport projects describe them as misplacement of priority, considering the fact that the projected passenger movement from the airport would not justify the huge resources that would be expended on the projects. The states named need to urgently provide primary healthcare for the people; it needs to rebuild some schools; it needs to rehabilitate some rural road and give support to agriculture. These, critics say, are what would affect the citizens directly.
What is really challenging about these planned airports is that although they would create job openings, but they cost would not justify the number of jobs it would create when more jobs would be created if the states decide to build more cottage industries and help in agriculture. Besides, the maintenance of an airport is a continuum and this gulps more funds. For the fact that this country does not have regular power supply, the airports need constant electricity so there would be investment in alternative power generation, huge resources would go into airspace facilities, from the control tower to instrument landing system. To meet the given standards, the runways must be well equipment with runway lights and the security system must be well equipped with continuous daily personnel support.
At the present economic downturn of the country, governors must have to think twice before embarking on new airport projects, especially as many of them intend to build the airports with loans.