Abia Airport ready in 3 years
*As Otti, Keyamo, Perform Ground Breaking Ceremony
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
Construction of the Abia airport project flagged off on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, is expected to be completed in three years, Governor Alex Otti, has announced.
The airport, sited at Nsulu in Isialangwa North local government area, expected to transform the State’s transport system by enhancing connectivity through air-travel and providing job opportunities for Abians and residents through investments in the tourism and hospitality sector.
is sitting 1, 325 hectares of land.
Governor Otti has promised that with the project will come with the development of the airport city, including the revitalization of the Nsulu Games Village and the establishment of hotels and other facilities to support tourism and business activities.
Governor Otti, who, alongside with Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Barr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), jointly performed the ground breaking ceremony of the Abia Airport
held at Community School, Ubaha Nsulu, said the airport project was an integral part of his administrations urbanization agenda and a catalyst for economic transformation.
“In the new Abia, an airport is not just an important project for the long term prosperity of the state, it is an integral component of our vision to open the State to the world.
“We are poised to turn Abia into a major destination hub. An airport in Abia, particularly at this location, will not only accelerate our urbanization agenda beyond ABA and Umuahia, it will also send a clear signal to the world that we are open and prepared to rise to a higher plane in the race for social and economic transformation of our homeland. This airport will therefore serve a new advantage to the appeal of Aba as an important destination in the West African sub region.
“The volume of investments we anticipate and the projected influx of high network individuals for businesses, conferences and events, even for holidays, investing in an airport is certainly a right decision,” the Governor said.
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to leveraging partnerships and opportunities to drive sustainable development initiatives that would revolutionize the state’s socio-economic landscape, which informed why the state was partnering the federal government to build the airport.
“We made a commitment that under our watch, Abia will never let any promising opportunities slip by, whether it is collaborating with multi-lateral partners, Federal government and it’s agencies, sister States, business organizations and individuals who have something of value to offer us.
“We are constantly open to making the most of the opportunities we find because there lies the path to sustained progress,” Gov Otti stated.
The Governor commended President Bola Tinubu for his practical commitment to the rapid social economic development of the South East geo-political zone.
He added that the President not only approved the initial plan to build an airstrip in the state but also magnanimously consented to the State Government’s proposal to expand the scope of the project to become a full-fledged airport.
Governor Otti thanked the land donor communities of Ubaha, Umuala, Ikputu, Umuosu, Umuezeukwu, Umuode and Umuomainta Nvosi for their generosity and support for the project and disclosed that the state has started preparation for payment of compensation to genuine land owners.
“We are a compassionate administration, even when the law has vested ownership of the land on the state government, we will still go ahead to pay every reasonable compensation to those whose lands are used for projects geared for greater public good,“ he said.
He announced that the project would be completed in 36 months and thanked all stakeholders who contributed to making the project a reality.
Performing the ground breaking ceremony, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Barr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), thanked Governor Otti for partnering the federal government in converting the project initially conceptualized as an airstrip to a full-fledged airport, in addition to his commitment to providing all that would be required, including counter-part funding, for the project.
Barr. Keyamo described Abia as the heartbeat of industrialization of the South East region, adding that the airport would be a veritable enabler for economic and social development.
The Minister said that the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is that Abia be connected to the rest of the world through the project and assured that the people of Nsulu community would be given first considerations in appointment and employment in the airport project.
Also speaking, the Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, said that President Tinubu was deliberate about the development of the South East and Abia, in particular.
Rt. Hon. Kalu described Dr. Otti as a Governor that understands synergy and assured that the National Assembly would ensure appropriation of enough funds to support the airport project because of its economic importance.
In her speech, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Dr. Mrs. Nkeiruka Onyejiocha, thanked the President for considering Abia for the siting of an international airport and maintained that Abia would benefit a lot from the project.
In their speeches, the member representing Isialangwa North and South Federal Constituency, Chief Ginger Onwusibe, and a stakeholder in the area, Chief Ncheta Omerekpe, while calling on the host community, the Nsulu people, to cooperate with the state government for the smooth take off of work and completion of the project in record time, told them that the administration of Governor Otti meant well for the people of Isialangwa North.
Earlier in their remarks, the Commissioner for Transport, Dr Chimezie Ukaegbu, and his Lands and Housing counterpart, Mr Chaka Chukwumerije, described the airport project as a gateway to the world and a catalyst for economic and sustainable growth.
