File: Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has put the cost of the ongoing overhaul of infrastructure renewal, rehabilitation and construction in the Nigerian aviation sector at over N1tn.
Keyamo, while speaking at the 67th anniversary celebration of the country’s oldest airline, Aero Contractors, disclosed that President Bola Tinubu has also approved the mobilisation of the China Civil Engineering Construction Company to commence work on the second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Among the new projects to be undertaken by the present administration in the sector is a light rail construction from the Lagos State Red Line at Ikeja Bus Stop to link the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, passing through the General Aviation Terminal, the MMA2 at the local wing and a stopover at the Air Force Base before terminating at an underground station at the new Terminal Two at MMIA in Lagos.
He affirmed that the intervention represents the Renewed Hope Initiative for the aviation industry, estimated at N1tn, sourced from the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Fund.
While he maintained that Tinubu’s administration has positively impacted the aviation industry, he added that Tinubu has addressed the challenges of infrastructure by carrying out the modernisation of the MMIA old terminal at the cost of N712bn.
According to Keyamo, work on the Abuja Airport second runway is expected to gulp N400bn, having been delayed by legislative somersaults over the years, alongside the resurfacing of the Akure Airport runway.
The minister said, “The current administration has done much in the area of policy by pushing for the support of local airlines, which has increased their fleet, with easier access to getting airplanes as well as the upgrade of airport infrastructure. Before now, these could not be achieved because Nigeria borrowed money to build four airport terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano.
“But all that has changed under the Tinubu administration, because following the removal of fuel subsidy, there is no more borrowing to build aviation infrastructure. The gains are now being ploughed into projects and policies that will build the economy and create jobs.
“This is the vision of Mr President under the Renewed Hope agenda for the aviation sector; it is anchored on infrastructure and policy. The four major airport terminals we built, that started under Jonathan or under Yar’Adua, I can’t be sure, and that finished under Buhari, which are the Chinese terminals in Lagos, in Abuja, in Kano, and in Enugu, Port Harcourt and Enugu was done by budgetary allocation and it wasn’t finished.
But these four, they were done with money borrowed from the Chinese.”
The minister noted that the government “could not raise money to do anything in the last 50 years because there was no money.”
He added, “The thing we managed to do was that we borrowed money from the Chinese, and we are paying back that money. Why was there no money? The simple reason is that all the money we were earning in this country from oil was going to subsidies. Very simple. Our major earnings from oil went to subsidising PMS. And not only PMS, but we were also suppressing the naira.”
Explaining the effect of the delay in the construction of the Abuja second runway, Keyamo said, “Why did we not build the second runway all along? The National Assembly halted that project because they said that N45bn was too much to build the second runway. We could not raise N45bn at that time to build the second runway. Fifteen years later, or maybe 20 years later, it’s now costing us nearly N400bn. That is the danger of postponing the evil day.”
While speaking of the Aero Contractors anniversary, Keyamo said, “Here we are today, celebrating Aero Contractors. So, I can rightly say, this is the pride of Nigeria. This is not just your success. It’s a story of resilience. It’s a story of the Nigerian spirit. It’s a story of success.
“And this is what we should be celebrating as a nation, as an industry, as a sector. We should all be celebrating this today. In fact, I hoped to come here and see the CEO of every other airline seated in front, to learn from you.
“So, during your 68th anniversary, whether I’m here or not, call the CEO of every other airline existing today to come and sit down. And we are very proud of you. We are very proud of Aero Contractors.”
