PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES
By Emmanuel Ndukuba, Awka
Gov. Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State is strategically keying into the national policy on transportation as he considers floating an airline to meet people’s demands.
Mrs. Patricia Igwebuike, the Commissioner for Transport, disclosed this in Akwa after attending the recently concluded 9th All Nigeria Airport Business Summit and Expo, with the theme “Addressing Airport Viability as a Key to Successful Aviation Business Ambition,” held in Lagos.
According to her, the Chinua Achebe International Cargo and Passenger Airport at Umueri, which will be three years old by December, has recorded about 5,700 flights and more than 343,000 passengers.
“To attract footprints into the airport, we are doing quite a lot of talking to investors. As we speak, we have more than 30 proposals for concessions and management agreements.
“To attract airlines, we have seen that there’s a lot of demand from people flying from Anambra or people intending to fly to Anambra, and we are talking to other airlines like Ibom Air and others.
“The idea is that we are looking at the numbers (because our governor is a numbers man) to know whether we need to float an airline as a state or do we need to partner with an airline because the demand is high,” she said.
The commissioner further explained that with the Onitsha River Seaport, the railway, for which the state is finishing the feasibility study, and the land transportation, Anambra is keying into the national policy on transportation and is not just doing her own thing.
Igwebuike affirmed that the essence of the Chinua Achebe Airport was cargo, and that the idea of building an airport at Umueri started in 1979.
”There’s work in progress at the airport, and we are beautifully situated in Anambra as the gateway to the South East. Everywhere in Anambra State is a commercial site.
Some states are one-city states, but in Anambra, every city and town is viable, and that viability is what necessitated the building of the airport. It’s not just something that came out of the blues.
”As far back as 1979, the idea of having an airport in that region was muted by the then governor, Jim Nwobodo. If you check the Anambra State House of Assembly Hansard of that era, it was mentioned that Umueri, then Umuleri, was the best suited place for having an airport, and the ideology continued to Mr. Peter Obi’s era with Orient Petroleum.”
Igwebuike also said: “It was Governor Willie Obiano that started implementing because the land, although acquired, was not paid for in terms of compensation. It was Governor Obiano who paid the compensation and implemented the construction of the airport, and the airport is mainly for cargo and passengers.
“The cargo aspect of it is because we are a commercial state; we build, we sell. All the statistics will tell you that a great percentage of the imports in the southern part of Nigeria—more than 50 percent—return to Anambra State.
“So that’s the concept behind the airport,” she said, adding that the future is bright for the airport and the state.”
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