The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, is working with the Oyo State Government to convert the Ibadan airport in Alakia to an international gateway.
The Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, stated this in a short video on social media.
Makinde said, “The President has graciously approved my request for Ibadan airport to be upgraded.”
Our correspondent contacted the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria for confirmation of this claim by the governor.
Speaking, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Obiageli Orah, said “there is no official statement on that yet”.
However, speaking with our correspondent on the matter, the media aide to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Tunde Moshood, said the minister was committed to the development.
“I have been seeing the governor with the minister. The minister is committed to the development, but the only remaining thing is the legal and regulatory process.”
On Monday, the Oyo State government on its verified X handle posted that it would be extending its runway to accommodate international flights.
The post read, “The Oyo State Government will construct an additional terminal and expand and extend the runway to accommodate international flights at the Ibadan Airport.
“The OYSG has already constructed a 500,000-litre aviation fuel storage and dispensing facility, renovated and remodelled Protocol/VIP Lounge, donated a fire truck and upgraded the safety status of the airport.”
Ibadan Airport was commissioned in June 1982 by a former Senate President, Joseph Wayas. The Airport is located at Alakia, which is between Adegbaiji community and Iwo Road.
Commenting on the development, experts described the move as a waste of money and time.
A pilot and industry expert, John Okakpu, says that the airport has no prospect of making a successful business.
“Absolute first-class waste of money and time. Most of the hard-core cargo airlines have stopped coming to Nigeria except on charter which is ridiculously expensive for us. Where is the business which the airport then intends to venture into? Even the policies for the establishment of the business are not in place. We are just clowns in a circus. The so-called Ogun agro cargo airport is just 50 miles away heading to Lagos.
“The only airport in Nigeria that can easily be put to use is Amino Kano International Airport, Kano. Enugu is a good prospect too. The rest, I will not bet my money or waste my time on them,” he stated.
Also, a former military commandant at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Group Capt John Ojikutu (retd.) stated that such development was needless, stressing that the viability of an international airport in Ibadan at this time was not visible.
Ojikutu advised the Oyo government to rather construct the Ibadan-Ife Road and toll it instead of expending the funds on an airport.
He asked the government to engage in a discrete study before venturing into the business of making an international aircraft land or take off from the Ibadan airport.
“What is the airport going to carry, cargo or passengers? How many is it going to carry? Before such decisions are made, statistics should be done. Currently, the five airports put together both in and out are about five million annually and only two of them carry about 80 per cent of the passengers and they are Lagos and Abuja. Enugu is carrying about 400 (including domestic passengers), Port Harcourt and Kano are carrying about one million. They should find out what they want to carry and how much of it is available to them.
“This industry cannot progress that way. In fact, from what I am even seeing, let them concession all the airports and any state that builds any airport should manage it. it’s only in this country that I see all these types of wastefulness,” he stated.
Asked if Ibadan has the required aviation equipment to fly an international airline, Ojikutu responded in the negative, “Even if you build it, you have to do so based on requirements. They should ascertain the number of passengers travelling from Ibadan. You must ascertain this before you will arrive at all at a decision to even fly internationally.”
Ojikutu further said, “States that are still struggling to put money into their health care, education and fund intra-state roads should not venture into building airports. What is the passenger traffic they are looking at? The first thing they need to look at is the passenger traffic at the airports closer to them. What is the passenger traffic in these states? Any airport in this country that has passenger traffic of less than 500,000 a year is not worth it. It cannot be economically viable. State governments have to think.”
Also on his part, the General Secretary of the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, Abdulrasaq Saidu, described the development as an act of politics.
In a chat with our correspondent, Saidu said, “It is politics and nothing else.”