Newspaper Tasks Soludo on Anambra Airport

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Anambra State Governor-elect, Charles Soludo, has been given his first task by an online newspaper, The Southern Examiner. In its editorial, the newspaper wants the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate to handle the state airport as its own baby and try to surpass the achievements of the Obiano administration.

According to the editorial, the Anambra International Passenger and Cargo Airport at Umueri, has unarguably come on stream in the Eastern Nigeria state of Anambra as a superstar project.

A proud and accomplished Governor Willie Obiano, on November 1, commissioned this airport for use, bringing into reality a longstanding dream and aspiration of the people of the state.

However, this lofty achievement by the Obiano administration did not come without challenges that tended to be more political than customary.

‘’One fact must be noted about this all-important airport; that while the other airports with the exception of the Imo Airport which the Sam Mbakwe administration in the Second Republic started as a community initiative, in the entire nation of Nigeria were funded by the Federal Government, this one was built purely out of the resourcefulness of the state.

‘’We can also recall that the Imo Airport in Imo State was similarly denied the financial strength of the central government. The old Imo, comprising Ebonyi, Abia and the present Imo, during the administration of the late Governor Sam Mbakwe in the 1980s, taxed every adult in the state, man and woman, and held a series of fund raising sessions to achieve the dream of the Imo Airport which was named after Mbakwe who initiated it.

‘’The newly commissioned Anambra airport was a little luckier than that of Imo because it was solely a state government project which has been on the table for 30 years. It was first tried in Oba in 1982 but failed due to an unfavourable terrain. It was then relocated to a friendlier environment in Umueri by former Governor Peter Obi of the state and completed by his successor, Willie Obiano.

‘’We are elated that the project has come to fruition today, despite all odds, in a region that has suffered various acts aimed at emasculating it, and our commendation goes to Gov Obiano, his party, APGA, and President Muhammadu Buhari who gave the final approval for the airport.

‘’The airport ought to be an object of pride, not only to the people of Anambra but to the entire easterners as it has the potentials to catalyse development in the region. Already, aviation experts have predicted that it would be the most viable airport in Nigeria, judging that Anambra is home to many notable industries and industrialists in the country.

‘’We are, however, saddened that at the pinnacle of the people’s joy over a rare accomplishment, the aviation regulatory authority, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), tried to dim the excitement when it failed to approve the takeoff of two commercial flights that were billed to land at the airport from Lagos and Abuja on the day of commissioning.

‘’The reason given for the cancellation of the already fully booked flights was that airlines must have counters at the airport before they commence operations in it.

‘’Although Obiano has promised that the airlines that were to commence full commercial flights to the airport would soon set up counters at the airport, we see the move to stop the flights as an insult on the people of the state. Why did the NCAA not alert the airlines before the flights were scheduled?

‘’It is appalling to note the rumours that were rife about the candidate of a political party who had tried to scuttle the commissioning, probably afraid that it would boost the profile of the APGA candidate, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, and double his chances of winning in the Nov. 6 gubernatorial elections’’, the newspaper said.

Continuing, it further said, ‘’this airport should not be mired in unwholesome politics. Anambra is the country’s industrial hub and is among the states that have operated without tangible federal support, a development that is attributable to the mindset of those who have been ruling the country since the end of the civil war that the southeast is a conquered territory that deserved list Federal Government largesse or presence.

‘’Those politicians from the region who see themselves as well connected to the ruling party in the federal government have got to be mindful of the consequences of their sabotage of matters that are meant to develop the region just to gratify their political sentiments.

‘’We also feel that Abuja should change its attitude of the negligence of the region of Ndigbo, more than 50 years after the civil war that ended with the declaration of no-victor-no-vanquished, when it comes to the allocation of crucial infrastructure such as an airport.

‘’It is undisputable that some airports built in the north by the federal government have suffered low patronage, enough to question the rationale in building them there in the first instance.

‘’Had the Federal Government offered to build this airport for Anambra people, the huge funds that went into the project would have been channelled into the repair of roads and rescue of flood-prone areas of the state which has constituted a nightmare for the state government for so long. The Civil Aviation Authority would have also generated substantial revenue from it.

‘’At the commissioning, Victor Umeh, former APGA Chairmantold Obiano, “we are happy you never lowered the standard of APGA. You started well and have continued from where Obi stopped. This is the party that has never shied away from the development of Anambra.”

‘’Once again, we say kudos to the Anambra people and plead that the incoming government in the state should handle the airport as its own baby as well and indeed try to surpass the achievements of the Obiano administration.’’

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