Ogun State International Agro Cargo Airport in Ilisan Remo, Nigeria, will be completed for use before the end of this year, its Commissioner for Works & Infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya has assured. This is coming fifteen years after the project was mooted.
Describing the project as a Class E Airport, he said the four kilometre runway has attained about 90 per cent completion and will be completed before the end of this month.
He said the strategic location of the airport as its unique selling point will also drive its status as an aerotropolis – an airport city.
He said both the Federal Government and its agencies are already seeking buy – in into the project.
He said the Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies are looking at investment windows for the project.
Speaking on the project scope, the commissioner said it will accommodate two terminals for passengers/ cargo operations.
Also speaking during a tour of the airport, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Alhaji Abdulwaheed Odusile said the specialised airport has secured approvals / certifications from relevant aviation agencies including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
Odusile said the Gateway International Agro Cargo Airport is the fastest sir transport infrastructure to be put together in Nigeria.
He said: “By the grace of God, before the end of this year, aircraft will take-off and land on this airport. That will be the first of its kind in the country. This airport would be the fastest built airport in Nigeria. We started the construction of this airport from the scratch and we started in April 2021. This airport would be an international airport in all ramifications.
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“The four kilometre runway is almost ready, the construction of the fire station is on, the control tower and the administrative building is there and those are the essential components of an airport. Every other thing as you know is luxury and comfort.
“We are not just building an airport, we are building an aerotropolis. We are bringing different people and don’t forget, this is a specialised airport as it will be an agro-cargo airport. Though, there is another facility for passenger operations
“Already, some agencies of the government are scrambling to be here and I can tell you for a fact, the Nigeria Air Force is already looking forward to being here, the Nigeria Customs Service and so many other private investors. This will be the only truly agro-cargo airport in Nigeria.
“There will be an international testing centre here where all agro-produce that goes out of Nigeria will come here and be certified as complying with international standards. So, once that is done, goods from here can be exported to anywhere in the world.
“All parcels coming into Nigeria would be flown to our airport here before they are now redistributed to any part of Nigeria.
You can also see the location of the airport, where we are now is about the centre of Ogun State. The airport on the western side, you will see the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, on the southern side, you have the Sagamu-Benin Expressway. So, whichever way you want to approach the airport, the logistics of that is easy to Lagos, which is the fifth largest economy in Africa and Nigeria’s largest economy. To the hinterland, you have easy access, if you want to go to the east, north and other part of the western it is easy.
“So, goods coming in and out of our neighbouring states will come here and this will also decongest Lagos and it will spread development across the country, especially for us in Ogun State, the governor Dapo Abiodun is desirous of industrialising Ogun State.
“We claim and rightly so to be the industrial capital of Nigeria. We want to use this airport to complement that.
“This airport is also an important component of our transportation master plan, which will bring together rail, road and water transportation. This airport is not just a standalone airport it is also being supported by other transportation facilities that we are building in Ogun State. This is part of our Five Pillars of Development in Ogun State called ISEYA, which is an acronym for Infrastructure, Social welfare and wellbeing, Education, Youth Empowerment and job creation and agriculture and food security. With these five pillars, we have been able to touch the lives of our people in different ways.
“This airport is also an infrastructural development, economic development and it is also providing jobs. So many businesses associated with aviation would be here.”
Source: The Nation
