Ekiti joins elite club with aviation facilities as first aircraft lands at cargo airport

Ekiti State Agro-Allied International Airport, Ado- Ekiti, was inaugurated on Saturday after the first aircraft landed at the facility.

With the commissioning and landing of the first flight on its soil, Ekiti has joined the elite club of states in Nigeria that boast of functional airport which is expected to boost export of agricultural produce, service educational and health institutions and abundant tourism potentials in the state.

The first aircraft, ATR 42 Nigeria Air Force plane piloted by Flight Lieutenant E.A. Balogun, landed at the airport’s runway at exactly 10.20am amidst cheers and excitement by eminent guests, government officials and members of the public who came to witness the historic occasion.

Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, who performed the official inauguration of the airport, was among the personalities on board the aircraft which flew in from Abuja to make the historic landing.

An excited outgoing Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who could not hide his joy expressed satisfaction that the project eventually saw the light of the day ten years after its conception during his first administration in 2012.

Dr. Fayemi also used the occasion to give an assurance to the people of the state that the federal roads that are in dilapidated condition would be given attention to bring relief to their users and complement the newly inaugurated airport project.

The governor said himself, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo and the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe have been making strong representations to the Federal Government to facilitate urgent intervention on federal roads in the state that are in present state of disrepair.

In his welcome address, Mr. Zhang Zichen, the Chairman of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), which handled the project, praised Governor Fayemi for the vision which he said would change the face of the state’s economy.

The CCECC boss who described the airport as a “landmark project” said it was among notable projects completed by its corporation.

Sirika also announced to the excited audience that the Federal Government would site a cargo facility at the airport.

He described the airport as “an extremely very important project” which would facilitate import and export of goods and commodities.

The minister recalled that when he was on the site for groundbreaking in October 2019, there were divergent views as to the viability of the project noting that airports are being used by what he called “one-city nation-states in the world” to drive their economy.

He added: “I use to make an assertion, that one mile long road leads to nowhere but one mile runway leads to everywhere. You see, I came here today through the runway of this airport provided by Governor Fayemi. There is future with this project, market and trade can drive everybody here.

“I was at ABUAD, I saw the university, the farm, the industrial park and the hospital. If there is an airport here, it will connect people to this facility and reduce foreign medical tourism. Airports are by no means the best catalysts for economic growth of any state or nation.

Thirty five per cent of global trade by value is moved through airports and $18.6 billion of cargo is moved daily through air transportation. The wealthy among you should take to agriculture for example and begin to produce things that you will export to other parts of the world.

“You can be land-locked but you cannot be sky-locked. We can all see the importance of having a facility like this. Thank you Mr Governor, you have provided this facility for the people of Ekiti State; they should own it, they should own it.”