Abuja airport runway, disaster ground –Minister
The Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, has warned that the
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, runway has totally failed and is a
disaster waiting to happen. Sirika gave the warning when he received the
Coalition for Civil Society Group on Friday in Abuja. He said the government
was determine to ensure safety and avoid disaster in the sector, adding that
closure of the airport for six week remained the only viable option. The
minister said that many critical stakeholders in the industry including Council
for the Regulation of Engineering (COREN) had agreed with the decision of the
government. According to him, the Nigerian Society of Engineers was the only
body that had opposed the decision. Sirika, however, said that the aerodrome
engineers in the society agreed with government’s decision to close the airport
to avert disaster. “The Abuja airport runway is completely damaged, the entire
structure and the architecture is gone and the runway has failed and it is just
a disaster waiting to happen. “No matter what it is, I will not sit back and
fold my arms and watch disaster unfold while I superintend. “I believe that it
is an executive function which should be carried out and I believe also that we
should be responsible for our actions and inactions. “If I don’t do anything it
becomes inaction and will be equal to disaster. “If I act appropriately to save
it, I will be meeting the expectations of the person who appointed me and of
course the expectation of the Nigerian people that we serve,’’ he said. The
minister asked the members of civil society groups with engineering background
to examine the runway and possibly carry out integrity test on it to ascertain
its condition. He said that different options recommended by different
stakeholders were not good options to be considered based on the deplorable
nature of the runway. According to him, the path we have chosen is a path that
for us is the only way to rehabilitate that runway. “It is a job of six months
with the procurement start to finish but within these six months, there will be
six weeks closure of the runway. “We will close it and we will be working day
and night to ensure that we deliver the project and it will be six weeks and
six weeks no more. “We have done some study and found out that, 90 per cent of
people who are coming into Abuja may probably travel only once within six
weeks, and may be only one per cent travel every other day or daily. “Another
two per cent who travel every week but some may not even travel at all in six
weeks. “This statistic is generous enough to say that 90 per cent travel once
in six week and this statistic is proven and we chose Kaduna as alternate
airport,’’ he said. The minister also called on the civil society groups to
always cross check their fact before commenting on important national issues.
He refuted the claim by the Centre for Joint Action Against Poverty and
Underdevelopment in Africa (CJAAPDA), a civil society organisation that he was
one of the underperforming ministers in the country. Earlier, the President of
the group, Mr Bassey Atuk, told the minister that their visit was to find out
the happenings in the aviation sector, stressing that the sector was critical
to the national development. Etuk said the group also demanded explanation on
the basis for the N5.8 billion for the rehabilitation and repair of the Abuja
airport runway and diversion of flight to Kaduna. He, however, pledged the
group’s support for the government on the closure of the Abuja airport for the
repair of its runway. “We came to find out because the Ministry of Aviation is
critical to us and our people yearn to know what is happening in the sector.
“Perhaps, the minister should educate, not just the civil society but the
generality of Nigerian people on the controversial N5.8 billion for the repair
of Abuja Airport runway. “We also need to know the programmes and projects of
the ministry in 2017 budget about the deplorable state of our airports,’’ he
said. NAN
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