Experts in the aviation sector have decried the spending of huge funds by state governments for the construction of airports.
Several states have constructed airports in recent years, with Bayelsa State being the latest as its new airport was inaugurated in April this year.
Former Governor Seriake Dickson put the cost of building the airport at N70bn, but the current Deputy Governor of the state, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, said the airport cost a total of N56bn.
Anambra State inaugurated its airport in March, with the government saying it allocated N8bn for the construction of the airport in the year 2020 budget, while N50m was allocated for it in 2021.
The states currently constructing airports in the country are Zamfara, Yobe, Ekiti, Osun and Ebonyi.
The Ebonyi State government said it had budgeted N14bn for its airport project in its 2021 budget.
An aviation security expert and Chief Executive Officer, Centurion Security and Safety Consults, Group Captain John Ojikutu (retd.), in an interview with our correspondent, said, “I have repeatedly said that most of the states building airports now have no economic justification for such projects, based on available statistics in their states, especially the statistics for passengers and cargoes.
“The air passengers and cargo traffic between Yobe, Bauchi, and Gombe are not together up to 500,000 and 10,000 respectively. These do not make economic sense, if you consider the support that is needed in the health and educational sectors for the generality of the people of these states where the workers are hardly paid monthly salaries.
“Same with Ebonyi and Anambra that are within minutes away from Enugu and Asaba, even their boundary towns are close to Owerri.”
According to Ojikutu, the total air cargo in Nigeria has not exceeded 200,000 tonnes annually as against 100 million tonnes in maritime, and the total air passengers annually has not exceeded 16 million in the last five years.
“How much of that are they targeting?” he queried, saying the states building airports under the guise of building their economy should seek alternatives for economic growth.
The Assistant Secretary for the Aviation Round Table, a think-tank in the aviation sector, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, said “State governments will always do projects. They can label it anything just to get money out of the system to run the projects.
“Ekiti has Akure airport, which is about 30 minutes from it. Ebonyi has Enugu airport, which is less than one hour if the road is free. Anambra built an airport when there is Owerri and Asaba airports close to it.”
According to him, states should look at their purses, plans and visions and how they intend to run the airports.
He said, “For the core northern states, Yobe is understandable because of the distance to Maiduguri, considering the high level of insecurity.
“But for the South, we need to begin to look at how to develop the economy of their states. Politics should not debar states from talking even if they belong to different political parties.”
According to Ohunayo, states should build airports only when they will not have to service debts after the completion of the projects.
The Chief Executive Officer, MainStream Cargo Limited, Mr Seyi Adewale, expressed support for the building of airports in different states.
He said “Salaries can be considered an expense item and recurrent expenditure, whereas airport construction is a capital expenditure and non-recurrent.”
“These airports being constructed are important for creating jobs within the states. Construction remains one of the largest job-creating sectors that cuts across many artisans, industrial laity, and building professionals.
“Cargo inclined, it improves food and perishable distribution across the country. Enugu and Anambra proximity does not really matter. It is the route and value creation by each state that is important.
According to the General Secretary, National Union of Air Transport Employees, Mr Ocheme Aba, investment in airports does not shield any state governments from fulfilling its obligations to its employees.
He said, “Any governor feigning incapacity to pay its salaries on account of airport development is simply irresponsible as building an airport is a capital expenditure as per budget. In these days of high insecurity, the absence of an airport in a state capital could hamper business and development.
“There is a connection between the development of a place and an airport available there. Top business travellers are not comfortable travelling by road, even for short distances.”
