Oyo Govt In Full Throttle Towards Upgrading Ibadan Aerodrome-: technical team in regular consultation with FAAN
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Mr Kabir Mohammed, technical leader of the team, making a point on the architectural drawing to Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, MD/CE FAAN, at the meeting in FAAN headquarters, Ikeja, Lagos Monday
The governor of Oyo State, Engr Seyi Makinde, has begun a very high-powered discussion with the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, led by the Managing Director, Olubunmi Kuku, on how Ladoke Akintola Airport, Ibadan, will be ceded to the state government.
Hence, a crop of seasoned consultants assembled by the governor for the project which is headed by Mr Bimbo Adekambi, were guests to the MD of FAAN and her team on Monday.
Among the crack team of the Oyo State government was Mr Kabir Mohammed, the immediate past Managing Director/Chief Executive of FAAN.
The kernel of the discussion was on the propriety of the state government’s business case of making the airport operate as an international, and for FAAN to bring to the fore, all the conditions precedent to satisfy in making this ambition a reality.
Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, who was the Chief host to the August guests from the ancient city of Ibadan, had a technical session with the team wherein the technical drawings were scrutinized and grey areas mutually agreed upon as further work in progress.
Recall that Engr Makinde had severally and publicly expressed the desire of the state government to upgrade the airport to international standards with the willingness to satisfy all conditions precedent in making it a reality.
Ostensibly, the upgrade would entail expansion of the facility, some infrastructure therein shall be totally overhauled, and the use of Information, Communication and Technology, ICT, shall become the hallmark of the terminal before getting the nod of both the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, and the Airport Council International, ACI, Africa Region
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If Ladoke Akintola airport is not viable as a domestic airport. There’s no magic formula that will make it viable as an international airport. The consideration for establishing of the airport over three decades ago was not economic but political. Media reports suggested that aside from Akwa Ibom airport with MRO facilities and Ibom Air, every other state airports are not viable, most of them have structural defects, the cost of construction was astronomical while the cost of maintenance and management of the airports was not factored into their visibility reports, the projection of upgrading the airport to International Airport is not a wise decision for now