Agro-allied cargo airport: Ekiti’s development template to South-West

As state governors grapple with the challenge of repositioning their states in the face of tough times, the administration of Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State appears to have raised the stakes in the South-West by creating a new window of opportunities for the 28-year old year old state, KUNLE ODEREMI reports.

AT 85, legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), has seen the good and beautiful sides of the history of Nigeria. Through hard work, the seasoned administrator and successful entrepreneur steadily rose to the pinnacle of his professional career. Notwithstanding his towering height and pioneering records in different spheres of human endeavour, the foremost philanthropist believes October 19, 2019 has become pivotal in his life;  the day of the groundbreaking ceremony of the multi-billion naira Ekiti State International agro-allied cargo airport project.

For the elder statesman, the project is a collective self-fulfillment for himself and other founding fathers of the 28-year-old state. “Today is an important day in my life,” he told the hordes of eminent persons, indigenes, well-wishers, friends and other major stakeholders that came to be part of the epoch-making event in Ago Aduloju near Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. He added: “It is an important day in the life of our governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi. It is an important day for all of us present here. It is an important day for those who are coming behind.”

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The excitement of the legal icon was not misplaced, going by the history of the project. Having been part of the initiators in 1991, his effusive appreciation of the incumbent state governor for taking the bull by the horns on the project was infectious.  He believed that Fayemi deserved all the accolades in the world for the pragmatic steps so far taken to actualize the vision of making Ekiti State the real destination of investors and tourists from far and wide.

This is how Afe Babalola gave the full insight into the conception of the project immediately Ekiti State was created in 1991: “The dream of the founding fathers of Ekiti State was to make it the pride of Nigeria in the provision of quality and functional education, as well as economic development.

Within a month of the creation of Ekiti State, we invited memoranda from outstanding professionals and academics of Ekiti origin to prepare a paper on how to achieve our dream of making Ekiti State the leader in education and economic development. We received hundreds of powerful memoranda. To simplify the work of the governor, three of us, namely my humble self; Chief Abiodun Ogundele and Mr M. O. Eperokun reviewed the memoranda.

I edited and submitted the report to the then military governor of Ekiti State, Colonel Inuwa Bawa. Our hope and prayer was that he and subsequent governors would act on our recommendations.” Sadly, the project almost became a mirage after conceptualisation and articulation to hit the ground running, due to the inertia of the authorities. Afe Babalola decried the apathy and seeming forlorn hope thus: “Unfortunately, since 1996, it has been a step forward and two steps backwards in education and development.” But today, he exudes joy that, “It is a notorious fact that those who build and transform the world dreamt and came up with ideas.

The old adage is that ideas rule the world but only those who actualise their ideas are the successful ones. I congratulate our governor, Dr Fayemi who has ideas and who dreamt of reviving education and developing the state by creating a knowledge zone. Today, he has taken a positive step to realise the dream of the founding fathers by making sure that we gather here today for the turning of the sod of an airport in the presence of Honourable minister, royal highnesses and other dignitaries present. Here today. He has taken a decisive step towards the realisation of our dreams.”

He asked those opposed to the project to take a cue from other lands where similar projects had taken them to the league of developed entities. While enumerating the immense economic and potential and benefits of the project and other related programmes initiated by the government, Babalola said the peculiarities of Ekiti make the airport imperative. His words: “The question I ask myself is, who says that an airport is not a desideratum? I dare say that Ekiti State like Belgium, Switzerland, Holland and Denmark, which are small enclaves in land size, will excel in the delivery of services, education and economy when we develop the airport. This is why the entire members and students of Afe Babalola University heartily welcome this development.”

Prospects and potentialities

Located on 4, 000 acres of land in Amaku in Oye Local Government Area, the airport is designed to be the commercial hub in the South-West and part of the North-Central because of its strategic location and uniqueness. Ekiti, being an agrarian state within the food belt and the rainforest, and with a population of 2. 8 million human population, is poised to take the inherent huge advantage and immense potential. Bounded in the south by Ondo State and in the east by Osun State, Ekiti boasts of such cash crops as cocoa, oil palm, kolanut, plantain, banana, cashew, watermelon, citrus, timber, rice, yam, cassava, cocoyam, maize and cowpea. It also has large deposits of columbite, feldstar, cassiterite, kaolin, quartzite, granite, charnockite, banded gneiss, tantalum and muscovite.  Its tourism is huge with a gifted topography and scenery that recommends the state to local and foreign investors and tourists with large portfolios. And when completed, the airport project will help to transport a large number of cash crops from the Special Agriculture Processing zone (SAPZ) already in the works to different destinations and secure early-to –market advantage for the state’s comprehensive agricultural and industrial development plans.

Kaleidoscopic celebration

The turning of the sod of the project was the climax of the kaleidoscope of events lined up to mark the first year of the second coming of Fayemi into office. Despite the tight schedule of the political office holders and top government functionaries assigned to inaugurate an avalanche of projects spread cross the communities, there were cultural displays in forms of rendition of poetry, music and dance by several troupes and individuals to the delight of hundreds of enthusiastic citizens that converged on the serene and virgin site of the airport at Ago Aduloju, which is about 30 minutes drive from the capital city The elite and the proletariat; professionals and peasants as well as artisans and cultural troupes added glitz and colour to all the eight-day activities that began on October 10, 2019.

Corroborating, the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika said Ekiti was well-positioned in the committee of state in Nigeria to create wealth through agriculture, trade and knowledge zone. He said the Federal Government was totally committed to the actualisation of the airport project because of its potential benefits to the economic growth and development of the state. “The Federal Government of Nigeria will partner in this project and support this project, especially the cargo side of it because we believe that with the silos that we have there, with the green land, with the vegetation, with the nature, with the natural geography of Ekiti, it is very good candidate to produce agricultural product for export. By God given, by design, by providence, Ekiti is at the centre of Nigeria, not too far from the south with too much rain, not too far from the north with the dry land. The per capital of Ekiti of about N1,160 per head says a lot, it tells us the capacity, capability and ability of this state to create wealth, this is very important and we will support this venture,” the minister stressed.

Fayemi’s submission

Governor Fayemi shed more light into the vision and drive on the untold story about the airport project, which he said was being supported by the Federal Government, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Africa Export Import Bank. He recalled that during his first term in office, he had set up a committee headed by Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) which came up with a comprehensive report supporting why Ekiti should have its own airport, as it would open “our state up mainly for the promotion of our agricultural, tourism and education endowment.”

To further give assurance on the project coming on stream shortly, the governor said he had secured the support of some major development partners, including Africa Development Bank and Africa Export Import Bank to help finance the project which would be fully operational in the next 24 months. “We have since fine-tuned the outcome of Aare Afe Babalola’s committee report and also cracked the main bone of contention of the airport, which was funding for the project.

Having conceptualized the airport as part of our integrated development strategy for Ekiti State, our development partners, African Development Bank and the Africa Export/Import Bank saw both the short term and the long term justification for this airport and decided to support it.

The Federal Government, as we also heard from the Honourable Minister, enthusiastically lend their support for the airport by assisting, not only with its designation as a cargo airport, but also approving in very short space of time all of the necessary materials that we needed in order to formally commence the operations.”

Fayemi expressed immense gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for supporting the airport project in the state through his commitment and that of the Federal Ministry of Aviation. “We received the letter of approval on May 28, 2019 and the process to kick-start the Ekiti cargo airport began immediately, series of meetings were held and all stakeholders agreed that the construction would facilitate the linkage of our state to global trading places. The size of the airport covers an area of about 4000 acres,” said Fayemi, who explained that all his efforts at developing the state was aimed at opening the frontiers to global outreach that would bring about development yet to be witnessed in any part of the country. He added that the airport project would assist the state in its quest to make it a destination for medical tourism considering the intimidating facility available at the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti.

“As government desirous of building an Ekiti that would serve both the present and the future generation, it is pertinent for us to think and act ahead. There is an urgency of now in quest to open the frontiers of our state to global outreach. This project helps us to achieve this mission maximally, the project fits very well with our interest in Ekiti becoming a destination for medical tourism with the excellent work already being done by the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti.

“It will also synergize with our knowledge zone, smart city initiative and agriculture technology plant of our government, by the time the knowledge zone, the airport, the agric processing project and the ring road are completed with extension of the Lagos-Kano standard gauge rail line through Ekiti, we would no doubt have seen the realization of the Ekiti state of our dream,” Fayemi stated.

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Governance as continuum

Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Funminiyi Afuye, who was accompanied by his deputy and other principal officers of the legislature extolled the  Fayemi administration for working for the best interest of the state.

Similarly, an elder statesman and major stakeholder in the state, Chief Deji Fasaun, observed that there was a new dawn in Ekiti State. He noted that the perception by outsiders of the indigenes of the state had changed positively in the last one year because of the leadership style of the state governor. “In the past, if you were out of Ekiti State and attending a meeting or talking with a colleague, people would ask you, ‘ah, you are from Ekiti State; what is happening to you as a people?’ Do people ask you again that questions? No! Such questions were very frustrating to say the least if not annoying and embarrassing. Today, if you say you are from Ekiti, people will say ‘thank God.’ We just hope the new trend, imperative and emphasis will last. That is what they will tell you.”

Another senior citizen, Senator Bode Ola, who described the governor as his leader and cherished his leadership style, remarked: “Governance and politics has to do with the welfare of the people. When you look at what Governor Fayemi has been doing in recent times, you would know that he is really concerned about the welfare of the people, especially the poor masses.”

For Afe Babalola, Fayemi has laid his hands on the plough as far as the airport project is concerned and there should be no looking back because of the huge benefits.  It was for this reason that he said his university had fully aligned with the lofty activities of the government, including its industrial park where no fewer than 124 industries would operate bringing more jobs for the people of Ekiti State.

Nigerian Tribune