Anambra group commends Obiano over Umueri Cargo Airport •Says it will boost tourism, create employment

A socio-political group, Greater Anambra Initiative (GAIN) has said that the Umueri International Cargo Airport Project, flagged off on Tuesday by Anambra State governor, Dr Willie Obiano, will boost the tourism industry in the state and create wealth and employment.

The national coordinator of the group, Mr Chike Nwosu, who said this in a brief chat with journalists in Abuja, noted that it was clear from the electioneering campaign of Governor Obiano that he has a clear-cut vision for the development and promotion of tourism in Anambra State.

“Dr Obiano said in his inaugural address entitled: “Expanding the Frontiers of Excellence,” that he would make Anambra State an economically secure and politically vibrant state. And that was just what he did with the flag off of the Umueri International Cargo Airport Project recently.

“The project, no doubt, will propel socio-economic progress in the state as it will create massive direct and indirect employments and create wealth for the people of the state. It will also make business transactions easier in the state,” he said.

According to Nwosu, the governor’s Airport City Project will embolden the name of the state in the world tourism map and make the state stand tall among the comity of tourism nations in the world, “this is because the project is an all-encompassing tourism model that will accommodate an airport with two runways, an aviation fuel dump, an airport hotel, an industrial business park, an international convention centre as well as a facility for aircraft maintenance.”

Nwosu commended the foresight of Governor Obiano in conceiving the project which is in the league of the most advanced airports in the world with a capacity to land any of the most sophisticated vessels known to man today.

The project, sitting on 1,500 hectares of land has enough elbow room for expansion from Ivite Umueri to neighbouring communities such as Nando, Umunya, Otuocha, Aguleri, Nteje, Nsugbe and beyond.

It will be recalled that Governor Obiano, while flagging off the project, said the project is expected to generate 1,200 direct and 3,600 indirect jobs, through which the people of Anambra will get 70 per cent of the jobs in continuation of government’s efforts to create wealth and prosperity for its people.

Nwosu, who described Governor Obiano as a divine blessing to the people of the state and Nigeria at large, said the project and the governor’s plan for a light rail project in Anambra State will make the state assume its rightful place as a major commercial and industrial hub in the West African sub-region, “just like Governor Obiano said during the flagging off of the enviable cargo airport project.”

He expressed optimism that if the governor is allowed a second term in office, the tourism industry, among other sectors of the state’s economy, would be the cynosure of all eyes.