The call which was made on the floor of the House on Thursday followed a motion of urgent public importance brought before it by a member representing Nsukka East Constituency, Honourable Chinedu Christian Nwamba.
Nwamba told his colleagues that facilities, the structures at the Enugu Airport are in a deplorable state, hence the need to urgently undertake its rehabilitation in the interest of the users of the airport as well as the staff in the establishment.
“Mr Speaker, Hon Colleagues, the structural decay of the Akanu-Ibiam International Airport, Enugu is unbearable, unbefitting of an International Airport and a serious threat to both the users and staff of the Airport,” Nwamba laments, noting that the situation became worse as the rains came and the attendant wind storm that blew off some ports of the roof and the ceilings.
“As it is now, the parts of the roof and ceiling that are half pulled, poses serious danger to the users and staff of the airport as no one knows when they may pull off,” he intimates.
While thanking the Federal Government for upgrading the airport, Nwamba reminded the Government that the Airport is the only International Airport in the entire South East geo-political zone and as such should be given the attention it deserved.
“The Federal Government should be mindful of the fact that Akanu-Ibiam Airport, being the only internal airport in the region, should not be allowed to be grounded to a halt as that will bring untold hardship to the users of the airport and also reduce federal internally generated revenue accruable from the airport,” the law makers point out.
Contributing to the debate on the motion, Honourable Obinna Okenwa, Enugu South Urban, said that the motion was timely because the airport was becoming a death trap because of the blown roof and the cracked walls at the Airport that not depict it as international airport.
Okenwa said that compared to other international airports in Nigeria, not to talk of the international airports, Akanu-Ibiam International Airport fell short of expectation and wondered if the Federal
Government Is neglecting the airport as it did to the Federal roads in the state that the Enugu State Government had to undertake the rehabilitation of the roads to save carnage on them.
The member representing Udi South Constituency, Hon Chuka Eneh in his contribution said that the suffix national should be removed from the international because there was nothing international about the airport. “I think the national should be removed, leaving only inter, “because there is nothing international about the Airport,” he said lamenting that there was rain storm and some part of the roof pulled off while some glasses shattered.
Honourable Ude-Okoye of Awgu North Constituency in his submission suggested that National Assembly house committees on Aviation should take urgent action aimed at rehabilitating the Airport to save users of the airport and workers there the harrowing experience should something sinister happen in the establishment.
The Speaker of the House, Honourable Uchenna Edward Ubosi, lamented that the International Airport is in a sorry state to the extent that airplanes do not land there beyond 6 pm.
“An international airport where plane cannot land after 6 pm is not an international airport,” he noted.
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