The journey towards building the Anambra airport has been one of the faintly painted pictures of infrastructural development since the inception.
The Anambra Cargo Airport project has a history behind it and no valid judgment can be made on its progress from only a glance at the present government’s intervention. Any reasonable assessment on the airport construction must come to terms with the roles played by successive governments since the launch of the plan.
It was the late Captain Emeka Omeruah of blessed memory, who, in 1986, initiated the airport journey in response to popular demand from major Igbo businessmen and few government officials. Petitions for an airport at Onitsha were loudest from the traders’ community who boasted their capacity to make its operation financially viable for business transactions.
The Omeruah administration recognized the economic merits of the airport scheme and thus gave birth to the Oba Onitsha airport project. From the modest proceeds of a first launch, the Oba site was cleared, drawings made, and consultancy services engaged. However, before the second phase fund drive could take place, Group Captain Omeruah was reposted out of Anambra State.
Hence, some ecological and other technical factors necessitated the relocation of the Anambra airport in Oba, Idemili, local government area, to Umueri a stable, expansive land as opposed to the erosion- devastated Oba area.
Regrettably, successive regimes cared less about the venture, except perhaps Group Captain Rufai Garba, former military governor, who, nevertheless, found a convenient excuse for inaction. Garba was quoted to have said: “On the airport thing I looked at it and said why should I build an airport when it will take me 45 minutes to get to Enugu and equally take me 45 minutes to get to Oba from Awka?”
Garba, a non-native, having not been moved about the dream, it is expected that governors who hail from Anambra State should have been passionate over its realization.
The Orient Petroleum team brought up the importance of an airport to the business of oil and gas undertaking. With the petroleum plant naturally sited close to the source of raw materials, location of the Anambra airport inevitably changed its activities to the area of refining operation.
Except for the payment of compensation at the new Umueri site, the airport was abandoned for eleven years until the advent of the Willie Obiano administration. The neglect was at great economic losses to Anambra State. This wasted opportunity is particularly regrettable as we are routinely treated to claims of billions of naira saved for Anambra in the past.
The argument has been peddled by regime apologists that past administrations cannot be held accountable for non-development of the airport because it was not part of their campaign manifesto.
Perhaps, one might borrow a leaf from the incremental development from the Owerri airport, in Imo state some years back. The complex was started by second republic Governor Sam Mbakwe. But unlike the Anambra experience, the initiative was followed through by subsequent administrations, leading to the completion in 1999.
Had past governments of Anambra State contributed their quota to the building of the State’s airport, the Obiano administration would not be faced with the daunting task of whether the project will meet its completion or just a plot to gain political favour in the stage.
The project
The Nigeria’s sub-regional, Anambra State’s incoming large cargo and passenger airport at Umueri, Anambra East Local Council of the state, already adjudged as Nigeria’s second biggest airport after the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA), Lagos. This would dramatically change the narrative of air travels in the country, but particularly the south-east and south-south regions, because of the huge business potential.
However, Anambra Airport is still in the oven, and must have to be fully baked, and compete for air passenger share with Nigeria’s 17 biggest air terminals in terms of number of airlines operating and their destinations covered, according to data from WorldData.info.
Apart from Lagos’ (LOS) Murtala Mohammed International Airport, a flight hub is the nation’s biggest air terminal, which alone operates 27 airlines to and from 43 destinations; closely followed by Abuja (ABV), the nation’s gateway, operating eight airlines to and from 25 destinations. Port Harcourt International Airport (PHC) comes next with seven airlines to and from only two destinations.
Kano’s Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAK) though closely follows PHC with seven airlines, it tops the latter with seven destinations. Apart from Enugu’s (ENU) Akanu Ibiam with two airlines to and from three destinations, the rest: Uyo (QUO) Akwa Ibom International Airport; Owerri’s (QOW) Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport; Benin (BNI) Benin Airport; Calabar’s (CBQ) Margaret Ekpo International Airport, among others, receive one airline each to and from two destinations.
Governor Obiano, in March 2015, approved the investment of NGN5 billion (USD25.3 million) for the development of a new four-lane approach road to the planned Umueri Cargo Airport. Anambra’s Government September 2019 allocated NGN6 billion (USD16.5 million) for the construction of Umueri Cargo Airport as part of the state’s 2020 budget.
Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano launched the Umueri Cargo Airport project on 11th of April 2017. According to Obiano, the ‘Airport City Project’ will be developed on a 1500-acre site and will feature two runways, an aviation fuel facility, aircraft maintenance facility, airport hotel, business park and international convention centre.
The project is expected to generate 1200 direct and 3600 indirect job and is estimated to cost more than USD2 billion. It will be developed through a partnership between the Anambra State Government, Orient Petroleum Resources and Elite International Investments. Elite International Investments will provide all funds under a build, operate, manage and transfer agreement. Anambra Airport City Infrastructure Limited allocated a 75% equity stake to Elite International Investments, 20% to Orient Petroleum Resources Limited and 5% to the State Government.
Consequently, seven contractors of note-Craneburg, China railway, IDC, Niger Cat and KANUBEEN (two more have joined them) have been working simultaneously 24/7 since November 15, 2019. The Anambra Airport is becoming a reality if I must express opinion.
With a 3.7-kilometre long runway, a control tower sitting on 11 storey building, the tallest in Nigeria, the state government says the Anambra airport is coming off as the most-modern in Nigeria, designed to revolutionize commerce in the country, particularly export and import business.
According to Udah, the Director, Media and Communication of South East Governors’ Forum Secretariat, Enugu
“Anambra people are easily the greatest importers in all of West Africa; and the people have 63 major markets, including the famous Onitsha Market, the biggest open market in West Africa. Modern and big as the Anambra International Cargo and Passenger Airport is, the state government is building it without a loan from any financial institution anywhere in the world,” Don Adinuba, the state commissioner for information and public enlightenment stated.
In his speech the commissioner divulged that Anambra Airport project was financially exclusive of the state government, a state with a GDP economy of N4.2 trillion. He dismissed allusions that the federal government was building the air terminal, though it has been “very cooperative in developing the airport.”
The commissioner informed that Allen Onyema, chairman of Air Peace, West Africa’s biggest airline, is among aviation chiefs who have visited the Anambra Airport in recent days, and expressed strong views about the vision and foresight and commitment of the state government in building the airport.
It is estimated that the airport will last up to 100 years because of the quality of the materials, and the competence of the contractors.
The airport will be ready for commissioning in April next year.
Again, the Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, during a visit to the Minister for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, in his office in April, 2021, the governor had asked the minister to personally come and Commission the project by April 2021.
According to Governor Obiano “We are sure of the date because we have the money to complete it. We are not asking for any assistance, nor are we taking any loans. I am here personally to brief you on the project and to invite you to commission it for us in April 2021″
James Odaudu, the director of public affairs in the Ministry of Aviation subsequently issued a statement quoting the minister as lauding Governor Obiano on Anambra Cargo Airport to be ready in April 2021.
“The minister said that the project will positively impact on the economic development of the state and the South-east region as a whole; and that the Federal Ministry of Aviation and its agencies will always give the necessary guide and cooperation to states embarking on such projects in order to ensure that all internationally set standards are met.
Sirika said, “airports can be viable if they are built with specific objectives in mind, and expressed the belief that the Anambra airport will be successful in serving the interests of the trading population of the state and environs,” the Anambra information commissioner quoted the minister to have said.
It is also being predicted that the new airport, when it goes operational in April 2021, might just be able to challenge the MMA as one of the nation’s busiest air terminals, given the huge population and widely acknowledged dynamism of the people who constantly travel around the world.
Threats to completion
However, reactions from some indigenes of the community and top businessmen in the state shows that the expected end date might only be the beginning of another trouble in the aviation industry.
Doubts and claims revealed that the reality of having a functional airport by year 2021 is not valid, News Echo Reports.
Some indigenes of Umueri advised caution, arguing that “all that glitters” may not be gold! They held that it was bait set as gift to get Umueri to vote Akpokuodike Aguleri into office a second time.
But, some families in Mgbede, Umuatuolu and Ogbu villages in Umuleri Community, which had donated 729.606 hectares of land to Orient Petroleum Refinery for an Air Strip in 2006, when Dr. Chris Ngige was governor, but later upgraded to an airport, are now wailing over lost lands.
Addressing newsmen during the joint meetings, their spokesman, Ndumanya expressed doubt over the realization of the project, alleging that it was a ploy to dispossess the Umuleri Community of their ancestral land, which Obiano’s Aguleri Community could not actualize during the Aguleri– Umuleri war.
He said, “The government wants to take about 1901 hectares from us. We don’t know anything about Parcels B, C and D. It was government that generated those parcels, they are non-existent,” Ndumanya added.
While noting that the community welcomed the location of the Cargo Airport in the area, he alleged that government had not done up to six per cent of work on Parcel B, only to connive with land speculators to grab more land for the Willie Obiano Estate. He further claimed that agents of the state government have been sharing part of the land to some government officials and politicians.
Also the former National President, Umuleri National Youth Forum, Chibuzo Ekwenye, confirmed that the only portion of land the kindreds donated for the airport project was the one marked Parcel A to Orient Petroleum Resource Plc adding “they have started selling plots of land for estate development against the airport that was originally agreed upon.”
Recently a social media YouTube platform called the “Onye ije” has also made an airline video mocking the Anambra airport venture as a mirage. Nevertheless, counter claims seem to have taken another shape as some stakeholders and top business mogul in the state continue to laud the developmental initiative of the present government.
They also praised the Governor, Willie Obiano, over the ongoing Anambra Cargo Airport at Umuleri in Anambra East Council area, describing it as a legacy project that would redefine the socio-economic life of state and the South East zone.
National Chairman of the Willie Obiano Support Group, Chief Jude Emecheta, who is Managing Director and Chief Executive officer of Anambra State Signage and Advertising Agency (ANSAA) acknowledged that the project was strategically located in the agricultural, industrial and commercial hub of the state to accelerate the economic development of the zone and serve traders, farmers, industrialists and investors.
He pointed out that the Airport would also expand and increase the export capacity as goods and agricultural produce would be easily airlifted, thereby eliminating the cost of transporting goods to and from other airports to Anambra and make them cheaper for consumers.
Another stakeholder, Mike Omenugha, said the Airport would accelerate growth and development of key sectors of the state’s economy, boost its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and enhance sustainable development.
High Chief Nonso Obichigha, an Onitsha based businessman disclosed that business opportunities and employment will be made available to the masses. Tochukwu Ezenwa, an international businessman, on his part thanked the government for such facility adding that he is happy because his goods can now come direct home and not in Lagos making him minimize the cost of transportation.
Conclusively, the extent of his delivery on the project can only be determined at the first week of April 2021, the deadline for Anambra Airport.
The journey towards building the Anambra airport has been one of the faintly painted pictures of infrastructural development since the inception.
The Anambra Cargo Airport project has a history behind it and no valid judgment can be made on its progress from only a glance at the present government’s intervention. Any reasonable assessment on the airport construction must come to terms with the roles played by successive governments since the launch of the plan.
It was the late Captain Emeka Omeruah of blessed memory, who, in 1986, initiated the airport journey in response to popular demand from major Igbo businessmen and few government officials. Petitions for an airport at Onitsha were loudest from the traders’ community who boasted their capacity to make its operation financially viable for business transactions.
The Omeruah administration recognized the economic merits of the airport scheme and thus gave birth to the Oba Onitsha airport project. From the modest proceeds of a first launch, the Oba site was cleared, drawings made, and consultancy services engaged. However, before the second phase fund drive could take place, Group Captain Omeruah was reposted out of Anambra State.
Hence, some ecological and other technical factors necessitated the relocation of the Anambra airport in Oba, Idemili, local government area, to Umueri a stable, expansive land as opposed to the erosion- devastated Oba area.
Regrettably, successive regimes cared less about the venture, except perhaps Group Captain Rufai Garba, former military governor, who, nevertheless, found a convenient excuse for inaction. Garba was quoted to have said: “On the airport thing I looked at it and said why should I build an airport when it will take me 45 minutes to get to Enugu and equally take me 45 minutes to get to Oba from Awka?”
Garba, a non-native, having not been moved about the dream, it is expected that governors who hail from Anambra State should have been passionate over its realization.
The Orient Petroleum team brought up the importance of an airport to the business of oil and gas undertaking. With the petroleum plant naturally sited close to the source of raw materials, location of the Anambra airport inevitably changed its activities to the area of refining operation.
Except for the payment of compensation at the new Umueri site, the airport was abandoned for eleven years until the advent of the Willie Obiano administration. The neglect was at great economic losses to Anambra State. This wasted opportunity is particularly regrettable as we are routinely treated to claims of billions of naira saved for Anambra in the past.
The argument has been peddled by regime apologists that past administrations cannot be held accountable for non-development of the airport because it was not part of their campaign manifesto.
Perhaps, one might borrow a leaf from the incremental development from the Owerri airport, in Imo state some years back.
The complex was started by second republic Governor Sam Mbakwe. But unlike the Anambra experience, the initiative was followed through by subsequent administrations, leading to the completion in 1999.
Had past governments of Anambra State contributed their quota to the building of the State’s airport, the Obiano administration would not be faced with the daunting task of whether the project will meet its completion or just a plot to gain political favour in the stage.
The project
The Nigeria’s sub-regional, Anambra State’s incoming large cargo and passenger airport at Umueri, Anambra East Local Council of the state, already adjudged as Nigeria’s second biggest airport after the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA), Lagos. This would dramatically change the narrative of air travels in the country, but particularly the south-east and south-south regions, because of the huge business potential.
However, Anambra Airport is still in the oven, and must have to be fully baked, and compete for air passenger share with Nigeria’s 17 biggest air terminals in terms of number of airlines operating and their destinations covered, according to data from WorldData.info.
Apart from Lagos’ (LOS) Murtala Mohammed International Airport, a flight hub is the nation’s biggest air terminal, which alone operates 27 airlines to and from 43 destinations; closely followed by Abuja (ABV), the nation’s gateway, operating eight airlines to and from 25 destinations. Port Harcourt International Airport (PHC) comes next with seven airlines to and from only two destinations.
Kano’s Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAK) though closely follows PHC with seven airlines, it tops the latter with seven destinations. Apart from Enugu’s (ENU) Akanu Ibiam with two airlines to and from three destinations, the rest: Uyo (QUO) Akwa Ibom International Airport; Owerri’s (QOW) Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport; Benin (BNI) Benin Airport; Calabar’s (CBQ) Margaret Ekpo International Airport, among others, receive one airline each to and from two destinations.
Governor Obiano, in March 2015, approved the investment of NGN5 billion (USD25.3 million) for the development of a new four-lane approach road to the planned Umueri Cargo Airport. Anambra’s Government September 2019 allocated NGN6 billion (USD16.5 million) for the construction of Umueri Cargo Airport as part of the state’s 2020 budget.
Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano launched the Umueri Cargo Airport project on 11th of April 2017. According to Obiano, the ‘Airport City Project’ will be developed on a 1500-acre site and will feature two runways, an aviation fuel facility, aircraft maintenance facility, airport hotel, business park and international convention centre.
The project is expected to generate 1200 direct and 3600 indirect job and is estimated to cost more than USD2 billion. It will be developed through a partnership between the Anambra State Government, Orient Petroleum Resources and Elite International Investments. Elite International Investments will provide all funds under a build, operate, manage and transfer agreement. Anambra Airport City Infrastructure Limited allocated a 75% equity stake to Elite International Investments, 20% to Orient Petroleum Resources Limited and 5% to the State Government.
Consequently, seven contractors of note-Craneburg, China railway, IDC, Niger Cat and KANUBEEN (two more have joined them) have been working simultaneously 24/7 since November 15, 2019. The Anambra Airport is becoming a reality if I must express opinion.
With a 3.7-kilometre long runway, a control tower sitting on 11 storey building, the tallest in Nigeria, the state government says the Anambra airport is coming off as the most-modern in Nigeria, designed to revolutionize commerce in the country, particularly export and import business.
According to Udah, the Director, Media and Communication of South East Governors’ Forum Secretariat, Enugu
“Anambra people are easily the greatest importers in all of West Africa; and the people have 63 major markets, including the famous Onitsha Market, the biggest open market in West Africa. Modern and big as the Anambra International Cargo and Passenger Airport is, the state government is building it without a loan from any financial institution anywhere in the world,” Don Adinuba, the state commissioner for information and public enlightenment stated.
In his speech the commissioner divulged that Anambra Airport project was financially exclusive of the state government, a state with a GDP economy of N4.2 trillion. He dismissed allusions that the federal government was building the air terminal, though it has been “very cooperative in developing the airport.”
The commissioner informed that Allen Onyema, chairman of Air Peace, West Africa’s biggest airline, is among aviation chiefs who have visited the Anambra Airport in recent days, and expressed strong views about the vision and foresight and commitment of the state government in building the airport.
It is estimated that the airport will last up to 100 years because of the quality of the materials, and the competence of the contractors. The airport will be ready for commissioning in April next year.
Again, the Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, during a visit to the Minister for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, in his office in April, 2021, the governor had asked the minister to personally come and Commission the project by April 2021.
According to Governor Obiano “We are sure of the date because we have the money to complete it. We are not asking for any assistance, nor are we taking any loans. I am here personally to brief you on the project and to invite you to commission it for us in April 2021”
James Odaudu, the director of public affairs in the Ministry of Aviation subsequently issued a statement quoting the minister as lauding Governor Obiano on Anambra Cargo Airport to be ready in April 2021.
“The minister said that the project will positively impact on the economic development of the state and the South-east region as a whole; and that the Federal Ministry of Aviation and its agencies will always give the necessary guide and cooperation to states embarking on such projects in order to ensure that all internationally set standards are met.
Sirika said, “airports can be viable if they are built with specific objectives in mind, and expressed the belief that the Anambra airport will be successful in serving the interests of the trading population of the state and environs,” the Anambra information commissioner quoted the minister to have said.
It is also being predicted that the new airport, when it goes operational in April 2021, might just be able to challenge the MMA as one of the nation’s busiest air terminals, given the huge population and widely acknowledged dynamism of the people who constantly travel around the world.
Threats to completion
However, reactions from some indigenes of the community and top businessmen in the state shows that the expected end date might only be the beginning of another trouble in the aviation industry.
Doubts and claims revealed that the reality of having a functional airport by year 2021 is not valid, News Echo Reports.
Some indigenes of Umueri advised caution, arguing that “all that glitters” may not be gold! They held that it was bait set as gift to get Umueri to vote Akpokuodike Aguleri into office a second time.
But, some families in Mgbede, Umuatuolu and Ogbu villages in Umuleri Community, which had donated 729.606 hectares of land to Orient Petroleum Refinery for an Air Strip in 2006, when Dr. Chris Ngige was governor, but later upgraded to an airport, are now wailing over lost lands.
Addressing newsmen during the joint meetings, their spokesman, Ndumanya expressed doubt over the realization of the project, alleging that it was a ploy to dispossess the Umuleri Community of their ancestral land, which Obiano’s Aguleri Community could not actualize during the Aguleri– Umuleri war.
He said, “The government wants to take about 1901 hectares from us. We don’t know anything about Parcels B, C and D. It was government that generated those parcels, they are non-existent,” Ndumanya added.
While noting that the community welcomed the location of the Cargo Airport in the area, he alleged that government had not done up to six per cent of work on Parcel B, only to connive with land speculators to grab more land for the Willie Obiano Estate. He further claimed that agents of the state government have been sharing part of the land to some government officials and politicians.
Also the former National President, Umuleri National Youth Forum, Chibuzo Ekwenye, confirmed that the only portion of land the kindreds donated for the airport project was the one marked Parcel A to Orient Petroleum Resource Plc adding “they have started selling plots of land for estate development against the airport that was originally agreed upon.”
Recently a social media YouTube platform called the “Onye ije” has also made an airline video mocking the Anambra airport venture as a mirage. Nevertheless, counter claims seem to have taken another shape as some stakeholders and top business mogul in the state continue to laud the developmental initiative of the present government.
They also praised the Governor, Willie Obiano, over the ongoing Anambra Cargo Airport at Umuleri in Anambra East Council area, describing it as a legacy project that would redefine the socio-economic life of state and the South East zone.
National Chairman of the Willie Obiano Support Group, Chief Jude Emecheta, who is Managing Director and Chief Executive officer of Anambra State Signage and Advertising Agency (ANSAA) acknowledged that the project was strategically located in the agricultural, industrial and commercial hub of the state to accelerate the economic development of the zone and serve traders, farmers, industrialists and investors.
He pointed out that the Airport would also expand and increase the export capacity as goods and agricultural produce would be easily airlifted, thereby eliminating the cost of transporting goods to and from other airports to Anambra and make them cheaper for consumers.
Another stakeholder, Mike Omenugha, said the Airport would accelerate growth and development of key sectors of the state’s economy, boost its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and enhance sustainable development.
High Chief Nonso Obichigha, an Onitsha based businessman disclosed that business opportunities and employment will be made available to the masses. Tochukwu Ezenwa, an international businessman, on his part thanked the government for such facility adding that he is happy because his goods can now come direct home and not in Lagos making him minimize the cost of transportation.
Conclusively, the extent of his delivery on the project can only be determined at the first week of April 2021, the deadline for Anambra Airport.
