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From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has revealed the reason he initially did not subscribe to the construction of an airport in the state during his first term in office.
According to him, he was opposed to building the airport because the state at that time was not financially buoyant enough to execute the project.
Fayemi, who governed the state between 2010–2014 and 2018–2022, commended the current Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, for ensuring the completion and functionality of the airport project.
He also lauded the commitment of the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), for his huge financial investment towards ensuring the successful completion of the airport.
He made the remarks at the inauguration of commercial flight operations at the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday.
“I want to acknowledge Mr Tunde Omotoba, the Aviation Minister when I became Governor in 2010. When I became Governor he came to me to talk about this airport and my first reaction to him was no! This is not Ekiti’s priority. I do not have the resources to pursue it. And he said we have allocated some money in the budget for the airport. What we needed to do was ensure that we are ready to continue the process that Governor Segun Oni had started. At that point I felt we had enough on our plate and it was the early days of my administration.
“But as a researcher, I am also somebody who bows to superior argument, so we had a compromise and I said I will set up a committee that will review the viability of this airport and I will make Aare Afe Babalola the Chairman of that committee. And Aare Babalola accepted and he said I know you said this is not Ekiti’s priority. He was not very happy with me that I said the airport he was very committed to will not be the priority of our government. And I said sir, I have given you the opportunity. If you can give me the evidence and proof that this airport will really thrive, we will look for the money.
“The late Sir Remi Omotoso was the Vice Chairman of the committee. Dr Tunji Olowolafe and a couple of other people were also in that committee. They did a brilliant work, submitted a report that convinced me. And they wanted two things, they mentioned Education and Agriculture that if we can drive the airport with the work in those two sectors, it will be possible for us to make it a viable project.
“But by the time I agreed to do that Governor Fayose and his gang came from Abuja. They came from Abuja with federal might and you know the rest of the story. But he didn’t jettison the project. He agreed with Aare Babalola to continue. He worked on it, took the report that we left and worked on the site and also worked on the compensation.
“Again, when I was elected into office, of course, we inherited both the assets and liabilities of government. We continued from where Governor Fayose stopped. The communities were insisting they have to be paid. I took it to our cabinet the report of 2012 that was produced by Aare Afe Babalola and the team. And surprisingly, in the Ekiti cabinet I was almost a lone ranger because my cabinet colleagues were also not very keen on it. They said we have too many problems and we didn’t have the resources. But in fairness, particularly our Commissioner of Finance, Akintunde Oyebode, he came to me and said where are we going to find the money? We don’t have the money. We can’t build an airport.”
Fayemi continued: “But I give due credit to the current Governor, Biodun Oyebanji. He was my Secretary of State then. But in one particular fierce argument after an exco meeting, he and Akintunde came to see me. And if you know Akintunde he would always stand by his belief. And he said these are the numbers, Mr Governor, explain where this money will come from? And Mr Biodun Oyebanji said, well, you may be right, but we have God. And if Mr Governor says we are going to build this airport, we will do it, Akintunde. Go and look for the money. The Governor was very insistent, very supportive. We started looking for the funds. We didn’t have the funds. By the time we eventually approached the various contractors, we had a really great partner in CCECC which eventually took on as the contractor.
“Initially, one of the contractors told us you want to build an airport and you are going to pay us N11 billion for a runway, taxiway, apron and control terminal building. It is not possible. We have just won a contract to build the second runway in the Abuja airport and the contract was awarded to us for N93 billion. Why are we going to build your own for N11 billion? And we said that is what we have. You have to build it. Even if it will mean you do it without making your necessary profit.
“And lo and behold, CCECC took on the job and started the work on the leap of faith. So the story continued. We started. Turned the sod on the 19 of October 2019. And then COVID started January or February 2020. And CCECC could not start any work a whole year because of COVID. We eventually started full construction in 2021 and we still managed to finish the runway, taxiway, the apron by the time we were still in office and also the test flight happened.
“And thankfully, there was no gang in 2022. Our party continued in office and that SSG who was passionately arguing that we must build an airport even when my Finance Commissioner was reluctant, then became the Governor, so he had no choice than to find a way to look for the money. He is a faithful believer in God’s words. And the resources that we didn’t have, all of a sudden appeared and he was able to do some of the things that were not completed including making this viable according to the regulatory authorities for commercial flight operation.”
Speaking further, he said: “We must commend the passionate commitment of Aare Afe Babalola. We are not necessarily the best of friends like many people will know, but we really don’t have any quarrel except over this airport because he felt I wasn’t too keen to build the airport, but that is not correct as many may now confirm.
“We thank our Governor for staying the course, for not saying this is not my project, this is Oga’s project. He has seen it as an Ekiti project and the developing plan of Ekiti has accumulated this. Now the two projects that we hinged this on, Agriculture and Education, have now also gained added advantage.”
In his remarks, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), described the facility as an addition to the growth of the country’s aviation sector.
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The Minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, Prof. Yakubu Adam Kofarmata, described the inaugural commercial flight as a historic milestone and a practical example of the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu in his efforts to sustain job creation.
The inaugural commercial flight, UN 0622, landed at the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport from Abuja at exactly 11:00 a.m. and was welcomed by the Governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji, former Governor Segun Oni, Commissioners, Special Advisers and Technical Advisers, among others.
The aircraft had in its cabin the Permanent Secretary of the Aviation Ministry, Yakubu Adam Kofarmata, former Governors of Ekiti State, Niyi Adebayo, Ayodele Fayose and Kayode Fayemi, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, among others.
The second commercial flight, UN 0623, however, took off at exactly 12:13 p.m. and departed for Lagos.
Leading the delegation of three Senators and six Federal House of Representatives members representing Ekiti, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, congratulated Governor Oyebanji for the success, hailing him for not embracing partisan politics by bringing all the past Governors together for the development of Ekiti, noting that the airport will bring about further development to the entire state.
The Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, appreciated the Governor for giving his company the conducive environment to operate.
He reaffirmed the airline’s commitment to linking Ekiti to the world.
Okonkwo noted that the state wouldn’t have recorded such achievements without continuity of government, assuring the state that the airline would soon begin flights to other states in the country.
Aare Afe Babalola commended Governor Biodun Oyebanji for his commitment towards ensuring the full operation of the airport.
He expressed that he would continue to provide support aimed at ensuring the growth and development of the state.
Babalola, represented by ABUAD’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, said the state is also in dire need of a railway station that would operate from Osogbo to Ado-Ekiti and further to Onitsha in Eastern Nigeria, to provide a faster, safer and more affordable means of transporting goods and people in a modern economy.
Governor Oyebanji disclosed that the state has so far spent a total sum of N49.7 billion on the construction and development of the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport.
According to him, the facility is one of the largest infrastructure investments in the state’s history.
Governor Oyebanji explained that between May 2019 and October 2022, under the administration of former Governor Kayode Fayemi, the state spent about N14 billion on early phases of the project, with the expenditure covering compensation, site preparation, regulatory approvals, runway construction, taxiway, terminal building works, access roads, initial perimeter fencing, aprons, power houses and the first firefighting truck.
The Governor attributed the success of the airport to the contributions of the past Governors, who according to him meant well for the betterment of the state.
He also commended the efforts of Aare Afe Babalola for his enormous financial contributions, which accelerated the full functionality and operations of the airport.
Other dignitaries at the event included the Deputy Governor, Mrs Monisade Afuye, Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Stephen Aribasoye, Commissioners, Special Advisers, royal fathers and former deputy governors, among others.
