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From Fred Itua, Abuja
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike and his counterpart in Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, have resolved the hydra-headed dispute regarding the establishment of a second runway for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Executive Council, had in March 2022, approved the second runway. The project was broken into four components. The project was also meant for commissioning by June of 2023.
Jiwa Community which hosts the runway, resisted the eviction from their ancestral lands and demanded compensation from government.
Addressing community leaders and other stakeholders, yesterday, Wike said he understood their pains and would do all in his power to get them their dues. He, therefore, directed the immediate payment of N825 million in compensation to the affected land owners.
Speaking on the resolutions of the meeting, Wike said: “We have been able to resolve amicably with the community, and contractors will now move to site. The FCT through the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) will release the money approved for compensation and settlement of those who are there. The total value is N825.82 million for the compensation and resettlement.
“As part of the incentives to the community, 12 immediate employment from the Ministry of Aviation and its agencies as the case maybe, and 10 from the Federal Capital Territory Administration will go to the Jiwa community. We are going to construct Tunga Madaki Bridge, which we will put in the 2024 budget, with a 5 kilometre road. We are going to provide a modern healthcare facility for the community.
“The permanent secretaries from the Ministry of Aviation and that of the FCTA, the Sarkin Jiwa, AMAC chairman and the commissioner, Public Complaints Commission (FCT) will sign the agreement reached between government and Jiwa Community, and if that is done today, by tomorrow or next, the moment the money gets to them, the contractors will no longer delay as they have to move to the site immediately and commence work. So, the second runway has come to stay. I know how you are feeling. I am from a community where government has taken virtually all our land for development. So, if there is anything that should be done to make you happy, I will carry it on my head.
“But the truth remains that what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong. If the Aviation ministry them had concerned themselves with the runway project alone, we wouldn’t have found ourselves here but they came to usurp the job of the FCTA.
“We have only one runway. How would you feel if something happens to that runway tomorrow? It means there will be no flights. In a city as big and cosmopolitan as Abuja?”
Keyamo, in his earlier remarks, said the Ministry erred in the past by dabbling into issues outside its remit. “The timeline to commission the second runway was sometime in June or July 2023 and we have not even mobilized to site by now. It is not the business of Aviation to assess compensation in matters of land in the FCT. So, I want to appeal to the community whatever you discussed with Aviation before was totally outside the powers of Aviation. It is within the powers of the FCTA to do that.”
