Ekiti does not need an airport

On November 14 last year, this column, in a piece titled Ekiti, the day after, congratulated Governor Ayodele Fayose on his victory at the governorship polls. In it, I admitted his popularity among the Ekiti people who, despite their academic prowess, never forget their rustic roots; and I concluded with a warning that he should not disappoint his people.

But it seemed Fayose’s sagacity does not extend to the economic arena and perhaps his is only politics of expediency and popularity without a coherent and well-thought-out plan for the development of the state. For a governor who came out in support of the nomination of his predecessor as minister whom he defeated at the polls, his latest misadventure seems to confirm the opinion of those who think of him as a nitwit devoid of rigour.

I mean how does the governor of a state whose last allocation from the federation account was N2.4 billion with a wage bill of N2.6 billion in the same period as stated by him in an interview with Daily Sun of October 18 think of building an airport? For a governor who could not pay salaries until he was rescued by a so-called bailout from the federal government and who inherited a debt of N25 billion of money sourced from the capital market and N31 billion commercial bank loans, again information courtesy of the governor, to think that the only way he can develop the state and attract the mythical ‘foreign investors’ is by building an airport, all rational citizens should be afraid.

Initially when the news broke that the Ekiti State government would build an airport, I laughed it off as a joke and that it was like tea-leaves at the bottom of a cup, not something into which you should read much. By the way, lest I am accused of pointing out the speck in my brother’s eye without removing the log in mine, I plead guilty of coming from a state where the governor has embarked on a similar misadventure. I speak of Osun State whose governor, despite receiving a bailout for the sole purpose of clearing a backlog of salary arrears which has kept many workers at home for nearly a year, is still going on with a cargo airport. The less said about the actions of Mr. Rauf Aregbesola as governor, the better for our sanity.

But I still think Fayose’s government can perhaps be rescued so that he does not snuff life out of Ekiti economy. In the interview I referred to above, he said the project would not be executed via a public private partnership and that’s why he is looking for N3 billion to build the airport. That contradicts the figures being bandied around ranging from N9 billion, N11 billion and N17 billion in comments by different officials of the state government so the governor should come out and tell the world how much exactly the project is going to cost. Presently, 4000 hectares of land spanning Ado-Ijan-Igbemo and Afao Ekiti has been cleared for the project and for those of us who know Ekiti well, that space must have included land used for the cultivation of the famed Igbemo rice, meaning that some farmers must have lost their means of livelihood. True, the governor has said that compensation would be paid to those whose land will be used for the project.

Other facts are important too. These include the reality that there is an airport at Akure, the Ondo State capital, a distance of about 30 minutes to Ado Ekiti contrary to the one-hour, 30 minutes the governor claimed in the interview. Further, driving from Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to Ado Ekiti should not take more than 90 minutes or 120 at the maximum, so what’s the need for an airport in Ekiti? Ado to Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, is roughly two hours while you don’t need more than four hours to get to Abuja, which has an international airport.

This project is nothing more than a megalomaniac action by the governor, which is in the usual pattern of public officials in our country. Look for a huge project to help yourself to the public till, simple. The argument that it was the federal government under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua who gave approval for the project in 2009 does not hold water. It also contradicted Fayose’s statement that it was former Governor Segun Oni who started the project. The folks in Abuja presently have more issues to contend with than building an airport or can’t the governor read their body language? How many airports have regular flights? I wonder if Nigerians remember that there are airports in Gombe and Dutse? By the way what happened to Ekiti, the famed warriors of old, that they have not risen up to challenge this misadventure?