In celebration of the first airplane landing in the state, Senator Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation, officially opened the Ekiti State Agro-Allied Passenger International Airport on Saturday.
Coincidentally, the Ijan-Ado road airport in the state capital was the last project that Dr. Kayode Fayemi’s administration officially opened for use before he was removed from office as governor during a low-key event at the Government House.
Following the conclusion of Fayemi’s four-year term on Saturday, October 15, the newly elected governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji, would take office on Sunday, October 16, 2022, for a term of four years.
Sirika disclosed that the Federal Government would site a cargo facility at the airport, saying the Ekiti Airport was “an extremely very important project” which would facilitate the import and export of goods and commodities and drive the state economy.
The minister said, “I was at ABUAD, I saw the university, the farm, the industrial park and the hospital. If there is an airport here, it will connect people to this facility and reduce foreign medical tourism. Airports are by no means the best catalysts for economic growth of any state or nation.
“Thirty-five per cent of global trade by value is moved through airports and $18.6 billion of cargo is moved daily through air transportation. The wealthy among you should take to agriculture for example and begin to produce things that you will export to other parts of the world.
“You can be land-locked, but you cannot be sky-locked. We can all see the importance of having a facility like this. Thank you Mr Governor, you have provided this facility for the people of Ekiti State; they should own it, they should own it,” the minister said.
During his first government in 2012, especially on the final day of his term, Fayemi expressed satisfaction with the project’s achievement ten years after its inception, saying, “My job is done, Ekiti Kete.”
Fayemi stated that he, along with the Minister of Industry, Adeniyi Adebayo, and the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, had been making representations to the Federal Government on the state of federal roads in Ekiti. He gave the people of Ekiti the assurance that the dilapidated federal roads would be given attention to relieve users and complement the recently inaugurated airport.
The airport will revolutionize the state economy by allowing for more development and investment in Ekiti, according to Mr. Zhang Zichen, Chairman of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, which oversaw the project. This would be advantageous to both the state and the business community.
