Edo State Governor Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has commended President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration over its developmental strides in the aviation sector of the country.

The Governor who made the remark today while commissioning the remodelled Benin Airport said the action goes to prove that all that is needed for change is will and commitment.

Comrade Oshiomhole also appreciated the Minister for the commitment to resurface the airport Tarmac as he appealed for facilities that will enable the airport operate at Night.

The Minister for aviation in an interview with newsmen said the efforts in the aviation sector is already leading to low airfares adding that all that has been achieved is due to commitment and a mind-set that is poised at the welfare of the Nigerian people.

The remodelled airport at peak period can service 500 passengers conveniently.

Source: http://www.channelstv.com/home/2013/03/09/oshiomhole-commissions-remodelled-benin-airport/


*It shows a sign of political maturity for Oshiomhole (an APC governor) to commission a project initiated by a PDP President. This action by the governor is indeed exemplary.

Here is a pic of the terminal:

He try oh, Oshimowole.

Benin airport was begging for renovation. ABC bus station was better than the old benin airport

ifyalways: He try oh, Oshimowole.

Benin airport was begging for renovation. ABC bus station was better than the old benin airport

LOL. I'm glad it wears a new look.
It's spelt as 'Oshiomhole'

Na supermarket?

sheyie2007: Na supermarket?

Lol.. It is not a supermarket. That pic shows the 'mall' section of the airport. Most airports in other parts of the world have such facilities.

Waste of money for a government that is absolutely clueless .while there are more pressing issues like healthcare,pipe borne water ,agriculture etc. this government is busy wasting money on unviable airports.
A good administrator would have probably shut these glorified landing strips down baring in mind that most of them are not commercially viable . The government has to continue to fund these loss making airports from the already small capital vote.
There lies the difference between good manager and bad ones. While millions are nigerians are dying of hunger,the elites are eager to look for more space to park their toys.
A bloated federal government with too much money in her pocket without a clue of what to do with it.apart from Lagos ,port harcourt, ibadan,Enugu,Kano and Abuja.no other state has the critical mass of upper class and middle class people that would make any of this airports viable. Even some of the listed states have question mark on them?
I clap not. For this is just a further proof or lack of capability of the president and his team to lift the country out of its current doldrums and set it's priorities straight. Borrowing money to pay salaries at a time of high oil prices and spending money like a drunken sailor.The same thing shagari did which crashed the nigerian economy when the credit ran out.
in the past , they mortgaged your children,now they are mortgaging your country.IDIOTS.

bloggernaija: Waste of money for a government that is absolutely clueless .while there are more pressing issues like healthcare,pipe borne water ,agriculture etc. this government is busy wasting money on unviable airports.
A good administrator would have probably shut these glorified landing strips down baring in mind that most of them are not commercially viable . The government has to continue to fund these loss making airports from the already small capital vote.
There lies the difference between good manager and bad ones. While millions are nigerians are dying of hunger,the elites are eager to look for more space to park their toys.
A bloated federal government with too much money in her pocket without a clue of what to do with it.apart from Lagos ,port harcourt, ibadan,Enugu,Kano and Abuja.no other state has the critical mass of upper class and middle class people that would make any of this airports viable. Even some of the listed states have question mark on them?
I clap not. For this is just a further proof or lack of capability of the president and his team to lift the country out of its current doldrums and set it's priorities straight. Borrowing money to pay salaries at a time of high oil prices and soending money like a drunken sailor.The same thing shagari did that crashed the nigerian economy.

I share your concerns on the commercial viability of the airport. However, I don't subscribe to the notion of totally closing down such airports. They could be used as emergency-landing strips for planes that have an emergency. Also, with the economic transformation going on in Edo State; I think the airport will become so busy in years to come. The govt should sell at least, 70% of the ownership of some of these airports too.

bloggernaija: Waste of money for a government that is absolutely clueless .while there are more pressing issues like healthcare,pipe borne water ,agriculture etc. this government is busy wasting money on unviable airports.
A good administrator would have probably shut these glorified landing strips down baring in mind that most of them are not commercially viable . The government has to continue to fund these loss making airports from the already small capital vote.
There lies the difference between good manager and bad ones. While millions are nigerians are dying of hunger,the elites are eager to look for more space to park their toys.
A bloated federal government with too much money in her pocket without a clue of what to do with it.apart from Lagos ,port harcourt, ibadan,Enugu,Kano and Abuja.no other state has the critical mass of upper class and middle class people that would make any of this airports viable. Even some of the listed states have question mark on them?
I clap not. For this is just a further proof or lack of capability of the president and his team to lift the country out of its current doldrums and set it's priorities straight. Borrowing money to pay salaries at a time of high oil prices and spending money like a drunken sailor.The same thing shagari did which crashed the nigerian economy when the credit ran out.
in the past , they mortgaged your children,now they are mortgaging your country.IDIOTS.

While I note some sane points raised in your post, I beg to disagree that Benin Airport is not viable. Benin Airport due to Edo State's proximity to several state can be expanded to a regional hub. The sad reality is that we do not have a government that truly thinks rightly. It would only take redirecting of some regional flights to Benin Airport, get a good transportation link between the Airport and neighborhood states in place and that Airport and Benin City would even be more vibrant than what it is today.

bloggernaija: Waste of money for a government that is absolutely clueless .while there are more pressing issues like healthcare,pipe borne water ,agriculture etc. this government is busy wasting money on unviable airports.
A good administrator would have probably shut these glorified landing strips down baring in mind that most of them are not commercially viable . The government has to continue to fund these loss making airports from the already small capital vote.
There lies the difference between good manager and bad ones. While millions are nigerians are dying of hunger,the elites are eager to look for more space to park their toys.
A bloated federal government with too much money in her pocket without a clue of what to do with it.apart from Lagos ,port harcourt, ibadan,Enugu,Kano and Abuja.no other state has the critical mass of upper class and middle class people that would make any of this airports viable. Even some of the listed states have question mark on them?
I clap not. For this is just a further proof or lack of capability of the president and his team to lift the country out of its current doldrums and set it's priorities straight. Borrowing money to pay salaries at a time of high oil prices and spending money like a drunken sailor.The same thing shagari did which crashed the nigerian economy when the credit ran out.
in the past , they mortgaged your children,now they are mortgaging your country.IDIOTS.

Crass unintelligence!!
So because we dont have pipe borne water, all other forms of development should cease?? So until we raise the healthcare standards completely we shouldn't touch infrastructure? Absolute nonsense. Maybe you didn't realize that there is a reason there are different ministries covering different sectors. Maybe you didn't realise that the Aviation Ministry isn't suppose to fix healthcare or pipeborne water.

I dont understand what you mean when you say Benin airport is not commercially viable.
Have you ever been there? Do you have any figures to buttress your claim that the airport is not commercially viable?? Nonsense!!

An airport that had over 400,000 passengers last year and generated ticket sales of over 10 billion Naira and grew by 8% is not viable?? You mentioned 5 cities that you feel have a viable middle class and hence deserve airports. That has simply given you away as someone that is depending on his 1980 secondary school text book to understand the topography of current day Nigeria.
FYI Benin Airport is the 5th most viable airport in the country after Lagos, Abuja, PHC and Warri. The Ibadan Airport you mentioned had less than forty thousand passengers compared to Benin's over 400,000 passengers.

I think you are not a viable person and should not be listened to.

Nigeria would make progress whether you like it or not.




Her are statistics on passenger numbers for Nigeria airports. You can see the viable and unviable.
http://www.faannigeria.org/statistics.html

Established in 1979 to cater for a traffic of over 200 passengers daily, the Benin Airport is being remodeled by the Federal Government to now accommodate about 400 passengers at a time.

Briefing members of the National Good Governance Tour at the Airport on Sunday, the Airport Manager, Mr. Ayodele Sunday said “because of the improvement in the socio-economic activities of the State it was impossible to accommodate users of the airport. He said for a very long time the airport was more or less abandoned.

“We thank God that we have a President and also a Minister (Aviation) that is very visionary and they are agents of transformation.

[b]“If you were here 11years ago, it was actually an airport that one would consider in shambles. It was totally neglected. It is an airport that now goes along with a lot of compliments. Before, we did not have Airconditioning, now we do. The conveyor belt will come, and just yesterday we also took delivery of 1000KVA generator and everything has been going on smoothly.

He said previously the airport only had Arrival and Departure halls but now it has a public concourse.

“Apart from the completed Departure and Arrival halls, also completed are the ticketing/airline offices.

In addition, also being constructed simultaneously is a new control tower as well as improved weather forecast equipment and new terminal building.

He equally informed that to raise air safety, a Wind Shear Alarm System has been installed at the airport.

Sunday further stated that total VHF coverage has also been achieved at the Airport. According to him, the console the airport started with has been replaced with the new equipment.

“An aircraft that now takes off from Lagos can contact Benin. All the controllers are now very busy because Benin is an enroute station. Aircrafts going to Port Harcourt, going to Enugu, Asaba, Warri are being controlled here.

While commending the work done so far, the Nigeria Union of Journalists President, Mallam Mohammed Garba assured that the media would follow up on the project to verify that the commissioning takes place in two weeks as promised by the airport manager.

The Minister of Works, Arc. Mike Onolememen, who hales from Edo State praised the aviation Minister for totally transforming the Benin airport.

“If you used to know what the Benin airport used to look like and what it is today you will better appreciate the works that has been done here. It is a very good sign of the many good things that will happen not only in the Aviation Sector but indeed other sectors of the national economy as encapsulated in the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan”, the Works Minister stated.

“My only plea to FAAN is that they develop a means of sustaining this development because sustainability is key”, he added[/b].

The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku noted that the country was now having standard airports that could measure up with those all over the world.

He said “The airports before now were like poultry sheds. If you go to old Akure Airport you would know what that kind of vision was. And an airport must have space for the operation of other businesses around the airport. I want to commend the Minister of Aviation again, Princes Stella Oduah for her drive and what she had done in our airports.

“This is the 11th airport under transformation. Kano has been commissioned, Lagos has been commissioned and Benin is virtually ready for commissioning with the exception of the lighting system which is being done to ensure this place has light to carry the new A.Cs.

“We also have 100 percent radar coverage of Nigerian Airspace now. Anyone who flies into Nigeria from anywhere, we will pick you on our radar. This has been done in the last two years to ensure safety.

Responding to a question the Information Minister said Nigeria was not the only country having airports within city vicinity. He said

“It is our belief that God helping us, because even accidents could still occur with the most equipped airports. There are certain elements that are beyond human control but as we get more equipment, better aircrafts, better safety equipment accidents will reduce to the barest minimum.

He said the Ministry of Aviation, Private Sector operators and banks were working together to access newer aircrafts, pointing out however that the issue was not necessarily with the age of an aircraft but maintenance

http://fmi.gov.ng/nggt-edo-fg-upgrades-benin-airport-to-service-400-passengers/