Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has told the Minister of Aviation Mr. Babatunde Omotoba, not to do anything that would affect activities at the Benin Airport, Edo State.


Omotoba had threatened at the weekend to shut down the airport this week, saying “the Benin Airport is now a subject of controversy. My initial plan is to work on the runway and, of course, I have included the runway in my plan.

“I want to rehabilitate the entire length of the runway in 2010 so that we just take 20 metres in the middle and do it all through to ensure that the runway remains taxi-able for the next several years.”
The minister, however, said that despite the efforts by the Federal Government to upgrade the status of the airport, “there have been so much complaints about the noise from the aircraft disturbing people”.

But Oshiomhole urged him to retrace his steps and avoid any action that would pose danger to the socio-economic lives of the people and passengers from the South-South and South-East geo-political zones, travelling through the  airport.

The governor, who spoke at the seventh convocation ceremony of the Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, said the airport remains a strategic asset to the state as the third largest in the country, warning that “the government should not celebrate incompetence through its closure”.

Oshiomhole said the Federal Government should, as a matter of priority, “fix the airport as simply as they can instead of resorting to empty threats as such hard measure does not amount to patriotism”.
According to him, “his business as a minister is to make sure that the airports work, not to preside over their closures. He should work to rebuild the airport, that is just the issue. The point is that we need to see beyond our nose. You plan in advance. Whatever is the thing that is not in place, they ought to have pursued it and begin to fix it.

“You don’t wait for everything to pack up and then you close down an airport and cause social and economic dislocations.

“As a minister, his business is to make sure the airport is fixed and he should also ensure that in doing that, you create minimum discomfort. No agency should celebrate or be happy that you shut down a major facility that will have profound impact on the social and economic life of the place.”

Already National Assembly members from the South-South and the South-East zones have dared the minister to shut down the airport and face the consequences.

The member representing Uhunmwonde Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Mr. Samson Osagie, who expressed the displeasure of his and his colleagues, said the minister’s threat, if carried out, would cripple the economy of not only Edo State but the entire two geo-political zones.
At the convocation ceremony, where 755 students graduated, some eminent Nigerians were conferred with honourary doctorate degrees for their outstanding contributions to various fields of human endeavour.

They include the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Yayale Ahmed (Doctor of Public Administration); Governor Muhammed Danjuma Goje of Gombe State (Doctor of  Administration) and Chief David Osunde (Doctor of Humanities), among others.

Source

Benin Airport: Omotoba Stirs The Hornet’s Nest

By Abel Orukpe, Correspondent, Lagos




The Minister of Aviation, Babatunde Omotoba, is now synonymous with controversy.

Last September when Arik Air and Bi-Courtney Aviation Service Limited (BASL) were at each others’ throat over the manner in which the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) was handed over to BASL at about 6 p.m., it was alleged that the minister was in the know about what transpired.

He was not only alleged to have masterminded the controversial handover, he was also said to have made statements to the effect that before GAT will be handed over, portakabin would be provided for the airlines to check-in passengers and that the entire structure will not be pulled down.

That was what he told reporters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This was not eventually done before it was hurriedly handed over. Ever since, Omotoba has been embattled.

There were insinuations at the heat of the GAT war that President Umaru Yar’Adua would have fired the minister, but for pleas from some higher quarters, he was allowed to stay. His offence may not be unconnected with the allegation that he has succeeded in heating up the polity in the aviation industry.

Today, Omotoba has started another controversy; the relocation of Benin Airport from its present location. This is due to what the minister said is its nearness to the city. Other airports in Nigeria that are in the city just like the Benin airport include; Enugu, Lagos and Calabar.

The comment by the minister has once again generated controversy, as the Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole and Gabriel Igbinedion have criticised the minister’s statement in strong terms. Other Nigerians have also reacted to the controversial statement.

Oshiomhole condemned the planned movement of the airport, calling on the minister of aviation not to take actions that would pose danger to the social and economic lives of people and passengers from the south south and south east geo-political zones of the country that use the Benin airport.

He said the Federal Government should not celebrate incompetence and mediocrity through its closure.

According to the governor: “What I expect is that his business as a minister is to make sure that the airports work, not to preside over their closure. He should work to rebuild the airport; that is the issue. The point is that we need to see beyond our nose. You plan in advance, whatever is the thing that is not in place, they ought to have pursued it and begun to fix it.

“You do not wait for everything to pack up and then you close down an airport and cause social and economic dislocation,” Oshiomole said.

The governor warned that the closure of the airport would cause economic devastation to many Edo people and also retard the progress of the state as the airport records average of 18 flights per day.

Oshiomhole has a point in his protest against the closure of the airport. Nigeria, being a member of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), does not have policy to regulate noise pollution at the airports.

The Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’ Edo Akpolokpolo Erediawa, had asked the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to stop aircraft from flying over his palace, as it constitutes noise hazards there.

Oba Erediawa made the appeal when the board and management of NAMA paid him an official visit in his palace in Benin City on December 1.

The monarch told the team led by Abubakar Kawu Baraje that NAMA should look into the issue and direct aircraft to fly through the Ogba River when taking off and landing instead of flying across his palace, as they are usually very noisy when they fly across.

The Oba, who went down memory lane, said that his father in 1936, when the Benin airport was still an aerodrome, had warned that no plane must be allowed to fly across either when taking off or landing.

He added that at a stage during the regime of a particular military governor, whose name he did not mention, it was alleged that aircraft were flying across his palace because the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) mast was obstructing the route of the aircraft and to avoid accident in the air, aircraft were flying across the palace.

The royal father said that the problem was addressed then, as NTA was asked to re-mount its mast so that aircraft could stay off the Oba’s palace.

In his words: “Please, look into this for me. It has been done before .You can do it again.”

Earlier, Baraje had told the Oba that NAMA was in his palace to find solution to the Oba’s complaint about the hazards posed by aircraft flying over his palace.

The NAMA board chairman said that as a board that has respect for tradition and institution, it could not fold its arms and watch a traditional ruler as revered as the Oba of Benin and not address the issue complained about.

“We discovered that it was a genuine complaint. We cannot treat it with a wave of hand and we have decided to look at the case dispassionately,” Baraje assured the monarch.

He added that after carefully looking into the issue with his team of engineers, the board decided to come and brief the Oba of both the short and long term solutions.

The short term solution, the chairman, said is for aircraft to use runway 05 to lessen the number of aircraft using runway 023, adding that aircraft make a lot of noise as a result of technical maneuver during take off and landing.

He stated that with the new arrangement aircraft can use runway 05, which faces Ogba River provided the weather is conducive, as weather condition dictates the landing and take off of aircraft.

The long time solution, Baraje said is the relocation of the airport, adding that be that as it may, the relocation of airports is the responsibility of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), as NAMA is responsible for the management of the airspace.

He said that if the relocation of the airport, which is the suggested long term measure becomes the final solution, the team, Ministry of Aviation, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and FAAN will visit the royal father again to tell him what the agencies would need.

However, days after the visit by Baraje, news filtered in that the minister of aviation was also in Benin, where he was alleged to have said that the Benin airport will be relocated.

Igbenedion, who was reported to have called a press conference in Benin, described the comment by the minister as an empty threat. He was also reported to have said that that the minister’s comment was a grand design to enable the new international airports proposed by Delta State to flourish at the detriment of the Benin airport.

Plans, the chief was quoted to have said, are in the pipeline to submit a proposal to the Presidency on why it has become necessary to upgrade the airport in Benin from its present status to an international airport to join the likes of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMA), Lagos, Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Port Harcourt and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano in view of the fact that the airport is one of the busiest in Nigeria.

He asked Edo people to challenge the minister’s comments, alleging that it was the same thing that happened to him when his airline was still operating and people were calling for the removal of Okada Airline hanger but that it took the intervention of former President Ibrahim Babangida, who he said, came to rescue him.

Benin airport dream was conceived in 1936, when it was called aerodrome before it metamorphosed to an airport in 1988.

As the planned relocation of the airport by Omotoba continues, the Edo people in line with the reaction of Oshiomhole, argued that the relocation will greatly affect commercial activities in the state negatively, in view of the fact that Edo State, apart from being a civil servant state, does not have companies and multinationals like Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja.

Therefore, any attempt to frustrate the state generally and make Benin City a sleeping capital will be resisted.

Coupled with the fact that the Benin-Shagamu Expressway is now a death trap to road users, the Edo people are not taking the comment by the minister lying low because the only alternative means of transport by Edo people and other Nigerians, who want to go through Benin City, is the Benin airport, and its relocation will not be supported.

Today Benin airport is serviced by Associated Airline, Aero Contractors and Arik Air, with Nigerian Eagle Airlines waiting for the right aircraft before competing with these three airlines on the route.

Omotoba graduated from the University of Benin in September 1990 with a first class honours degree in civil engineering. He was nominated as best graduate from the University in 1989/1990 session out of over 6,000 graduates.

He was also the best graduate award from the Faculty of Engineering in 1990. He also won three universities and one state scholarship.

The minister, who is an associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), won the first prize in professional examination in May 1996, third prize in foundation exam in May 1995 and best prize in quantitative analysis in foundation examination.

Omotoba, who holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Kellogg School of Management, North Western University, Evanston, U.S.A, majors in finance, entrepreneurship, management strategy and real estate management.




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