By Adeyinka Adeniran
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state on Sunday said one of the topmost thing in his heart to achieve for the state in 2025 is the completion of the upgrade of the Ibadan airport to international standards before the year runs out.
Makinde who said although, he has been getting so much banter on the viability of the facility said efforts being put in place so far by his administration will make the airport viable and compete favorably with the Muritala Mohammed International airport, Lagos.
He spoke in a remarks at the Annual Thanksgiving Service held at Rehoboth Cathedral, Victory Land Complex, Oluyole Estate Extension, Off Ring Road, Ibadan.
According to the governor, the Ibadan airport was original designed to be an alternative airport to Lagos from day one.
He also seized the opportunity to disclose some goals his administration is hoping to work on in the year.
He thanked the Church and people of the state for their consistent prayers and intercessions which he said helped his administration to sail through the 2024 safely.
Makinde said ” I would like to say thank you to the church for remembering the administration every time in your prayers. Because it’s a tough environment. If not for the prayers, for the intercessions, we wouldn’t have been able to make some of this progress that you see and say, well, you have a government.
“You have been a source of joy and inspiration to us as an administration for this past almost six years now. When we started, not up to seven months, Covid-19 hit.
“It was an uncharted territory we had to manage through. And with prayers and words of encouragement from the church and also several other lovers of this administration, God has sustained us up until this moment. So please don’t relent. 2025, we’re in this together.
“And one of the major projects that we know we will deliver this year, that is very much after my heart, is the Ibadan airport to upgrade it into international standards. Some people have said, oh no, it’s a project that is not viable. Why are we spending money on it? There are airports in Nigeria that are not viable.
“And they will also tell me that Ibadan is very close to Lagos. Yes, that is true. But Ibadan airport should have been an alternative airport to Lagos from day one.
“When we came in, there was no aviation full storage or dispensing facility at Ibadan airport. How would it be viable if planes cannot come and refuel in this place? Airplanes will drop people’s luggages in Abuja because they have to carry enough fuel to bring them to Ibadan and take them back to Abuja. So how will the airport be viable? So now we put aviation fuel storage and dispensing facility in there.
“And yesterday, I saw with my eyes an airplane being refueled at our airport in Ibadan. So we’ve removed one of the obstacles that is making the airport not to be viable. We’re also extending the runway. If you have a runway that cannot take more than a Boeing 737, we’re extending it. A 787 will land in Ibadan airport shortly.
“We made a terminal that is only good for maybe 100,000 people yearly. How will it be viable? So we’re building a new terminal that can take 1 million passengers yearly through that airport.
“And if you’re flying from London to Lagos, which we almost always do, what you actually do is that you fly 17 minutes into Lagos past Ibadan, and then you now use two hours to come back here through the road. If you don’t have to do that, if they can just drop you here 20 minutes before they will get to Lagos, who will go to Lagos?
“So Ibadan airport, with what we’re doing, it will be viable and it will compete favorably with Lagos. Please keep supporting us.
“That project, the airstrip, will be delivered this year. The terminal will be delivered first quarter of next year. We have deployed the resources. It’s your money. It’s your state money.”
He said further, “I also have the circular road. The first segment, 32 kilometers from Technical University to Badeku, will be delivered this year. So please continue to pray for us. Continue to support this administration.
“My only charge is, please, we have the rule of law enforcement authority. People will say that, well, you cannot be hard on the people. Yes, we don’t want to be hard on anybody. When I came in about five plus years ago, I said, I sold bread for my own mother. I said we will not take people off the streets until we build something for them where they can stay in.
“And we have been doing that at Agodi Gates, at a Challenge. We’re building one at Ojo. But please, we’re expanding the road. We are doing all of this so that people can shorten the travel time between point A and point B, so that economic activities can occur quickly. So we must be ready to obey our own rules and regulations. Don’t dump refuse on the road median.
He further pledged to do more for the people of the state in the new year, urging the people to also turn a new leaf to workinh for the good of the state.
“I will do more for the people. But I ask our people also to turn a new leaf and be responsible for our actions. So for me, it’s just to be thankful to God for being alive, for being able to see the beginning of this year, 2025. And by God’s grace, we’ll all see the end of the year.”
Earlier in his thanksgiving sermon, Bishop Taiwo Adelakun urged the people to be thankful to God noting that a thankful heart will receive more from God.
He said Thanksgiving among other things will bring about perfection, multiplication and resurrection for those who give it warning that ingratitude is a sign a being proud.
He said the person who doesn’t thank God for what he got from Him looses the right to another thing from God, adding that God wants us to be thankful to him so he can do more for us.
The cleric however called on the people to continue to support the government through their prayers so that it can deliver more dividend of democracy and good governance.
