It was cheers galore as the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja resumed for operations one day ahead of schedule after a six-week closure to rehabilitate its dilapidated runway. For the period of its closure, all Abuja-bound flights were routed through Kaduna Airport, raising concerns about the risks of moving passengers by either rail or road to Abuja.
In the end, most of the fears were unfounded as there wasn’t a single untoward incident while the repairs lasted and air patrons had to use the provided alternatives. In fact, the six-week window gave the Kaduna Airport the rare privilege to showcase its facilities and potentials to the country and the outside world. It also afforded government the opportunity to project the impessive Kaduna-Abuja rail services. The closure also gave government the opportunity to improve the other facilities on offer at the Abuja Airport, especially the terminal halls.
We, therefore, join President Muhammadu Buhari in commending the Ministry of Transportation, that of Power, Works and Housing, and all other relevant agencies, including the contractors, who ensured that the repairs were carried out on schedule. It is not every day that deadlines are met in this clime. We hope that the circumstances that led to the national embarrassment of having to shut down a prime airport to effect what ordinarily should be routine maintenance are not allowed to repeat themselves.
That is why we wholeheartedly endorse the ongoing building of a second runway at the Abuja Airport. In fact, the gesture should be extended to other airports in the country, especially the international ones. Such strategic airports should have multiple runways such that if there is need to repair any one at any time, the entire facility will not be shut down and the country thrown into a quandary, as we almost witnessed in the Abuja Airport case.
With the Abuja Airport closure, our image, prestige and economic fortunes as a country were at stake, and we are glad that we were able to redeem ourselves. The now-refurbished runway is billed to last for 10 to12 years. The authorities concerned must not allow a repeat of the total dilapidation of the runway, or the runway of any other airport in the country, before repairs are carried out. The Abuja Airport has been in use since its commissioning in 1999—a period of over 17 years — without any repairs on its runway. That did not speak well of the country. It did not indicate a culture of forward planning and maintenance of critical facilities.
Imagine what the six-week shutdown of the Abuja Airport cost the nation in terms of lost revenue, businesses, image and prestige. Only one foreign airline agreed to use the alternative Kaduna Airport throughout the period of the closure.
We congratulate the Ethiopian Airlines for being the only foreign air service to have operated the Kaduna route while the repairs at the Abuja Airport lasted. It was a good testimony to African solidarity and brotherhood. Besides, it was good business too. With a reported 263 flights and over 11,000 passengers airlifted with income of over N2billion, the airline could not have had any regrets taking the decision. It has, in fact, been reported to be considering adding the Kaduna route to its itinerary on a permanent basis.
We believe the necessary lessons have been learnt from the Abuja Airport shutdown. Aviation business submits to very high standards all over the world, and there is no room to cut corners. We are either ready to meet these standards or we face the painful consequence of losing out to our rivals. In our economy that is in urgent need of revamping, that would be a cruel fate to inflict on ourselves and future generations