From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has said that a “real” airport would soon be built in the state to ease the movement of goods and services.
Otti who disclosed this while receiving the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon Benjamin Kalu, in his country home, said he had already held a meeting with the Deputy Speaker and the Minister of Aviation in this regard.
“An airport is in the works. I have had a discussion with him (Deputy Speaker) and with the Honourable Minister of Aviation, and we know that what differentiates an airstrip from an airport is the runway. Since the budget has made provision for an airstrip, we believe we can also make it an airport,” Otti said.
Perhaps making mockery of a past administration in the state, which a trending report said obtained a loan for a non-existent airport, Otti said: “We’ve identified the location; very soon a team that has been put together by the Federal Government will be here. And it is the real airport not a virtual airport.”
Governor Otti commended the Deputy Speaker for all the support he has given his administration that has attracted a lot of projects from the Federal Government and mentioned the airport project as one.
He told the visiting Deputy Speaker that his administration was doing much in the area of security and had set up a Security Advisory Council headed by General Onyeabor Ihejirika that will work in consonance with security agencies and the government to design proper security architecture that is not only robust but will serve the purposes of not just the present but the future.
The Deputy Speaker had earlier told the governor that the people of Abia State have begun to get their dignity back because of the work Otti is doing.
“I came here to tell the whole world that you are doing well. I came to tell you that you are bringing out the name of Abia. We are solidly recovering our dignity, raising our shoulders because of your selfless approach to governance.
You are living up to your pledge,” Kalu said.
He thanked Otti for the honour done to him last December, when the governor hosted a homecoming reception to welcome him back into Abia, shortly after he was elected Deputy Speaker.