NSE: Closure of Abuja Airport May Prolong Nigeria’s Recession

•Petitions Buhari, says Kaduna is not an option

Chineme Okafor in Abuja
The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has said closing down the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja completely for a six-week repair of the runway was capable of stretching Nigeria’s economic recession further, and could cost her more than necessary for the job.

The NSE in this regard, said yesterday at a briefing in Abuja that it had written to President Muhammadu Buhari to clearly state its views on the government’s adopted strategies for the repairs.

It said the adopted strategies were unusual and uneconomical, and could have been better planned without creating alternative air traffic routes in Kaduna.

Speaking at the briefing, NSE President, Otis Anyaeji, said the government’s strategies did not take into account standard engineering methods for such works which are less costly.
He added that to close an airport of Abuja status was akin to shutting down the economy of the country which would further distress Nigeria’s economy.

Anyaeji explained that there were previous airport runway repair models the country could have adopted instead of closing down Abuja for Kaduna.
He noted that NSE’s assessment of Kaduna showed that it was not an option at all on the back of its inadequacies and security threats to passengers.

He also said the Abuja airport can be fixed incrementally without closing it down completely.
“The aviation sector is a part of Nigeria’s transportation network and contributes significantly to the socio-economic growth of Nigeria. Any disruption in the operations of this sector, particularly at an international airport that connects Nigeria to the rest of the world, has a huge impact,” said Anyaeji.

He further explained: “The NSE has carried out an extensive and robust review of the phenomenal and devastating impact which the proposed closure of Abuja airport would impose on the competitiveness of our economy, which is already steeped in deep recession.

“To close down an airport in a country is like shutting down the economy. The repercussions are so much and this should be considered especially as we know that we are in recession.”
He listed some of the past repair strategies that validated NSE’s stance against the government’s plans, saying: “A good example is the Uli airport runway which was kept open during the Civil War through quick fixes to crater caused by exploding bombs.

“Another example is the replacement of the aging Frankfurt Airport runway in 2005, closure of the runway was not an option. All work was scheduled in a seven-and-a half hour night-time window over 300 nights in 15m section of the runway.

“We have written to the president demanding that the government conducts itself in a professional manner and look to how other airports have been repaired. If other countries have done this, then it can be done because Kaduna or even Minna are not options.

“There are still inadequacies in Abuja airport which necessitated the ongoing expansion and other upgrade works, Kaduna certainly does not have the capacity to handle the traffic that will come,” Anyaeji noted.