Iwuanyanwu Urges FG to Rescind Idea

Amby Uneze in Owerri

Business Mogul and member of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of thePeoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has urged the federal government to rescind its decision on the planned closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja in view of the inevitable severe economic, political and social implications inherent in the action.

He however called on the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) to view this action of the federal government as inimical to the integrity of the profession and urged NSE to set up a committee to professionals to advise federal government on its inherent implications to the nation.

He stressed that the alternative is not the repair of the existing runway but the construction of an alternative runway at the Nnamdi AzikiweInternational Airport.

Iwuanyanwu who spoke to newsmen in Owerri on the proposed closure of
the Airport for 6 weeks by the federal government warned that the
closure is an issue that would inevitably attract international and national repercussions and therefore requires proper study and analysis before a final decision is taken.

He said that for the duration of construction at the airport, all businesses around the Airport would be closed, thereby compounding the unemployment situation in the country.

He noted that most nations of the world hardly consider closure of an existing international airport as an option under any circumstances especially when the nearest alternative airport is about 2 hours from the federal capital.

Aside this, Chief Iwuanyanwu expressed misgiving that most foreigners would feel reluctant to travel the long distance from Kaduna to Abuja, stressing that the provision of security for such would be difficult for the nation’s police and other security agencies which are already overstretched.

According to him, the worrisome continued kidnapping that occur on the road from Kaduna to Abuja as well as the current religious crisis in Kaduna state had the proposal dead on arrival.

Iwuanyanwu disclosed that the report from the ministry of Civil Aviation gives the impression that even the Kaduna Airport is not fully equipped to take care of the volume of international traffic which the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport has been carrying at the moment.

“In view of the above, my honest opinion is that he President of Nigeria Society of Engineers should immediately constitute a committee to carryout a more detailed study and offer appropriate professional advice to the federal government” he added.