By Aare Afe Babalola, OFR, CON, SAN, LL.D (Lond.)

Nigeria is a hydrocarbon-rich nation. It is ranked by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as the top crude oil producer in Africa as at May 2023, producing up to 1.4 million barrels of crude oil daily (this has reduced to below 1.2 million barrels per day as at May 2024). Nigeria is also one of the 10 largest producers of the crude oil in the world and owns the second largest crude reserve in Africa. By the estimation of Worldometer, Nigeria still has more than 230 years’ worth of crude oil reserve at current consumption. The Crude oil deposit in Nigeria is mostly comprised of Bonny light crude, a high-grade crude oil ranked one of the best in the world and is highly prioritized by refiners.

Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit and the appalling dependence on importation

There are over 6000 by-products of crude oil. One of these and the most widely consumed is the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). Nigerians consume above 80 million litres of PMS daily. 

However, Nigeria’s combined functional refineries produce less than 500,000 litres of PMS daily. The obvious implication of this is that Nigeria grossly under-produces to meet its daily consumption need of PMS, even after Nigeria has explored crude oil for nearly seven decades.

Consequently, Nigeria heavily depends on the importation of PMS and other bye-products of PMS to forestall the deficit of the production of PMS. For ease of understanding, Nigeria imported about 12 billion litres of PMS in the first half of 2023 at N234 per litre. The price has since gone up since then.

The vision of Dangote Refinery and the clog in its wheel

Aliko Dangote, African richest man, saw the lacunae and sought to remedy it. After nearly seven years and $19 billion in expenditure, Dangote refinery and Petrochemicals Plant (the world’s largest single-train refinery) was completed. Aliko Dangote assured Nigerians that the refinery will start rolling out PMS and other products in June. This refinery would greatly reduce the rate of dependence on importation of PMS in Nige-ria. Unfortunately, Dangote had to revise the schedule for the availability of PMS and related products from June to July and then to August because he was unable to procure feedstock (crude oil) for his refinery in Nigeria. The NNPC promised Dangote refinery 300,000 barrels daily, while he is to procure the deficit from the lOCs. In other words, he could get all the crude oil he needed in Nigeria. Dangote never got what was promised, even though Nigeria produces about 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Below are a few reasons why:

1. Nigeria has developed an appetite for oil-backed loans: Oil for cash is a loan scheme which uses future crude oil as prepayment plans. Since the lender is borrowing in advance, it gets certain concession in the price of the crude oil. The loan is also given with interest. On August 16, 2023, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited secured a $3.3 billion oil for cash deal with the African Export-Import Bank at an interest rate of 11.85 per cent per annum. Nigeria pledged 164.25 million barrels of crude oil (at 90,000 barrels per day from 2024) to repay this debt. The NNPC is only entrusted with 455,000 barrels of Crude oil produced in Nigeria as their share of the production. With its refinery needing close to 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day (not including Dangote Refinery needs), the oil-backed loans have further hampered Nigeria’s ability to supply domestic refinery.

This equates to more dependence on importation of refined oil. Unfortunately, the NNPC is contemplating a fresh $2 billion loan. It is so sad that Nigeria prioritises immediate funds to sustainable future trade. The implication is that Nigeria is undervaluing its future oil under the pre-sale deal. This has also increased the fuel crisis in the nation since there are reduced number of crude available for local refineries.

2. Reluctance of the IOCs to sell to local refineries: IOCs are struggling to supply crude to local refineries. This is because some of these lOCs have their own refineries outside Nigeriaand would prioritise supplying their own refineries with their own share of the crude oil explored from Nigeria. Consequently, some of the IOCs offered higher prices above international prices and cost of logistics as concessions to supplying crude to local refin-eries. On the available facts, it could be inferred that many of the lOCs intentionally want to frustrate Nigerian refineries since the refined products purchased are purchased from their home countries.

3. The menace of oil theft and oil pipeline vandalism: Nigeria loses between 100,000 to 120,000 barrels of crude per day to oil theft and vandalism. This means that Nigeria has only 355 000 barrels of crude oil (or less) left to trade with and to refine. Nigeria has not been able to effectively plug this leak in almost 70 years of refining activities in the nation. This has therefore impacted the availability of crude oil to Dangote refinery negatively.

4. Exit of the lOCs and the Problem of Asset Transfer:The onshore and shallow water fields where majority of the NNPC’s quota of crude oil are mined has been abandoned byThe IOCs. The reason for this is that most of the major players are diversifying into cleaner energy in line with the mandates of the various international agreements to reduce global carbon emission, as well as the global collapse of oil price in 2016.Some IOCs have also complained about policy concerns which have negatively affected the ease of doing business in Nigeria. This is creating lacuna which has led to the reduction of daily production rate of crude oil in Nigeria.

Dangote Refinery has no alternative but to turn to the international markets to curb the dearth in the availability of crude oil in Nigeria. So far, Dangote Refinery has concluded arrangements to import 9 million barrels of crude oil from the USA and is set to import 11 million barrels more. It has also concluded deal to import 1 million barrels of crude oil from Brazil and has plans in motion to purchase from Angola, Senegal and Libya. The Federal Government has however promised that there would be sustainable supply of crude oil to local refineries.The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has insisted that IOCs meet local demands first, before exporting to other African countries. However, whether these promises will translate to crude availability in local refineries is the concern. This is because Nigeria has very little say on what the IOCs with their own oil and the NNPC’s share is not sufficient to supply local refineries.

Conclusion

In view of the revelation above, it is not surprising that Dan-gote Refinery and Petrochemicals Plant suffers lack amidst plenty. It is however puzzling that Nigerians are not asking the right questions on how the wealth of the country is spent, especially since all the figures of what is made is available on the internet. Countries like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, China and the United States of America have used proceeds from crude oil exploration and refining to bolster their national economies. However, the same natural resources have been very loosely referred to as a “curse” in Nigeria. The Nigerian crude industry made above $394 billion from 2011-2022. Nigeria’s total debt is $108.23 billion.

The implication is that Nigeria has enough revenue to pay its debt, and to build a functional refinery to reduce the dependence on importation. Sadly, Nigeria cannot account for the whereabouts of all these revenues. Also, an individual built a refinery bigger than what Nigeria could build. In 2023, Saudi Aramco (the world’s largest oil company)declared above $124billion as dividends for its shareholders. On the contrary, the NNPC is declaring deficits and mortgaging future oil productions for immediate resources. Nigeria has a long way to go, and it starts from asking the right questions and holding our leaders accountable to the electorate. (Please send your contribution/ comment to my email: [email protected]. ng)

By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

“….economic mismanagement, rabid corruption, irresponsible political behavior and squandermania, the near abandonment of the state by its very custodians weakened it and made it largely irrelevant to the daily lives of the people. The state was now seen and treated as enemy by the people, a force that was to be avoided, hated, attacked, and subverted as opportunity permitted. Such a state had no room for the development, rule of law, social justice, human rights, and constitutionalism. All these were sacrificed on the altar of political expediency, political rascality, the hunger for raw power, and the arrogance of a political elite with only a tenuous relationship to real production.”

Julius Ihonvbere, (2002)

When he uttered these words in October 2002, Julius Ihonvbere was a distinguished Professor of political science about to make the transition from exile into public office. He spoke as a guest of the Institute for Governance and Development (IGD) at the Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma, Edo State, whose academic community were his audience. The topic of his lecture was the timeless subject of “Constitutionalism and Democratisation in Africa.” His focus was Nigeria.

Nearly 22 years later, Professor Ihonvbere has logged an impressive public service resume in both the executive and legislative arms of government as well as at both federal and state levels. Among other things, he has served as an intimate adviser in the presidency; Secretary to the State Government in Edo State and also as a federal legislator. As the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives today, Professor Ihonvbere is the undisputed manager of legislative business in that chamber.

The progressive credentials of his opposite number in the Senate, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (MOB), are just as intimidating. A lawyer with transboundary qualifications, Òpé, as he was known back in the day, was a firebrand president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) under whom the association logged an impressive record of resilient and effective opposition to the worst excesses of military rule.

This coincidence of enlightened and progressive credentials was – until this parliament – unknown in the annals of parliamentary floor management in Nigeria. It was entirely natural, therefore, that the public was willing to suspend credulity and heap a burden of high expectations on this 10^th National Assembly (NASS). What they have reaped in return has been nothing short of a dis-spiriting anti-climax.

In its first year, this 10^th National Assembly compiled a record that makes Professor Ihonvbere’s 22 year old Ekpoma declamation sound rather damp. To be sure, they signaled their direction very early, handing the administration the largest cabinet in the history of elective presidentialism in Nigeria in return for a scandalous harvest of four-wheel drives for every member.

The National Assembly of Professor Ihonvbere and Opeyemi Bamidele will go down in history as the one that casualized the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme by clearing for appointment, ministerial nominees who manifestly had not fulfilled that requirement. Their handling of appropriations will deserve special treatment on its own. But it is their treatment of constitutive national symbols and institutions that will probably define the legacy of this 10th National Assembly.

On the first anniversary of the regime of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in May 2024, the NASS altered the National Anthem and secured presidential assent for the change even before the record of Votes and Proceedings could have been compiled or transmitted, an essential requirement for presidential assent to bills passed by the National Assembly. This uniquely symbolic event occurred without as much as notice to Nigerians or an opportunity for public participation in the process.

The speed of parliamentary business under the joint floor leadership of Professor Ihonvbere and Opeyemi Bamidele has been nothing short of disconcerting, to the extent that it routinely catches many of their own conscientious colleagues entirely unawares. This has led to accusations of legislation by ambush. They have indeed been described as “worse than a rubber stamp…. A copy-and-paste arm of the executive.”

The latest example of legislation by copy-and-paste was the swift decision in the past week by both chambers of the National Assembly to amend the Nigeria Police Act of 2020, in order to extend the tenure of the present Inspector-General of Police (IGP) for a transparently political hit-job in 2027. As with the National Anthem, this also blind-sided the country.

The Nigeria Police (Amendment) Bill, 2024 is one of the shortest pieces of law-making in Nigeria’s parliamentary history. It comprises three sections which, together with the marginal notes, add up to a mere 100 words. The only substantive provision in the new law proposes to insert into the Nigeria Police Act 2020, a provision to the effect that “any person appointed to the office of Inspector-General of Police shall remain in office until the end of the term stipulated in the letter of appointment in line with section 7(6) of this Act.”

The Police Act provides for a tenure of up to four years for the Inspector-General of Police. However, all police officers are also liable to retire on attainment of the age of 60 years or 35 years in service whichever occurs earlier. Under this rule, Dr. Kayode Egbetokun, the current IGP, will retire on 4 September when he turns 60.

As the rumours of a tenure extension for him built up in the past few weeks, the police authorities were forced at the beginning of this month deny allegations that IGP Egbetokun “made moves to influence the National Assembly to pass a bill seeking to raise the retirement age of officers.” Those denials have proved to be worthless.

There are two possible scenarios. One is that Egbetokun was appointed in 2023 with a clear tenure stipulation in his letter of appointment. If that is the case, however, then the new amendment is an irresponsible waste of parliamentary bandwidth. This throws up an alternative explanation: that this amendment is intended to extend Egbetokun’s tenure, keeping him in office until after the 2027 presidential elections. As a matter of law, that should be impossible under the terms of legislation that is clearly not retrospective in its text or ordinary effect.

On either of these readings, IGP Egbetokun has to go on his 60^th birthday on 4 September. If a letter materializes on that date granting him longer tenure, it would almost assuredly be a lawless forgery. That is not to say that the regime may not attempt it.

The Constitution and the Police Act together empower the president to appoint the IGP. They place only three constraints on this. One, the person must be from the ranks of serving police officers. Two, only officers on or above the rank of Assistant Inspector-General of Police are eligible for consideration for the position of IGP. Third, the president is obliged to consult with the Police Council in the appointment but the decision is ultimately the president’s alone to make. On 4 September, Kayode Egbetokun will no longer be eligible to be appointed IGP because he would no longer be a Police Officer as a matter of law.

The perversely targeted amendment of the Police Act by the National Assembly of Julius Ihonvbere and Opeyemi Bamidele is the latest curiosity from a Parliament whose only aspiration appears to be the transformation of the NASS into presidential plaything. The objective of this amendment is rather transparent. That is not surprising: in a previous life, the Kayode Egbetokun served for a long time as Aide-de-Camp to Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The enthusiasm of Julius Ihonvbere and Opeyemi Bamidele in readily enabling this prostitutes the National Assembly. To reprise the thoughts of Professor Ihonvbere from over two decades ago, this NASS under the joint enterprise of himself and Opeyemi Bamidele manifestly has “no room for development, rule of law, social justice, human rights, and constitutionalism.” Instead, it has become “a place where all these were sacrificed on the altar of political expediency, political rascality, the hunger for raw power, and the arrogance of a political elite with only a tenuous relationship to real production.” Who would have thunk it?!

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at [email protected]

By Amarachi Okeh

AMARACHI OKEH writes on how state governments have spent billions on poorly executed and often abandoned airport projects, leading to financial waste and raising concerns over corruption and mismanagement

Under the guise of attracting economic activities, state governments have attempted to map the skies.

Billions of naira have been allocated and spent in the construction of airports, yet many of these projects remain unfinished while those completed are said to be unfit for flights. Despite the financial strain and a populace that largely cannot afford air travel, these ambitious ventures continue to sprout, only to be abandoned after completion or even before laying the foundation.

These gargantuan projects have gulped billions of state funds without materialising or ended up becoming an unaccountable waste of state funds that goes unsanctioned but burrows holes into the state’s funds.

Ebonyi’s badly done airport needs repairs months after completion

In April 2023, a month before he was due to hand over to the incoming government, former Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi inaugurated the Chuba Okadigbo International after spending N36bn on its construction. But barely seven months after the supposedly ‘new’ airport was commissioned, with two Air Peace aircrafts landing at the airport on the inaugural day, it needed repairs.

Airlines wouldn’t fly the route or land at the airport due to safety concerns.

The refusal of airlines to land at the airport was said to be due to a badly built runway.

It became a stirring puzzle that a new airport that gulped billions of state funds was already be in an unusable state. This calls into question the quality of contractors contracted for the job and if indeed the project was made with the interest of travellers at heart or just another way by which state officials siphon funds from the state.

Stakeholders in the state expressed shock that a pristine project would be in such a state to need repair for something that was barely used.

But then, during the conception of the project, Umahi had assured residents in the state and stakeholders that the project would have a positive impact on the state by increasing its economic viability. Since the finishing of the colourful airport, economic yields have yet to be recorded.

It was gathered that the challenges with the airport began with the runway, which was reportedly constructed with concrete technology.

The Federal Ministry of Aviation then recommended that the runway be overlaid with asphalt to fix the defects, the new Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, said.

This was to gulp an additional N13.7bn.

Nwifuru admitted last year that the construction of the runway was not properly done. He even enumerated the issues that the runway had. He said, “A governor called me and we discussed at length the approval of N13.75b for the airport that is deemed to have been completed and handed over.

The question that the governor asked me is the question every reasonable Ebonyi man is asking. The truth is that the mindset of those who started the airport is germane; but did we get it right?

“In the area of the runway, we didn’t get it right because the runway is jumping and it is destroying aircraft tyres,” Nwifuru admitted.

“Initially, we thought the problem was caused by the expansion joints. That’s what we believed initially and we said, okay, let us close all the expansion joints and know why it is jumping but it is still jumping and it has spoiled a lot of aircraft and that is why many airlines have refused to land there.

“And for us to get it right, we approached the Federal Ministry of Aviation and asked them what we could do. They told us that we needed to do certification, put thyroids and start laying asphalt. I said wow, we are in trouble. When you look at the amount that was sunk into that airport, it is not something you get up and say you want to abandon.”

Some stakeholders criticised the project as a white elephant and also described the sinking of billions of naira into it as a waste of taxpayers’ money.

To some others, like a former Commissioner for Information in the state, Chief Abia Onyike, the building of the airport was a ploy to siphon funds from the state.

In an interview with The PUNCH, he stated, “Former governor Umahi’s airport project in Ebonyi was not embarked upon by him for the genuine development of the state. It was one of his white elephant projects for looting the treasury of the state. It has already been proven by facts available on the ground.

“Umahi claimed to have spent N36bn in the construction of the airport but not up to two months after the airport was commissioned, a major engineering fault had been discovered. The tarmac of the airport is very terribly defective. That is the way anything constructed by Umahi always ends up being. All the bridges and flyovers he constructed using concrete technology have developed faults here and there. But he has already achieved the aim of embarking on the projects, which was for self-aggrandisement.”

Several opposition political players in the state described the project as a monumental waste and expressed shock that a project that hadn’t made any impact was going to gulp another N13 billion.

An opposition and All Progressives Grand Alliance senatorial candidate for Ebonyi South Zone, Ifeanyi Eleje, denied that the building of the airport would serve any benefit to the state. In his words, “It is not of any benefit to the people. It is an elephant project, ill-conceived and dubiously executed.”

Despite the opinion of the naysayers, at his one-year in-office celebration this past May, Nwifuru revealed that a total of N17.3 billion had been spent on major repairs in some areas of the airport that were barely used before it was due for repairs, promising that flight operations would commence shortly.

While the state had yet to showcase the benefits of owning an airport, it announced that it was acquiring four aircraft to float its airline, thereby towing the line of the Ibom Air.

The state commissioner for Aviation and Transport Technology, Mrs. Ngozi Obichukwu, said, “We will soon start floating our aircraft. When flight operations start at the airport, we have investors who are ready to give us three extra planes. We have already agreed with them, and very soon it will start happening.”

The commissioner believes that the airport will not just boost the economic base of the state but also showcase Ebonyi State to the world.

Ebonyi State is bordered by Cross River, Abia, and Enugu. There are mighty hopes that the situation of the airport in the state would boost economic activities in terms of drawing Cross River-bound tourists and business-minded travellers headed for Abia and Enugu by offering alternative arrival points despite these states having airports that are closer to them.

Abia’s ghost airport

When shoddy work is not done, funds are allocated but not utilised for the purpose it was budgeted for.

This is the case of Abia State, where the former governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, said he was building an airport for the state despite the state being surrounded by three airports: the Port Harcourt International Airport, Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, and Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, which are all less than two hours away.

After he announced the beginning of the construction of the airport and his tenure was over, clouds of dust were raised when it came to light that Ikpeazu allocated N10bn for a yet-to-be-seen airport in the state.

After a forensic audit of the state account by the current governor, Alex Otti, it came to light that the former administration reportedly withdrew the sum for the airport and disbursed it to 32 accounts for the building of a non-existent airport in the state.

For a state where the workers were owed salaries spilling into years, pensioners’ wages were slashed, and roads were in deplorable conditions, it was unfathomable that it would prioritise the building of an airport over the welfare of its citizens.

The elephant project generated a crossfire of accusations and denials by Otti and Ikpeazu, respectively.

Otti, speaking at an event, remarked that a forensic audit of the state account found that billions of sums were allocated for unexecuted projects which included the airport.

“Some N9.3 billion was paid to seven contractors for contracts that were not executed at all up till today. Another N15.9 billion was paid to 63 contractors with no supporting documents anywhere in the state. Another N12 billion was paid to two contractors for contracts that do not exist.

“Out of this figure, N10 billion was on September 25, 2020, paid to some contractors for the construction of the Abia State Airport.

“We have spent time trying to locate the airport and up till now have not been able to locate it. So, as we continue to look for our airport, we have also involved the security agencies to help us search.”

But Ikpeazu responded by claiming that the funds were diverted to the repairing of roads after some traditional rulers appealed to him that building an airport was not a priority project.

He further claimed to have used the money to build roads in the commercial capital of the state. “I am happy that today, I finished Eziukwu Road from that airport fund, I finished Faulks Road from that fund, Ngwa Road is okay, Osusu Road is okay. So, today you can connect with Ariaria through Osusu Road to Eziukwu Market and connect Eziukwu Market to Ngwa Road Market.”

In another interview, Ikpeazu stated that what he wanted to build was a trade port, not an airport. But so far, no one has seen either the air or trade port he spoke about.

But then in February of 2020, the former state commissioner for lands and survey, Suleiman Ukandu, pledged to commence payment of compensation to land donors in parts of Ikwuano and Isiala North Local Government Areas where the proposed airport was to be situated.

Ekiti’s elephant parting gift?

A day before he left office in October 2022, the governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, inaugurated the N20b Ekiti State Cargo Airport.

After a military aircraft landed on the airstrip on the inaugural day, the airport was left to waste and abandoned.

Two years in, there has been no justification for the construction of the airport save for the massive land that turned into a rusty taste of what could have been but is not.

Even after supposedly guzzling billions from the coffers of a state that had a total state revenue of N80.6 billion then, an Ekiti-based media house, Development News Nigeria, who visited the site last year, reported that “construction workers were still working on the flooring in front of the arrival lounge, the air traffic control was still uncompleted, and untrimmed weeds still surrounded the arrival and departure building. No commercial activity was taking place in the environment.”

In stark contrast to the reality on the ground, Special Adviser on Media to the current state governor, Biodun Oyebanji, Yinka Oyebode, insisted to the reporter that the construction of the airport was completed and that it was only waiting for certifications to begin commercial operations.

“Before the governor left, the facility had been completed and an aircraft landed there but to make it an airport where commercial aircraft can land and take off, there are a lot of certifications that need to be done and that is what we are currently doing. These additional certifications with the NCAA and some other agencies are additional costs. The facility is ready but we can’t begin commercial operations there until the certifications are done and it is not cheap,” Oyebode said.Related News

This is worsened by the fact that farmers whose lands were taken over by the state for the construction of the airport were yet to get their rightful compensation, up to N429m.

Back then in 2017, Fayemi stated that the new ‘Agro-Cargo Airport’ would have a long-term positive impact on agriculture and investment. The ground-breaking ceremony was conducted with embattled former Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, in October 2019.

Despite redundancy challenges, Oyebanji recently declared that the airport would soon be ready for commercial use as it was undergoing certifications. “Once we have the certifications from NCAA and FAAN, then access to Ekiti State will be sorted out, at least through the air. I don’t want to give a timeframe but at least before the end of this year, commercial airport operations will begin at the Ekiti State airport,” he promised.

Billions splashed on Zamfara’s one new airport by two administrations

At the tail end of June, the governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal restarted the construction of a new international airport in the state’s capital city of Gusau.

Just like other governors of other states, he declared that the economic benefits of the airport would be enormous, adding that “The airport will have a tremendous impact on the ease of doing business and other social interactions.”

For a state that is one of the poorest in the country, this is not the first time the state would be building a new airport. Lawal’s new ambition is to make the airport a ‘smart’ airport, dusting off from where it was  abandoned by the former governor.

During the tenure of the immediate past governor, Bello Matawalle, now the Minister of State for Defence, he also began the same project but abandoned it.

The spokesperson for the current governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, claimed that Matawalle’s administration mismanaged state funds and ignored due process in its attempt to build an airport.

The allegations against Matawalle were that he withdrew N1 billion from the Local Government Joint Account in October 2021 and paid N825 million to contractors without valuation. He was also accused of reducing the airport project cost from N28 billion to N11 billion without a corresponding reduction in the scope of work, raising doubts about the integrity of the bidding process.

Other allegations were that he made an advance payment of N3.47 billion to contractors without proper project approval. Matawalle’s administration was also accused of approving an additional “loan” of N2.31 billion to contractors without significant work progress or proper certification, and also misreporting the project’s completion status and financial expenditures.

Across many various states, rickety airport projects lay around after billions of state funds have been allocated to them.

This behaviour by governors has been interpreted by many as one of the means through which corruption and misappropriation of state funds is being done without any consequences to the actors. Last year, it was gathered that the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority had granted Benue and Ogun states approvals to construct civil aviation airports.

Other airports in the making

Last year also the former Benue State Commissioner of Information, Culture and tourism, Michae Inalagwu revealed that 12 states including Benue had secured licences and approval from the NCAA.

After 17 years, having passed through two governors and billions of naira blown, Ogun State, an important economic hub of Nigeria, has announced that its cargo airport is near completion. This is in spite of the outrage over the bad roads in the state.

Last December, the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, expressed confidence that the Ogun Agro-Cargo Airport would add value to the lives of the people and contribute to the rapid growth of the state and the country’s economy.

“It is the type of investment that grows the economy, creates jobs and reduces poverty and it is good for the people of Ogun State in particular as well as Nigeria in general that new economic life is being breathed into the area,” the commissioner said.

However, the airport is yet to commence flight services despite the state governor, Dapo Abiodun in April announcing that it would begin scheduled and non-scheduled flights in the next few weeks.

Abiodun had stated that the approval process to get the airport running had reached an advanced stage, with the approval expected in a few days but three months down the line, nothing has been heard of the airport.

Only three airports are profitable – NCAA

While several state roads are in bad shape, kidnapping of citizens travelling the roads rampant and citizens’ crowdfunding to pay for their release, some states have taken up charting the skies whereas the economic reality of the country has made air travel nearly unreachable for the average Nigerian.

There are about 32 airports in Nigeria with five of those also serving as international airports.

Over the years, the cost of flying around the country has been steadily rising. This is even made worse by the monstrous inflation that has suddenly made affording flight only for the rich, who still complain of the current soaring cost.

A few years ago, one-way flights within the country cost about N18, 000 but now it is over N120, 000 with land transport giving an airline a run for their money despite the bad shape of the nation’s road network.

According to The Guardian, the number of air journeys taken in 2022 fell from 16.17m to 15.89m. What is more stunning is that passenger traffic is concentrated in just three airports which account for 92 per cent of all passenger journeys countrywide in 2022, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority revealed.

The profitability of these airports remains an issue. Recently, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Olubunmi Kuku disclosed that of all the 22 airports that the agency manages, only three are profitable.

While states take up navigating the skies instead of making roads accessible, she advocated that rather than constructing new airports, they should focus on boosting manufacturing, trade, and tourism activities in their domains to increase passenger traffic and revenue.

In her opinion also, it is “economic activities in states where airports are built that drive passenger traffic and not the construction of new airports.”

States need approval to build airports – NCAA

A typical method of operation by the states that have claimed to build an airport is to commission an inaugural flight after which nothing is heard of the airport anymore.

Building an airport is subject to the approval of relevant agencies in the industry, but some states do not acquire the approvals before starting construction, the former director general of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Dr Musa Nuhu, said in a PUNCH interview.

Some airports end up being abandoned because they hadn’t carried out feasibility studies before construction started.

The first process is the policy phase, where a committee, including the Aerodrome department, NCAA, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, conducts a feasibility study and site visit after a letter has been written to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development. If the business case is sound, the minister approves the project, and it goes to the NCAA for construction

Nuhu disclosed that “There are quite a few airports…that are built and they have not even met the requirements. So much money has been spent, but they have not reached the minimum requirement. The unfortunate part that people don’t see is that many a time these state governments hand over the airports to FAAN, this is because there are many and the NCAA needs more aerodrome inspectors….And these airports do not even generate money; some airports have one or two flights a week. Some are even executive flights. Honestly, we must collectively find a way to deal with that.”

Experts react

Even if airports are eventually built in all states, there is still the need for good road networks to move from point A to point B within the state.

An aviation expert and the Chief Executive Officer of Selective Securities International Limited, Ayo Obilana said states building an airport should be a reaction to economic developments in it.

They should also consider its viability first.

He also highlighted that some states build airlines as status symbols not necessarily as an economic bridge.

“Most of these governors, I believe, are trying to build airports for what I would call status symbols for their states, which I believe is not right. Most of the airports we have in the country are not even viable. They don’t have much traffic, at least 70 per cent of them and also some of the airports are close to most of the existing airports.

“Take for example, Osun state is close to Ibadan or Akure and some in the east too, the same thing. So, I can’t just see the rationale of building another airport when you have them closer to some existing airports. That is just my own opinion.”

He believes investment should be poured into building better road networks, railroads and the seaport and also taking better care of the citizens rather than building airports that would take billions of naira to maintain.

Furthermore, he questioned the sensibility of building airports when they have failed to live up to their basic responsibilities to the residents.  “When they have not paid workers, people are suffering, hospitals lack medical facilities, the roads are bad, no pipe borne water, schools are dilapidated states and yet they want to build an airport, it doesn’t make sense,” he protested.

But another aviation expert, Olu Ohundayo said passengers are not dwindling from using the airports, rather “It is the lack of capacity, lack of competition, innovation that has made the passengers not travel. It is stagnated and this is further stunted by lack of capacity.”

He describes the use of road transport when passengers cannot get a seat on a flight as a ‘risk’.

Ohundayo added that it is the airlines that are making the airports inefficient and bad.

He however suggested that states who choose to own airports should begin small instead of building big airports at first. He suggested that operations could be started with flights with less than 100 seating capacity first and increase as demand increases instead of starting big and incurring losses in billions.

To Ohundayo, airports are social responsibilities not necessarily economic ones. “It is along the line they begin to move along the line of economics. It always starts as a social responsibility”

However, they pointed out that most states’ airports are used as covered by administrations to siphon money out of the states.

They also called for stronger measures to be put in place to ensure transparency in the allocation and use of funds.

The desire for states to build airports can only be achieved when the focus is on enhancing economic activities that naturally drive the need for airports, rather than constructing airports hoping they will attract economic activities.

This article was originally published by PUNCH on 21st July 2024