Over the years, state governments in Nigeria have spent billions of Naira to build airports that have failed to meet the yearly passenger traffic requirements per airport. BENJAMIN SAMSON in this report looks at the state of the state-owned airports across the country.
Apart from Akwa Ibom, many state-owned airports which are spread across the country are under-utilised as they hardly record daily flights while others only have a few chartered flights sometimes.
Roll call
Some of the state-owned airports are: Anambra Airport, completed in 2021 at a cost of N6 billion; Ekiti Cargo Airport, completed in 2023 at a cost of N16.6 billion; Bayelsa International Airport, built by former governor, Seriake Dickson and completed in 2019; MKO Abiola International Airport (Osun), which construction began in 2012 with a revised cost of N11 billion; Ogun state Gateway Agro-Cargo International Airport with its construction dated back to 2021, with a projected cost of N40 billion.
Other states that have embarked on airport projects, whether for passenger or cargo operations, are Akwa Ibom, Delta, Jigawa, Kebbi, Gombe, Imo, Taraba, Katsina, Zamfara, Niger, Ebonyi, Nasarawa and Yobe.
Knocks
Speaking with this reporter, an aviation expert, Captain Emmanuel Sule, said the majority of state-owned airports are largely unviable and wasteful.
He said, “Building airports is capital intensive and so is their maintenance. A functional airport needs permanent technical and administrative personnel who must work to sustain the cost of their existence, even if they are not generating money. But it appears that the priority project for every governor is to build an airport in their state.
“Recently, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said that only three out of the airports under its management are profitable; this is against the background that these three airports accounted for 92 per cent of all passenger journeys across the country.”
He noted that this is against the backdrop that the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) also said it doesn’t understand the motivation for this obsession with airports by governors.
“Two of the latest states to commence the construction of airports are Zamfara, a state which finds it difficult to hire teachers, and Abia. Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara state recently held a ceremony to mark the start of construction on an international airport in the state capital, Gusau.
“Looking at market projections, there is not going to be a sudden rise in air transport in Nigeria because of low per capita income, even if alternative means of transport like rail and road do not expand.
“Right now, out of all the airports built by states, only the ones in Uyo and Asaba could be said to be viable and that is because the governments in both Akwa Ibom and Delta states support them financially.
“For instance, Kebbi state built an airport some years ago with state-of-the art facilities, but today it barely has scheduled regular flights, except charter services. Unable to break even, the airport was handed over to FAAN to manage a huge deficit to the aviation agency. It is the same experience with other state-owned airports in Bauchi and Gombe that have been taken over by the agency. “
Also, Group Captain Ekpo Bassey (retd.), in an interview with this reporter, said, “I do not understand the rationale behind building more airports by many states beyond political consideration. Unfortunately, the states are only following the bad example set by the federal government.
“When in 2020, the federal government gave approval to states to build airports in Anambra, Benue, Ekiti, Nasarawa and Ebonyi states while taking over the ones in Kebbi, Dutse and Gombe, many stakeholders in the industry queried the rationale behind the decision.
“Of the 26 airports being managed by FAAN, only six of them record above 5, 000 aircraft movement in a year. All the others depend on these six to stay afloat. The question I posed at the time remains relevant: In a period of lean resources when the same government is borrowing to meet commitments, why does it have to saddle the country with more cost centres?
“The argument that states cannot develop without an airport fails in the face of reality because some of these airports have formed a cluster. An investor travelling to a certain part of Akwa Ibom may have to land at the Calabar Airport to get to his destination faster than landing at Uyo Airport.
“Asaba Airport is closer to a businessman in Onitsha than Anambra Airport at Umueri. In fact, it is said that the air traffic controller at the Asaba airport could guide a plane to land at Umueri airport in Anambra.”
He added, “The consequences of building unviable airports are that huge resources, which would have been used to provide other essential infrastructure and other amenities, are spent on unprofitable ventures.
“Most of these airports only serve the interest of the governors who travel through them with charter services, as scheduled services cannot break even for commercial airlines due to low passenger throughput. Since many of these airports do not have critical amenities like airfield lighting, it makes no sense that states are expanding huge resources to build new airports.”
Posterity
On his part, a public affairs commentator, Dr. Bayo Bologun, reminded such governors who will still choose to build airports that will not bring economic value to their states to remember posterity.
According to Balogun, any governor or political appointee who engages in unnecessary projects probably for his personal interest would not be part of any success story during his time and after.
He said, “Posterity will judge everybody for whatever we do while we are in office. It does not make sense to want to build an airport, for example, that will not have the required traffic account.
“So, if you are now going to build an airport in states that really will not be commercially or economically viable and there is no technical argument to support it and you are doing so just because of your own interest either as a governor or whoever.
“Well, posterity will judge you accordingly and when people will begin to write the success story of that state, you will not be part of it because for me, it’s not what you are able to do for yourself but what you are able to do for your people and the state.
“After all, the position or place you are occupying belongs to the people; you are just holding the place in trust for the people. Just try to justify the position by using it to serve the people because God put you there so that you can use the position not to serve yourself, but the people and when you are serving people, you are serving God and history will also remember you.”
Burden on FAAN
Captain Bassey said the moribund airports scattered all over the country are a huge burden for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
He said, “The defiant attitude of some governors towards building unviable airport in their states without considering the economic and the subsequent liability on their states is like a time bomb waiting to explode not only on the already saturated financial capacity of the federal government, but particularly on the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the agency of the government directly responsible for managing airports.
“FAAN has continued to be used as the sacrificial lamb amidst the rush by the governors whenever they run out of ideas regarding the nitty-gritty entailing implications of foisting airports on their states, as such governors end up transferring the burden of such airports and their liabilities to the government agency.”
Support
However, in his view, the president of Pilots Association of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Nwaba, said Nigeria needs more airports, but that they are all being built at an unsustainable scale.
Nwaba said, “Airports are necessary to access a city or state and maintain its competitiveness. You can draw a straight line of correlation between cities that have airports and development against their peers.
“No one wants to go to his neighbour for export or want to travel miles in a medical emergency. Yes, airports are long-term development assets. Nigeria needs more airports. The problem is they are all being built at an unsustainable scale.”
On his part, a former Rector, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Capt. Samuel Caulcrick, said instead of agonising over the number of airports, they should be seen as catalysts for development.
“Airports are development’s catalysts as settlements spring up around airports with attendant economic activities. Given that perspective, the planner ought to focus on the catalytic aspect of building an airport to reap the economic gains.
“We should instead take advantage of the number of airports by re-arranging development and pivoting on the available airports. One such reason is the lack of good road infrastructure to move local produce from the states to other areas or the outside world – air transport would bridge that shortfall.”
According to him, the number of airports should be higher than what it is.
“Airports are vital for national development. Nigeria currently should have at least 700 airstrips and approximately 50 airports.
“Airports are a necessity, not luxury. For instance, if there is a need to rapidly deploy troops to places like Maiduguri for combat, using roads is not a practical option. Bandits can cause havoc before reaching the destination.
“Airports are essential to open up industrial and agricultural areas for the import and export of goods. The state of the road network in the country is often inadequate. Many states, like Imo, Rivers and Abia, with thriving industries, require airports for efficient transportation.
“However, when there are educational gaps and hunger in the nation, building airports may not be a top priority. Another issue is that individuals who criticise airport construction might change their stance when awarded a contract for airport construction. This reflects a lack of patriotism in Nigeria
“While the current locations of airports in the country are suitable, it’s crucial to consider the economic well-being of local communities. Providing employment opportunities at these airports can help alleviate hunger and poverty. In summary, Nigeria lacks an adequate number of airports, and corruption has contributed to this shortfall. The country’s leaders need to prioritise the nation’s development and the welfare of its citizens.”
The way out
A stakeholder in the aviation sector, Mr. Bankole Bernard, in an interview with this reporter, suggested that the moribund airports in the country should be turned into shopping malls to generate revenue.
Bernard, who is the managing director of a holding company in the aviation sector, said only four airports, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, and Kano are viable.
He urged the federal and state governments to consider the construction of shopping malls and other facilities that would attract more commercial activities to the unviable airports.
He emphasised that aviation operates using international standards and appealed to the government at all levels to take a cue from other countries which ensured commercial viability of their airports by thinking outside the box.
He said, “What are the possible solutions to consider given the numerous challenges we are faced with in the industry? We can start with the modernisation of airport terminals with shopping malls.
“This will contribute to the commercial viability of the airports and other necessary infrastructures like the internet and constant power supply to support businesses.
“We must begin to think of an alternative power supply like renewable energy to keep the airports functional and reduce the cost of operation in the long run. This will also make the airports viable and attractive.
“There is the area of interconnectivity within airports. The interconnectivity of the local airports to the international airports will contribute to the economic viability of the airports.”
He argued that the suggestions he made would further enhance commercial activities and boost non-aeronautics revenues to the 18 airports that had remained unviable.
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