Why Yobe should have International Cargo Airport

The Yobe state executive council m e e t i n g o f We d n e s d a y 1 3 t h September, 2017 presided over by overnor Ibrahim Gaidam approved N11,327,120,487.

24 for the construction of international cargo airport in Damaturu, the state capital.

Some people consider it as misplacement of priority but a larger number of Yobeans say it is a welcome development.

Yobe, one of the eight states created on August 27, 1991, eighty percent of its citizens are farmers which grows crops like groundnuts, beans, sesame, rice, wheat, corn and have economic potentials of potash, gum Arabic of high grade, so when the cargo airport became reality, it will open economic activities of the state and expose business partners and investors to the state.

It is also a fact that, Yobe is known as the chemical mineral supplier such as gypsum, diatomite, limestone and substantial kaolin, quartz among others which as result of non existence of the airport, the mineral sector has remained untapped.

Some of the reasons why the Yobe citizens should appreciate the establishment of the cargo airport is that; Yobe being the largest producer of livestock in the country and also has the largest livestock market in west Africa, the airport will connect the state to international business men and women who can come and buy livestock at larger quantity and still go back the same day and the revenue generation of the state will be boosted.

I t w o u l d a l s o c r e a t e j o b opportunities to the teeming youths and also serve as source of revenue to the state especially during pilgrimage to holy lands.

The rail line that passes through Buniyadi to Maiduguri which boosts the economic activities in the state in the past had been taken over by the insurgents, despite the return of peace, even it’s being rehabilitated it cannot be easily used because of the security threats associated to it.

It is on record that with all the hiccups faced, the state government had touched lives in every sector, almost all the schools burnt down by the insurgents in both primary and post primary including the construction of new ones were put in place.

The Gaidam administration had also established a multi-billion naira university teaching hospital which is fully equipped at the cost of N5.

5billion apart from the reconstruction of five other general hospitals across the state.

The state has witnessed the mass construction of over 1000 kilometer roads which have now brought the rural communities closer to Government.

The state is proud of having two universities and nine other tertiary institutions.

In fact Yobe hasn’t ever had it better than now in the annals of history of its existence.

From creation to date, over 1600 houses were built and allocated to individuals and civil servants who paid 65% only of the construction cost and for the deceased, the government grants them automatic waiver.

Almost all government offices were renovated while some were constructed to meet the modern office complex.

The payment of civil servants’ salary, gratuity and pensions which is an epidemic in some states, in Yobe there was no a single month the state failed to pay its workers and the retired civil servants.

With the huge amount spent in these sectors, the Yobe state executive council’s approval to establish the international cargo airport is a wise decision that will put smiles on the faces of future generations of Yobeans.

Therefore it should be appreciated and commended.

Goggobe is General Manager, Yobe State Agricultural Development Programme

 

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