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- Samuel Ayara
It has been 17 whole years, since the inaugural flight landed the Victor Attah International Airport, formerly known as the Akwa Ibom Airport, Uyo. Through the years, this carefully crafted ambitious piece of aviation wonder has continued to succeed where others failed. Evolving from a scorned and bland back-end aviation dot, to an irresistible item on Nigeria’s aviation menu that is providing real-time solutions to decades of disturbing heartaches.
With eyes on top global aviation hubs, like the London Heathrow, Istanbul and Amsterdam Schiphol, for their unmatched connectivity, high passenger volume, key economic engine, and infrastructure. The founding fathers envisioned an airport that provide top-of-the-range integrated services in technologically upbeat models that enable user-friendly aviation experiences.
Not many around Nigeria deify consistency, innovation and strategic positioning. Away from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, that have shown the courage of a definitive imprimatur in the aviation ecosystem; having existed for several decades, Akwa Ibom State has been blessed with leaders who are committed to building on the dream of making the State a go-to aviation destination on the continent.
The burgeoning acclaim of this airport speaks to the beauty of visionary leadership. Governors, from Obong Victor Attah, to Chief Godswill Akpabio and Mr. Udom Emmanuel, manifestly committed more than passive passion at tending it to a testament that agrees that nothing is impossible when the passion is right.
A befitting icing of sorts, Governor Umo Eno since on assumption of office has engendered a turnaround that is daily consolidating gains for every investment the state has made across different sectors. More than brick and mortar, what is happening around the airport facility is life and flesh to a vision many doubted its pace.
These obvious strides of Governor Eno at the airport, has in the first instance won it an international status recognition by the nation’s aviation powerhouse. And in stretching beyond the acclaim, the government in scaling-up to live its new status is repositioning infrastructures to serve its ambition as an aviation hub.
Unannounced yet resolute. What fueled the state’s resolve for the aviation village, completion of appurtenances including the MRO facilities, the terminal building, taxiway, Instruments Landing System (ILS), Clinic, International Wing, and provision of security assets, must have been an intentional push at curating an aviation ecosystem the continent cannot ignore.
With the date for commencement of international operations in sight, a checklist of facilities that are daily shaping up the ecosystem signposts a commitment to transitioning from a drop-off flight destination, to becoming home to a wide range of aviation products on the continent.
Reflecting a push for a World-class airport in Nigeria, Governor Eno through the Aviation Village component, built to provide 117 units of residential quarters, including 62 units of 2-bedroom flats and 55 units of 3-bedroom flats, and a minimart is handing Nigerians an airport that never goes to sleep.
More than home for aviators, the village will optimize operations for 12 aviation sector parastatals, such as the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ibom Airport Development Company Limited (IADC), Ibom Air, MRO Staff, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and others.
With a terminal building that can process over a million passengers annually, 6 Automated Boarding Bridges, Digital Self Check-In, Robotic Assistant, Smart Passenger Way-Finding, Biometrics Security Scanning, Moisture Control Technology, Automated Luggage Screening & Weighing, Video/Scene Analytic & Static Object Detection for Suspicious Packages, and several definitive features, a mind-blowing experience awaits its users.
Designing the facility with a quad-fire prevention plan that include fire extinguishers, fire water sprinkler system, fire detectors, and an automated fire suppression system intensifies the promise that safety, at conception and delivery was a priority for the airport.
Apart from processing passengers, the airport comes with the grace of becoming home to aircrafts across the West African region, as its Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO), to be managed by CAMOSA, readies for operation. The MRO is one component of the hub that is already shinning the light that would reverse the huge capital flight the sector has for decades bled under.
Ibom Air, as a leading Nigerian air operator that has for over 6 years provided exceptional services defined by schedule reliability, on-time departures, and excellent services is already the assurance the world needs to fly Uyo. The feat the airline has accomplished from its fleet of 9 aircraft, in addition to testing the waters in international flights operation have sustained a conversation that admits it as a transformative idea in Nigeria’s aviation sector.
Most airports operate a dispensary to provide first aid to staff and passengers, but Governor Umo Eno is perfecting a multi-department hospital for the Victor Attah International Airport, comprising male and female wards, 3 theatres, laboratory, pediatric and maternity unit, pharmacy, radiologic department and residences for medical personnel.
The attraction in this departure is the fact that it energizes the Governor’s vision of building within the airport ecosystem a community. With the hospital in place, medical emergencies got nothing on passengers, staff and members of the airport community, round the clock, as they do not have to go out of its precincts to access medicare.
Beyond the fame of hosting one of Nigeria’s longest runways and an unencumbered driveway, Governor Eno’s aviation community is revving to life with carefully planned internal roads to ease access and movement for staff of the airport and members of the aviation community.
Akwa Ibom State’s ambitious vision of playing big in the aviation sector is more intentional than accidental. Governor Eno had long before the moment, considered the need to build the state for the future that is unfolding, when he sponsored indigenes for pilot and aviation engineering training in France and Ethiopia.
These foreign training sponsorships are no stand-alone initiatives. The State House of Assembly is currently considering a bill for the establishment of an Aviation Training Institute, a World-class centre for aviation personnel training, with the aim of reducing reliance on the west, for solutions that could be locally explored.
The socioeconomic impact of projects within the aviation community is already changing livelihoods for tens of hundreds of households; providing over 3000 jobs in direct and indirect employments, while opening up bankable opportunities for the people, as more aviation-associated agencies and concerns begin to arrive the state.
Tapping into the industry’s vast socioeconomic vistas, the Governor in leading a sub-national that dares to bite the bullet Nigeria for decades could not brave, has shown how impossibility shrinks when confronted with strategic and informed resolve.
For its grace of serenity; peace and security; investment climate that guarantees high return; commendable infrastructure; geographical location; and acclaim as a tourism delight, Governor Umo Eno’s huge investment in a valuable and solutions-driven aviation ecosystem at the Victor Attah International Airport is a venture that would enforce the state’s placement on the global aviation map as a regional powerhouse.
Samuel Ayara writes from Ibong Otoro in Abak LGA.
