Oyo Upgrades Airport to International Standard……Set Time Frame

Oyo state government has flagged-off the upgrade of Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport, Ibadan to an International standard .

At the groundbreaking ceremony held at the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport at Alakia, Ibadan,Oyo State governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde announced that 41 billion naira had been approved for the first phase of the project.

The governor maintained that the airport which would be completed within 12 months is strategic investment not for Jamboree

“Contrary to insinuations in some quarters, the decision to upgrade the airport is based on solid data and logic to improve the socio-economic status of the state .

The project when completed would position Ibadan as a true regional economic hub in the South- West and Nigeria as a whole”He said

Governor Makinde explained that the state needed this kind of investment to open Oyo state to the global market in the area of ease of doing business and agribusiness.

Governor Makinde however commended President Bola Tinubu for his approval of Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport, Alakia, Ibadan to International standard.

The chairman of the event and Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, while equally commending the Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration for holistically expanding the nation’s economy through aviation,said the airport would greatly widen the economy of Ibadan and South West when completed.

Earlier, the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo and the immediate past Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Managing Director, Alhaji Kabir Mohammed, who spoke through the acting Manager of Ladoke Akintola Airport,Ibadan,Francis Balogun said the airport which was earlier put up in 1940 by the British, now on the international upgrade would enhance global air trafficking by widening of 2400 metres’ runway to 3000 metres, among other facilities.

Present at the event included the acting PDP national acting chairman, Eliah Damagum, Oyo State Lawmakers, state chief Judge, Iyabo Yerima, traditional and religious leaders, leadership of Airport Community, among others.