By Femi Ogbonnikan

WITHOUT further ado, Prince Dapo Abiodun is moving ahead with his commitment to giving Ogun State a brand new Agro-Cargo Airport, come November. For so long, the project has been a subject of controversy, sentiments, ego-tripping and needless arguments about the choice of location.

But while the discourse as to the imperative or otherwise of the project lasted, the administration kept its focus on how to raise enough funds to deliver on its promise in order to turn the state into an industrial hub. And without holding back, the governor has been doing so well by investing massively in infrastructural development which has now become a major attraction to both local and foreign investors.

From the evolution of human societies, it is such resolute determination that defines the character of a genuine bearer of a new vision. In all circumstances, a visionary leader is one who is expected to keep his head above all forms of primordial sentiments, vindictiveness, public disagreement, criticisms, and sometimes outright opprobrium.

That much, he had done with his tame and tepid response to issues, focusing only on the interest of the good people of Ogun State. In retrospect, former Governor Gbenga Daniel had conceived the idea of setting up a cargo airport in the state in 2007 to attract business and investment and to also take full advantage of the proximity of the state to Lagos.

And it made a lot of sense, because of the terrible nightmares industry owners and importers had to go through as a result of the congestion of the two seaports, and International Airport, both in Lagos.

Consequently, having got the necessary approvals from the Federal Ministry of Aviation and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, erstwhile Governor Daniel settled for Ilishan-Remo, a settlement close to Sagamu, as his preferred location and did the groundwork. But he could not complete the project before the expiration of his tenure in office.

The responsibility thus fell on his successor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who keyed into the vision by default. While he realised the imperative of the project, he did not agree with the location. Rather, he decided that the proposed cargo airport was best for his own people (Ogun Central), took a detour, and started an entirely new one at another location called Wasimi, a part of the Egba community where he belongs.

On assumption of office of the incumbent Governor Abiodun, he again instigated another power struggle which culminated in the subsequent visit of the Senate Committee on Aviation to the two sites in a bid to resolve the seeming impasse over the right choice of location. The rest is history.

In the final analysis, the representatives of the NCAA told the Senate Committee that there was no record of any approval for the establishment of a Wasimi Cargo Airport, but it had all the necessary documentation for the Ilishan-Remo Air-Cargo Airport. That ends the prolonged narrow self-exclusivity, sentiments and undue ego-tripping that would have aborted the lofty idea in vitro.      

And since then, commendations have been pouring in torrents on Governor Abiodun for his purposeful leadership, commitment and faithfulness in continuing with a worthy project started by Daniel. Now, the good news is that the airport will be ready for use in November this year. All things being equal, the state will witness its first official landing of cargo planes in less than eight months from now. Excitement is already in the air.

For the benefit of doubting Thomases, the governor gave the assurance in his speech in Ijebu-Ode during the recent meeting of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, in Ogun East senatorial district, precisely held on Thursday, March 3, 2022. According to him, the construction of the airport which commenced in March 2022 would probably be the fastest constructed facility on the continent. By this pronouncement, he has wittingly opened the flood gate of accolades from concerned stakeholders in the agro-allied industries for the anticipated dawn of a new era.      

As already hinted, the project when completed would provide no fewer than 25,000 jobs for the people of the state. “The impact of the Agro-Cargo Airport will have positive effects on hotels and warehouses being constructed in the area. Nigeria Customs and the Nigerian Airforce are coming there. We estimate that in the first 18 months, we will create a minimum of 25,000 jobs in that Airport. This is not a power point airport,” he said.

In addition to employment creation, the project will also open up the state, deepen the development process, and also provide an alternative to the congested Lagos port facilities. In the same vein, it will also shore up the state’s revenue generation base, which is the right step towards financial self-sufficiency.

In another breadth, the net effect of it would boost housing schemes, industrial projects, and other investments that could ordinarily have been located in Lagos which will now be attracted to Ogun State, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on the Southern Front, and towards Epe and Ijebu Ode on the northern axis.

All these could not have happened by mere happenstance. It takes a great deal of ingenuity to lead such a gigantic project at this time of economic crunch when even advanced economies of the world have been rendered prostrate in the face of the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just like in other climes, getting the state this far is not a tea party.

The administration has had to go the extra mile to augment the Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, by obtaining loan facilities to ensure speedy completion of the project as well as other infrastructural facilities that would act as catalysts for the ultimate diversification of the economy. 

The governor, while recently negotiating for N83.5 billion facility from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RAMFAC, under the 1.68 per cent Development of Natural Resources Fund, DNRF, of the agency, made an allusion to this, declaring that the loan would assist in diversifying the state’s economy by boosting agriculture, tourism potential and other relevant sectors aside from the completion of the Agro-Cargo Airport in Ilishan-Remo.

He expressed this optimism recently when he hosted members of the Fiscal Efficiency and Budget Committee of the RMFAC led by its chairman, Adamu Dibal, in Abeokuta, the state capital. Justifying the N83.5b loan request, he said Ogun State has the highest number of reserves of cocoa, kola nut, palm oil and rubber in the country, while producing the largest cassava and poultry products in Nigeria.

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With an oceanic plentitude of lands (1.2 million hectares), its agricultural potentials, abundant human and material resources, an advantage of the ease of doing business as well as aggressive infrastructural development, there can be no doubt that the state is already well-positioned to achieve its aspiration to be an industrial hub, not just for proximity purposes but also as the gateway to the East and the neighbouring countries of the Republic of Benin, and Togo. One of the major unique selling points of the Ogun State Agro-Cargo airport is the centrality of its location and ease of access.

For the governor, advancement in the agriculture value chain is the key reason for the consistent construction of the airport. Already, the state has been chosen as a major location of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone Programme, SAPZ, by the Africa Development Bank, AfDB. This is in line with the economic and agricultural development agenda of the administration.

While meeting with officials of the African Development Bank, AfDB, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of SAPZ, he noted that the implementation of the programme would not only support small-holder farmers and other value chain actors for increased agricultural productivity but would also enhance food self-sufficiency and nutrition security.

He stated further that the programme would ensure job creation through agricultural value chain development in the crop, aquaculture, core livestock sectors as well as service provision initiatives in the agricultural sector.

“Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs, development/agro industrialisation through innovative linkages of primary producers to the industrial process, export promotion/diversification and leveraging on local, national, regional and international trade advantages including African Continental Free Trade area, AFCFTA, will also receive a boon via this programme,” Abiodun said.   

The governor further said that the state with its comparative advantages of arable land of 1.2 million hectares, Agro-Cargo Airport project, transport master plan and road infrastructure/network targeting food production and processing locations, and proposed Agro-Industrial Hub, the SAPZ programme would be a huge success.

“With our agricultural transformation centres and aggregation centres, proximity to Lagos market, close proximity to raw materials, expanded primary production and youth engagement in key SAPZ crop -cassava, rice and livestock (poultry) – with a total of 44,541 registered primary producers, including youths, the highest concentration of agro Industries/processors requiring an exceptionally high number of primary products (raw materials) on daily basis, with over 80 agro industries/processors in cassava, rice and livestock, complementary project activities through the IFAD Value Chain Development Programme, VCDP, and CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme, ABP, with over 75,000 registered interested applicants and 13,000 beneficiaries linked to input and credit to the tune of over two billion naira in cassava, rice, maize, and cocoa commodities, Ogun is good to go,” he enthused.

For this reason, both African Development Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development, AfDB/IFAD, Special Agricultural-Processing Zone, SAPZ, programme have described Ogun State as the most suitable location for SAPZ programme.

The two bodies led as a team by Dr. Chuma Ezedinma expressed this view while on a pre-appraisal mission for the development of a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone. They were received by Governor Abiodun, in Abeokuta. 

The State Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo, used the occasion to present facts and figures about the short, medium, and long term benefits of the proposed cargo airport in the state, adding that the state is “strategically located to benefit immensely from the African Free Continental Trade Agreement, AFCTA, the largest regional economic network in the sub-region, with the presence of multinational agro-allied conglomerates.”

The Country Director, IFAD, Dr. Patrick Habamenshi, in his response, urged the governor to support the team with the necessary logistics that might be required towards the successful implementation of the project. Similarly, the Centre for International Freight and Aviation Studies, CIFAS, has also commended the developmental strides of the current administration in opening up the state for cutting-edge agro-allied businesses and unprecedented industrial revolution.

In a statement jointly signed by Director General and Executive Secretary, Mr. Olatunde Awonuga and Mr. Olawale Ismail, in Lagos, CIFAS applauded Governor Abiodun for his foresight and great vision to transform the economy of the Gateway State into an industrial hub.

The CIFAS stressed that even though the framework was put in place by the Otunba Gbenga Daniel administration, its actualisation by the incumbent government should be celebrated by all well-meaning Nigerians.

It stated that aside from the strategic location of the cargo airport in Ilishan-Remo, Ikenne Local Government, a few kilometres away from Lagos State, the International Airport, Ikeja, would tremendously boost the exportation of agricultural and allied products by commercial farmers as well as the importation of farm inputs into the state.

CIFAS maintained that the establishment of the airport had finally given exporters the leeway to export their cash products such as cocoa, kolanut, rubber, and tobacco without necessarily passing through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, and Apapa seaport in Lagos since that axis had become a nightmare for investors, industries and freight forwarders due to congestion.

The cargo airport, CIFAS added, would undoubtedly deepen and broaden the development of Ogun State, boost its internally generated revenue (IGR) and launch the state as an international industrial hub of huge potential and gateway to neighbouring countries of the Republic of Benin and Togo.  

“The construction of the cargo airport by the Ogun State government under the watch of His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun, is an eloquent testimony to the governor’s profound business acumen as well as his proven wealth of experience in the private sector. “It shows that Prince Dapo Abiodun is a good manager of human and material resources as well as a mega creator of wealth-driven opportunities,” CIFAS stated. 

With all these mouth-watering benefits, all eyes are now on Ogun State for the take-off of the project.

Ogbonnikan, a  business man, wrote from Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

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