…Analysts fear FG is repeating past mistake with current repairs

By Dickson Omobola

Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu is in the news, although for wrong reasons. Two connected issues have brought the Emene-based airport into public glare in recent days: its never-ending runway problems and a controversial claim about plans to concession the facility for 80 years.

Although the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, had since dismissed the latter as untrue, the unresolved runway problems continue to leave industry stakeholders and Nigerians confused.

In fact, their frustrations, deepened by recent closure of the airport by the Federal Government, have stirred up a hornets’ nest of criticism and renewed calls for accountability.

Runway closure

A few hours after Nigeria’s largest flag carrier, Air Peace, suspended operations to Enugu over safety concerns of its runway, other airlines followed suit.

In fact, less than 24 hours after the airline made the announcement, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, temporarily closed the airport for runway rehabilitation.

FAAN disclosed that there was a significant rupture in the asphalt surface at a critical section of the runway that would require emergency repairs.

The agency, in a statement by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mrs Obiageli Orah, stated that the repairs would be conducted on that portion of the runway from April 22 to May 6, 2025.

Adding his voice to the matter, Keyamo, via his X handle, also recalled that a similar development led to the closure of the runway in August 2019 for one year and the contract for the total rehabilitation was awarded to a contractor.

He stated: “Unfortunately, when we came to office, we discovered that a waterlogged part of the runway was not properly constructed to take care of the problem, leading to constant cracks and potholes on the runway.

“It obviously puts the lives of the travelling public at great risk. We have been carrying out constant palliative works on it, but the problem has not abated and the cracks on the runway are becoming craters. I personally visited the airport some months after assuming office and expressed my total displeasure with the work done by the contractor.”

Frequent runway repairs without permanent solution

Within 16 years, specifically between 2009 and 2025, the Federal Government has spent billions of Naira on the airport’s runway expansion and repairs without a permanent solution.

Under former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, N4.13 billion was approved for upgrades, which included lengthening the runway from 2,400 to 3,000 metres and widening it to 60 metres.

By 2010, the project was revised under Yar’Adua’s successor, former President Goodluck Jonathan, who raised the contract to N10 billion to upgrade it to international status.

At the commissioning of the airport in 2013, Jonathan said another N13 billion would be required to complete the facility. However, there was no public record to show if the proposed sum was released or spent as a whole. Meanwhile, in 2013, a 600-metre extension was reportedly delivered.

Four years later, a Senate inspection in 2017 found the runway in poor condition. At the time, Mohammed Adamu, the senator representing Kebbi Central, said that over N9 billion had been earmarked for the terminal between 2015 and 2017.

In October 2019, former President Muhammadu Buhari also approved the release of a N10 billion Special Intervention Fund for immediate repairs and upgrade of the airport.

Nigerians react

With the latest closure of the airport over another runway problem, Nigerians have expressed their anger, with many demanding that the contractors be probed.

Those who took to X, formerly known as Twitter, included one Oluchukwu Madu, who stated: “How many times would government repair that Enugu Airport runway? Under the Buhari administration, the airport was shut down for months with the claim of repairing the runway? Why so much hatred for Easterners?”

Also sharing his thoughts, Udoka Christian, tweeted: “The day Tinubu probes Buhari over the reckless waste of resources in the aviation sector, Nigeria will beg for mercy. This is the same airport the former minister (Hadi Sirika) shut down for repairs for some months .”

Another X user, Legacytrend 1, said: “Why the same problem after one year of closure a few years ago? What happened to the contractor who did a poor job? Please, You should design and construct a second runway immediately so that you have an alternative in these situations because that is how decent societies work.”

Experts speak

Besides, industry analysts have also weighed in on the problematic runway, with many suggesting its reconstruction, which would take more than the allotted two weeks.

Setting the tone for their views, a former Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, NCAT, Zaria, Captain Samuel Caulcrick, told Saturday Vanguard that the challenges with the runway were likely due to the underlying soil composition, which perhaps, he said could be causing structural issues and maintenance concerns.

Geotechnical assessments, others

He said: “This highlights the importance of geotechnical assessments. I hope they will conduct thorough soil assessments to inform infrastructure design and construction. Also, there is a need for specialised construction techniques. Panel-beating will be like kicking the can down the road. They should utilise construction methods tailored to the local soil conditions. Similarly, there should be regular monitoring and maintaining to prevent further deterioration. It is  imperative to address these challenges to help ensure the safety and efficiency of air travel in Enugu.”

Assessment

Meanwhile, aviation analyst, Group Captain John Ojikutu, retd, argued that the latest repair would be the third major one.

Ojikutu said: “It is like they do repairs on that runway every five years. I remember asking the then Minister of Aviation, Stella Odua,  when they upgraded it to an international airport, if they had done an assessment on the capacity of that airport to take large aircraft. As if I knew.

“I asked if they had done an assessment on the capacity of that airport, especially the runway and security. I was very emphatic about it. I also talked about the load classification number, in regard to the strength of the runway. The type of aircraft it was carrying that time was 737-200, not the 600 of today, and the F-27, the F-28. Those were the big aircraft they were carrying, apart from the military aircraft at that time, which was a very light aircraft anyway.”

The analyst said apart from those, there were no big aircraft going into that airport at that time.

Questions

He said: “So, when you just suddenly woke up and you wanted to start flying the bigger aircraft there, then the question that should have been asked was: would the strength of that runway be able to carry it? You did it the first time. You did it the second time. Something should tell you that there is a need for a different strategy.”

Ojikutu also asked: “How regular is what I call the periodic maintenance of that runway? How many landings do you have on that runway before it is being repaired? People just come and spend money.”

Reconstruction

On the way forward, he stated: “A reconstrucution should be done , otherwise it will reoccur. FG should do a reconstruction, upgrade the load classification number to be able to take the big aircraft that operates there. If any part of the runway ought to have a problem at all, it should be around the threshold – 200, 300 metres from the threshold – on both sides, because that is the area the aircraft is landing. Those are the areas that should be having problems. But when it’s having this type of problem regularly, then something should tell them what the problem is, and the solution is to reconstruct the runway.”