Infrastructure decay: FG, AfDB partnering to address challenge-Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday, in Abuja, said that African Development Bank (AfDB), was already collaborating with the Federal Government to tackle the several infrastructure decay bedeviling Nigeria’s aviation sector.
Speaking yesterday at the on-going third World Aviation Forum (WAF), organised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and hosted by Nigeria, Buhari described the infrastructure gap on the continent as a huge challenge confronting the aviation industry.
Buhari, who was represented at the forum by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, observed that in the next 15 years, passenger and freight movements would increase on the continent, while expressing worry that the infrastructure on the ground may not be able to adequately address the challenges.
According to the president, in order to tackle the challenges, African governments needed to collaborate with major private investors, stressing that without this; most of the challenges would remain unsolved.
Speaking at the occasion, the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika hinted that $775bn was required to tackle the infrastructure deficiencies in Nigeria.
Sirika, who noted that the money required to address the challenges were high, however, declared that Nigeria was strategically located on the Gulf of Guinea with markets boasting of varieties.
Nigeria with a population of estimated 170 million people, representing half of the entire population in West Africa, Sirika said, ought to play a leading role not just in the sub-region, but on the continent.
His words: “Aviation is certainly the way to go; and the only way for our country to develop. This ICAO’s forum is the only way to develop the sector in this country.
I believe Nigeria is the best place for investors to invest their resources. Federal Government and some stakeholders in the sector have come together to develop aviation roadmap, which entails security and safety.
Our national carrier project would be private sector-driven, but with a maximum of five per cent resources from the government.”
Chukwuemeke Iwelunmo
