On the occasion of President Tinubu’s first year in office last year, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN) had, during a media briefing, promised that construction of the long overdue second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja would commence and be completed within 12 months.
In the minister’s words, “The necessity of a second runway has long been a critical issue for the nation’s capital city. The danger of operating the nation’s capital city airport with just one runway cannot be imagined. Imagine foreign heads of state visiting Nigeria, and there is a problem with the runway. Where are we going to divert them? Are we going to cancel the conference?”
At the briefing, the minister also stated that the government had resolved the lingering issues around community compensation that had impeded the commencement of the project. He further stated that the Chinese company handling the project had assured that it would clear the site to enable President Tinubu to commission the construction of the project.
Curiously and against the expectations of Nigerians, construction is yet to commence on the project several months after the minister’s promise.
At the root of the issue is the cost content, which had stalled the commencement of work on the project.
The initial cost, which was first awarded to Julius Berger in 2009, was N64 billion. The contract was, however, revoked at the instance of the House of Representatives in 2010 for being over the odds. The contract was then re-awarded to China Civil Engineering Corporation (CCECC) which returned a variation of the cost, from the N90 billion for which it was awarded, to N532 billion.
But aviation experts, while recognising the need for variation of the contract cost and attributing it to the costs in engineering projects of this nature, coupled with the high exchange rate of the naira, have, however, rejected the new cost submitted by CCECC. In this regard, the Secretary General of Aviation Roundtable Olu Ohunayo said, ‘’I am of the opinion that there is a need for a variation. I am also of the opinion that the figure of N532 billion should also be looked into. I think it is too high.’’
In light of this, it is little wonder that the minister had to reject the cost submitted by the contractor, effectively leading to yet another delay in the construction of the project.
Despite this, however, the debate on the need for a second runway at the Abuja airport has gone on unabated. Indeed, it is quite clear that many Nigerians hold on to the view that the need for a second runway is imperative for a number of reasons.
The Abuja airport has undergone several makeovers over the past years to cope with the ever-rising number of passengers using it for both domestic and international flights. A lot of times, this results in delays in takeoff and landing, leading to air traffic and passenger congestion at the airport.
It is also important to note that as a result of Nigeria’s pivotal role in regional and global affairs, Abuja, the nation’s capital, plays host to many foreign delegations who come on visits for political, diplomatic, and economic/commercial reasons. Already, Abuja comes second after Lagos in terms of the volume of passengers it handles annually. This is projected to increase in the coming years, leading to Abuja becoming an important hub of air traffic both as a destination and a connection to domestic and regional airports.
Also, as a result of expansion in global air travel, airlines now use large, wide-bodied, long-haul aircraft like the A380, B777, A350 and the B787 Dreamliner. All these aircraft require long runways to land and short turnaround times for flights to be able to drop and pick up passengers and head for the next destination.
Another factor that should also be considered is the need for VIP visits to cater for the frequent clash in VIP traffic as well as normal commercial and other traffic. Many times, flights have to be delayed in the air or denied takeoff for hours in anticipation of inbound or outbound VIP flights, which poses great danger to air traffic and passengers as well as the opportunity and business costs to both.
All these make a strong case for a second runway at the Abuja airport, which must be considered. But we believe that while supporting the case for this, it must not be at the prohibitive cost that the contractor has submitted. Considering that similar projects have been done in Africa and elsewhere at lesser costs, we believe there is a need to sit with the contractor and review the cost submitted reasonably or invite competitive bids for the project by other competent contractors.
