The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, Tuesday officially flagged off the construction of the Kogi International Airport at Zariagi, declaring that the landmark project would place the state on the global aviation map.
Keyamo described the flag-off as a historic milestone whose significance would endure for generations.
He said: “What is happening here today, what the Governor has done today, will resonate many, many years, centuries after today, 500 years from today.
“Do you understand the significance of what is happening here today? Let me tell you the significance. Today, as from today, this village called Zariagi will be on the Global Aviation Map”
The Aviation minister in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Tunde Moshood, explained that every recognised airport around the world is identified through a global aviation coding system.
He noted that the establishment of the airport would give Zariagi international visibility within the aviation community through the relevant identification and coding processes of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Keyamo stressed that the project represents a significant step in putting Kogi State on the global aviation landscape and connecting it to the wider world,
He attributed the possibility of the project to the combination of the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu and Governor Usman Ododo’s vision and determination to translate available resources into meaningful development.
He maintained that the federal government’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market, have increased allocations accruing to subnational governments, thereby providing states with greater fiscal capacity to undertake critical infrastructure projects.
Keyamo noted that increased revenue alone was not sufficient to guarantee development, stressing that purposeful leadership and the ability to identify and invest in strategic projects were equally important.
“However, it takes two to tangle. One, the positive policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the vision of the Governor. These are the two things that combined to make this thing possible today,” he said.
Addressing critics who have questioned the rationale behind establishing an international airport in Kogi State, the minister argued that infrastructure development must sometimes precede the arrival of major investors and commercial establishments.
He explained that waiting for international companies, luxury hotels and other major businesses to establish their presence before building an airport would amount to putting the cart before the horse.
According to him, An airport is not merely a response to existing economic activities but a strategic catalyst capable of attracting those activities in the first place.
“If you are waiting for the best international companies to be here, the best international hotels to be here before you put an airport, you wait for the next one million years, it will not come.
“It is the airport that attracts these developments. The airport is the precursor. The airport is the forerunner. The airport is the indicator of development,” Keyamo stated.