TEXT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT,
NIGERIAN SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS ON NNAMDI AZIKIWE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ABUJA
PROPOSED 6 WEEKS CLOSURE
HELD AT EPRD HALL, NATIONAL ENGINEERING CENTRE, ABUJA.
Background
The Federal
Ministry of Transport (Aviation) held a Stakeholders’ Forum on January 5th,
2017 at Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja on the proposed closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport (NAIA) Abuja, for maintenance repairs works.
The HMS
(Aviation) noted as follows:
a. The FGN has taken a decision to temporarily close
the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja for 6 weeks commencing from
March 8, 2017 to carry out comprehensive renovation works on the Airport Runway
in order to meet International Civil Aviation Standards.
b. The Kaduna International Airport has been
designated as the alternative airport to be used during the period of closure.
c. FMoT collaboration with relevant MDAs and
organizations focusing on transit and security arrangement to ensure the
provision of all the necessary logistics for a seamless and hitch-free operation.
NSE OBSERVATIONS
Preamble
The aviation sector is a part of Nigeria’s
transportation network and contributes significantly to the socio-economic
growth of Nigeria. Any disruption in the
operations of this sector, particularly at an international airport that
connects Nigeria to the rest of the world, has a huge impact.
Absence of
a second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja meant lack
of excess runway capacity to temporarily close the main runway for repair. In addition, shutting down the only runway
will create enormous ripple effects for all the passengers and cargo traffic
flowing in and out of NAIA, Abuja which is an airport
hub. In far worse scenarios,
committed efforts have kept airports operational while maintenance/repairs are
on-going.
A good example is the Uli airport runway which was
kept open during the civil war through quick fixes to crater caused by
exploding bombs. Another example is the replacement of the aging Frankfurt Airport
runway in 2005, closure of the runway was not an option. All work was scheduled in
a seven-and-a-half hour night-time window over 300 nights in 15m section of the
main runway. The replacement material by
dawn was hard enough to hold a Boeing 747 and cool enough not to explode its tyres. This and other similar projects are seen as
likely template for other airport renovations.
Considering the importance of the aviation sector
to Nigerian economy and the potential negative impact of the proposed 6-week
airport closure, NSE responded to the Federal Ministry of Transport (Aviation)
Stakeholders Forum Newspaper advert by sending a robust
representation to the Stakeholders Forum led by the NSE Deputy President.
Unfortunately,
the decision of the Hon Minister State (Aviation) to limit contributions to
only three stakeholders precluded the views of NSE from being heard. This necessitated a short intervention
through a short press interview at the end of the Stakeholders Forum by the Chairman,
Board of Fellows NSE which was aired in some television channels.
The NSE having
carried out an extensive and robust review of the phenomenal and devastating
impact which the proposed closure of Abuja airport would impose on the
competiveness of our economy, which is already steeped in deep recession, and
mindful of the security implications that might be associated with the proposed
plan, is compelled to recommend and note as follows:
·
Operational models
at Uli and Frankfurt airport must be
adopted to keep the Abuja airport
open which implies working in sections.
·
Construction of
the second runway at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja must commence immediately.
·
Present
non-integrated management of transport sectors has not worked. There is an
urgent need to adopt a holistic and inter-modal approach.
·
NSE wishes to reemphasize
the need to collapse all transport modes (railway, road, marine, aviation) into
Federal Ministry of Transport for greater efficiency and improved management.
·
NSE recognizes
and praises the effort of the leadership of NASS in driving the transport
sector reforms and would like to encourage the executive arm of government to
key in.
·
We call on President
Muhammadu Buhari to appoint competent and professionally exposed Nigerian
engineers to head engineering/infrastructure ministries as a way to
strengthening the change agenda.
·
NSE has just
received report which indicates failure of the recently completed Enugu airport
runway by PW. In order to avoid similar
predicament and possible closure in future, it is recommended that the model
proposed here be adopted for Enugu and any other airport with similar problems.
Thank you,
and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Engr.
Otis Anyaeji, FNSE, FAEng
President
The Nigerian
Society of Engineers
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