Much Ado About Ogun Cargo Airport

Tuesday, March 23, 2021 / 09:55 AM / OpEd by Dr. Reuben Abati / Header Image Credit: Business Hallmark/Ecographics

OgunState has been in the news for the wrong reasons lately over what I prefer tocall for the want of a better term: much ado about a cargo airport. All theparties involved need to be told that the provision of a Cargo Airport in thestate should not become a matter of geography, individual ego, arrogance,mischief or ethnicity. The main consideration should be the interest of thepeople of Ogun State. A Cargo airport in Ogun State will, to state the obvious,create employment, open up the state, and deepen the development process, andalso provide an alternative to the congested Lagos port facilities. It willshore up state revenue. The great advantage or disadvantage that Ogun State hasis its proximity to Lagos.

Withregard to the former, the increasing scarcity of space, and the over-congestionin Lagos, has resulted in the last two decades in an urban sprawl from Lagostowards every part of Ogun State which is its nearest neighbour. The effect isthat housing schemes, industrial projects and other investments that couldordinarily have been located in Lagos, are being moved to Ogun State, along theLagos-Ibadan Expressway on the Southern front, and towards Epe and Ijebu Ode onthe Northern axis. Whoever runs Ogun State as Governor therefore has a responsibilityto prepare Ogun State for this advantage, for it is the best option for turningthe state into an industrial hub, not just for proximity purposes but also asthe gateway to the East and the neighbouring countries of Benin, and Togo. Thedisadvantage which needs to be addressed is that as Ogun State merges withLagos, and with many Ogun State residents working in Lagos, commuting dailybetween the two states, the bulk of the tax that should go to Ogun State endsup in Lagos State coffers. No Governor has been able to find an answer to thatyet. Most of the people living in Ifo 2 Constituency and Obafemi Owode LocalGovernment, for example, live in Ogun State and pay tax in Lagos. The proximitybetween both states is such that in places like Alagbole, for example, some ofthe residents have their living rooms in Lagos State and their bedrooms on theOgun State side of the divide!

Butthat is not the real subject matter. It is this: in 2007, Engr Gbenga Daniel asGovernor of Ogun State decided to set up a Cargo airport in the state, toattract business and investment, and TO take full advantage of the proximity ofOgun State to Lagos. Lagos, Nigeria's main commercial centre and the host oftwo sea ports and an international airport is congested, creating nightmaresfor both residents and businesses. The clearing of cargo in Lagos at the timeand even now was an abiding source of frustration for business and industry.Why not set up an alternative in Ogun State and draw economic benefits? This was the vision of the Gbenga Danieladministration. And it made sense. The chosen location for the Cargo airportwas Ilishan-Remo part of the state, close to Sagamu. Governor Daniel got thenecessary approvals from the Federal Ministry of Aviation and the Nigeria CivilAviation Authority (NCAA), and did the ground work. But the Cargo airport wasnot completed before the end of his tenure. In 2007, Governor Daniel was succeeded by Senator Ibikunle Amosun asGovernor of Ogun State. The new Governor also saw the good sense in what hadbeen initiated by his predecessor but rather than continue with what he met onthe ground, Amosun decided to start an entirely new Cargo Airport and chose asnew location, a part of the state called Wasimi.

Thisis where the problem lies. Daniel was a Governor of Remo extraction. When hedecided to locate the Cargo airport in Remoland, the Egbas accused Daniel oftaking every important project to his part of the state. When Amosun took over,he looked towards his own territory, Egbaland and hence decided that theproposed Cargo airport was best for his own people. Wasimi to Ilishan Remo isless than 30 minutes. The change of location served no special purpose otherthan the psychological comfort it brings and the ethnic rivalry it projects.Amosun would end up doing a lot for his Egba people. He changed the face ofAbeokuta, the capital of the state. He also gave them a flyover in Ijebu Ode.But the cargo airport has now become a source of concern. This whole hustleover location is just across the bridge and less than 30 minutes in terms ofdistance!

Aweek ago, the matter came up before the Senate Committee on Aviation, followingdisagreements between Governor Dapo Abiodun and former Governor of the state,Senator Ibikunle Amosun. The former is interested in building the Ilishan-Remoairport. Governor Abiodun, like Daniel is from Remo. Amosun wants the Agricultural Cargo Airportin Wasimi, in Egbaland. The SenateCommittee on Aviation reportedly visited the two sites, and both Governors havebeen struggling to persuade the Senate to include their preferred project inthe federal budget. By the way, the last time I checked, Senator Amosun was nolonger the Governor of Ogun State. With due respect, why is he trying todictate to his successor? He would never have accepted such meddlesomeness ashe now allegedly puts up, from his own predecessors: Governor Olusegun Osoba orGovernor Gbenga Daniel. As it turned out, the representative of the NCAA toldthe Senate Committee on Aviation that the agency has no record of any approvalfor the establishment of a Wasimi Cargo Airport, but it has all the necessarydocumentation for the Sagamu cargo airport. The Chairman of the Senate panel,Senator Smart Adeyemi subsequently resolved the matter by saying that OgunState has the capacity to manage two airports. What kind of talk is that? SmartAdeyemi's statement is supported by politics, double-talk and hypocrisy, andnot the facts. Ogun State does not need two Cargo airports. One is enough. The statecannot afford two airports. That is a fact. The Senate panel on Aviation mustbe truthful and not take any decision just to please Amosun, who is currentlyin the Senate.

Itis most unfortunate that governance in Ogun State as is the case in other statesof the Federation has been reduced to the distribution of privileges based onethnicity. I think Governor Abiodun hasdone well by continuing with a worthy project introduced by Daniel, whichAmosun abandoned. It is completely beside the point that Abiodun and Daniel arefrom the same geographical zone. The overall target should be continuity ingovernance. That is how they do it in sane and developed economies Abiodun hascompleted some of Senator Amosun's projects even in Egbaland, and the most conspicuousis the road leading to Abeokuta all the way to Kuto. He should also payattention to Amosun's projects in Ifo 2 Constituency to show good faith. As forSenator Amosun, can he just concentrate on his new assignment in Abuja andallow his successor to govern, the same way his own predecessors gave him abreathing space? Dapo Abiodun was our opponent in the 2019 Gubernatorialelection in Ogun State but having won, he should be allowed to govern and makehis own choices and mistakes. The state should not and cannot have twoGovernors. All that talk about what Amosun wants is mere politics and verycheap politics at that. I have no doubts that Amosun's kinsmen will praise himfor his Egba nationalism but we cannot afford to have an atomistic Ogun state whereevery Governor that emerges is more interested in his or her own narrow goals.A Cargo airport in Remo will be a Cargo airport for all the people of OgunState. Can we just focus on that and subtract the politics of it?

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