The Agro Cargo Airport in Ilisha-Remo, Ogun State, has been described as a game changer that would further enhance the state’s industrialisation.
Team leader of a delegation from the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Group 1, Senior Executive Course 45, 2023, Kuru, Jos, Prof. Oluwafunmilayo Para-Mallam, stated this during an inspection tour of the project site. They were led by Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya.
Prof. Para-Mallam described the project as a Class E Airport, noting that its completion will also help the state achieve its potential as an agric entrepreneurial state.
The team leader noted that the cargo airport will further open up business opportunities for both local and foreign investors, thereby solidifying the status of Ogun as the industrial capital of the country.
Prof. Para-Mallam also praised the government for coming up with such ‘a noble idea’, and acknowledged that Ogun is among the first states in the country to own an agro-cargo airport. She said the airport has the potential to create more job opportunities when fully operational.
The don called on stakeholders to utilise existing opportunities in the state to grow their businesses, and promised that the institute would partner the government for a symbiotic relationship.
Akinsanya told the delegation that the airport, when completed before the end of this year, would attract more investments into the state. He added that the four-kilometer runway is about 95 per cent complete and would be ready before the end of July, noting that the airport’s strategic location, as its unique selling point, would drive its status as an aerotropolis.
According to Akinsanya, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) had paid for a site to be used as its operation base, while the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and other agencies are also exploring investment opportunities within the airport.
He added: “The four-kilometer runway is ready; construction of the fire station is on, the control tower and the administrative building is there, and those are the essential components of an airport. Every other thing as you know is luxury and comfort. We are not just building an airport; we are building an aerotropolis. We are bringing different people and don’t forget this is a specialised airport as it will be an agro-cargo airport. Though, there is another facility for passenger operations.
“The airport can be accessed through six locations – Lagos-Sagamu, Lagos-Ibadan, Lagos-Epe. I don’t think any airport can rival it anywhere within this country and the facility is unique.”