Excitement rented the air on Saturday as for the first time in the history of Ekiti state, it received its first aircraft at the the new Cargo Airport in Ado-Ekiti.
The inaugural landing of the aircraft was witnessed by a jubilant crowd and other dignitaries, including Governor Kayode Fayemi; Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Niyi Adebayo; Ekiti Speaker Funminiyi Afuye, his deputy, Hakeem Jamiu and other top government officials.
The flight with registration number NAF 930 belonging to the Nigerian Air Force landed the airport around 10:20 am with the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika and officials of the ministry on board.
Receiving the aircraft, Ekiti state Governor Kayode Fayemi expressed his excitement at receiving the flight, saying the facility would boost the socio-economic growth and development of the State.
He said that the project started in 2019 and was geared towards unlocking the vast potentials in Ekiti State in order to attract investors.
The Governor added that it will provide easy transportation of agricultural produces and provide job opportunities.
He said, “Upon my assumption of office in 2018, I appointed aviation experts and industry related officials to kickstart the implementation of the project. They made several Advocate visits to communities in order to meet the requirements for the establishment of the airport.
“The administration took the following steps: we secured the approval, the revalidation of approval from the Federal Ministry of Aviation. We also secured the Department of State Services (DSS) clearance, we paid all the necessary fees for the construction, planning and certification to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and conducting Environmental and Sustainability Impact Assessment.
“As a government that adheres strictly to the rule of law with unwavering respect for the rights of our people, we made several appeals to communities affected for enumeration of their farmlands to ensure commensurate monetary compensation is paid on their crops.
“To this end, a total of 669 claimants were duly compensated out of those that presented themselves for the exercise. We acquired 4,017 hectares of land from nine communities: Ago Aduloju, Aso Ayegunle, Bolorunduro, Igbogun, Araromi, Obbo, Afao, Orun, Igbemo and Ijan covering three local government areas in the state,” he said.