As Gembu Airstrip rots, N2bn Mambilla Air, other businesses grounded

An investment worth over N2 billion by Mambila Air as well as other potential air service businesses are stalled over the delay in reconstructing the Gembu Airstrip in the Mambilla Plateau in Taraba State Daily Trust on Sunday reports. 

The Gembu Airstrip which used to serve as a facility to operate light aircraft into Mambila, the Mambila hydroelectric power and other neighbouring towns, has been run down after over a decade of neglect. The facility is currently overgrown with grass. 

The airstrip, which started operation in the mid-1980s, when revived will ease transportation problems into the area known as a tourism destination. 

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Aviation agencies inspected strip in 2021

In July 2021, the federal government sent a team of aviation experts to inspect the Gembu Airstrip as part of its plan to revive the facility, which has been abandoned for the past 10 years.

The team comprised technical experts from the National Airspace Management Agency, Federal Airport Authority, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and Nigerian Meteorological Agency.

The team, led by Engr. Abba Shuaibu, had inspected the airport at Gembu, the headquarters of Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State.

It was said that the strip will also ease movement of engineers and other workers that would handle the construction of the Mambilla hydro power project.

The work to be carried out by the federal government at the abandoned airstrip will include reconstruction, expansion and provision of vital facilities for landing and take-off.

Chairman of Air Mambilla, Ibrahim Mamoud, during the inspection had said that the airstrip is very strategic and important as it will ease movement of people into the area.

He said the airstrip will, apart from serving construction workers for the multi-billion-dollar Mambilla hydro power project, also boost tourism potential of the Mambilla Plateau.

He had said Gembu town, where the airstrip is located, is very close to the Gashaka Gumti National Park which attracts tourists from within and outside the country.

Mahmoud said the airline would resume flights once the rehabilitation is completed, while commending the federal government for its plan to reconstruct and expand the airstrip.

How Gembu strip can revive tourism

Speaking about the facility and how it could help revive tourism in the rich plateau as well as how Mambilla Air can rebound, the Chief Executive Officer of Hillview Travels Ltd, the operators of Mambilla Air, Alhaji Aliyu B. Malabu, said they are investing about N2bn to revive Mambila Air to operate flights into the Mambilla Plateau if the federal government fixes the Gembu airstrip. 

He said he has worked out all necessary Memorandum of Understanding with relevant partners to commence flight operations into Gembu if the rundown airstrip is rebuilt. 

According to him, because of his involvement and interest, last year he took a team of facility inspectors comprising the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and other relevant professionals to assess the facility and advice the Minister of Aviation on what needs to be done to revive the facility, the cost of rebuilding it and the economic viability of the facility. 

Alh. Malabu told our correspondent that although he is not privy to their final recommendation, their review during the tour was positive. 

“I don’t have an idea of what was contained in the team lead report. At the visit, they reviewed the facility positively and made a commercial case for it because of the Mambilla Hydro, the terrain is difficult to access by road so an airstrip is more than welcomed there,” he said. 

He thus asked that the Federal Ministry of Aviation should move quickly to rebuild that facility as it will not only serve Mabila Air but will also help the security agencies to use the facility for security operations. 

He said he doesn’t know how much it would cost to fix the airstrip but it could be more than N2bn.

“It will depend on the contractor. I can’t say exactly but some experts say it could cost less than N3bn. I spoke with the Senate Committee chairman on Aviation, Sen. Smart Adeyemi, on the need to provide for the cost in the budget, and he had promised to make sure the procurement is part of the supplementary budget if the Ministry of Aviation approves the project for construction,” he said. 

On its  viability, he said the airstrip will be profitable as a lot of people are yearning for commercial flights into that environment. 

“The economy of Gembu, Taraba and neighbouring communities will make that facility profitable, no doubt. These communities are losing a lot, especially Sardauna local government. Even if the Hydro Power Dam isn’t executed, there are sufficient passengers to use that route,” he said. 

Alh. Malabu said he has even tried to engage the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, on the need to approve the facility for reconstruction but he hasn’t gotten the opportunity after several attempts.

Gembu: NAF once planned a base

As part of the current administration’s effort to deepen aviation activities in Gembu town, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) had in 2019, planned to establish a fully functional base there.

The NAF base, according to the then Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, would be equipped with helicopter landing pads (helipads) and an airstrip. Abubakar made this known when he paid an operational visit to 23 Quick Response Wing (23 QRW) Gembu.

He said some of the new NAF combat helicopters procured by the Federal Government would be deployed to Gembu when the airstrip is ready.

Abubakar, in a statement signed by the then NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said Abubakar was in the area to assess the level of preparedness of the troops and improve their facilities for enhanced professional performance.

He also said that the establishment of the proposed Special Operational Command (SOC), along with its component units, like the 4 QRGs, 211 QRG, and 4 QRWs, amongst which is 23 QRW, was to fulfill the mandate of President Muhammadu Buhari, to ensure that all communities in the country enjoy relative peace and go about their legitimate aspirations without fear of being molested.