The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has sealed a deal with a private company, Ala Resort Ltd, to engage over 14,000 skilled workers, to develop the Akure Cargo Airport, into an “aerotropolis.”
Mr Hycinth Ngwu, General Manager, Business Development, FAAN Headquarters, Abuja, revealed this while briefing journalists in Akure, the Ondo state capital, on Monday.
Ngwu said the majority of the workers would be sourced within the locals in the state, adding that the project when completed is expected to boost the revenue baseline of the Akure airport.
“Certainly the majority of the employees will come from the locality. They should support it because it will transform their success.
“We intend to replicate this in other airports. We started in Akure because it initially had the largest land mass before being overtaken recently by Abuja Airport,” he said.
While noting that the project was anchored on a private/public partnership, Mr Ngwu explained that FAAN was committed to developing an aerotroplis in the Akure airport which is the largest land mass before overtaken by Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
According to him, the groundbreaking of the project would hold on Tuesday and would be a revolution for the airport authority.
He assured that the Akure Airport would be the best in the country at the end of the completion, urging both the state, community and stakeholders to join hands in making the project a success.
“It is in the interest of all stakeholders to support the project. It will increase the revenue base of the state and local government,” Mr Ngwu added further.
Explaining the idea behind the project, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ala resort, Moyosola Niran-Oladunni, said the aerotropolis, which would be the first of its kind in the sub-Sahara Africa, would drive lives around the aviation industry.
Mr Niran-Oladunni noted that the resort had begun moves on the aerotropolis in 2017 when experts were invited to assess the airport for its suitability for the project.
He revealed that with the approval of the airport authority the project would be constructed in phases including institutional, industrial, commercial, agricultural and other infrastructure facilities which would gulp N56 billion.
“The aerotropolis would parade institutional zone including Sports Academy that could host any club, which would be built by Emirate Foundation, medical centre, to be built by a US company.
“The industrial zone would also enable all materials to be used for the construction to be assembled and manufactured in the sector within,” he stated.
He said the aerotropolis has the potential to catalyse cargo business in the airport, noting that the Akure airport authority would activate the cargo shed in the airport.
Earlier, Mrs. Lynda Ezike, the manager, of the Akure Airport, said the management and staff of the airport were ready to support the proposed unprecedented developmental mega project in the airport.
Ezike said the project would be for the betterment of the state and the country at large, adding that the airport was ready to support Ala Resort Ltd in ensuring success.
