Buhari Inaugurates 15m Abuja Airport Terminal
President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, commissioned the newly built international terminal at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The president said at the commissioning that Nigeria is closing its huge infrastructure gap gradually with improved project completion success stories.
The Abuja terminal is said to be the biggest in West Africa and has the capacity to process at least 15 million passengers annually.
The terminal is one out of four being built by a $500m loan facility from China EXIM Bank and a $100m counterpart funding from Nigeria.
The contract was awarded and the loan obtained during the immediate past government.
The other three terminals include; Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt. Port Harcourt and Abuja terminals have been completed and commissioned by the president.
“This event today, reflects government’s deliberate policy to sustain the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure. We are gradually closing the infrastructural deficit bedevilling our country,” the president said.
President Buhari also said that aviation remains critical in the quest to deliver a better economy for Nigeria.
He said: “This Administration recognises aviation as a catalyst for economic growth and as such we will continue to encourage and support the actualization of projects that will place Nigerian airports amongst the best in the world.”
He noted that with “the commissioning of this terminal, Nigeria is moving towards achieving and meeting global aviation standards in facilitation, passenger processing and service delivery in tandem with international best practices.”
The president said “the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Terminal is the first airport terminal to be connected to a rail transport system in the country and indeed in the region.”
He also restates that Nigeria is committed to the ease doing business processes.
In his remarks at the event, the Minister of State Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, said from political and economic perspectives, the Abuja airport “is very strategic to Nigeria not only because it is the gateway to the nation’s capital but also because it the second busiest airport in the country.
“It is also the fastest growing in passenger traffic in West and Central Africa, with an average growth rate of 8%, where the world average growth is 5.8%.”