[Mhiz Rebecca]

For rising to the responsibility of intervening in the
planned closure of Abuja international Airport by the
Aviation sector; the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE)
has hailed the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki
and the entire leadership of the Senate for being
proactive.
The NSE also expressed strong feelings that the
proposed closure of the airport would have phenomenal
and devastating impact on the Nigerian economy.
It
further
tasked
President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint core
professionals in the handling of infrastructural projects
so as to strengthen his Change Agenda.
It would be recalled that the Senate invited the Minister
of Transport, Rotimi Ameachi and Minister of State for
Aviation, Hadi Sirika to explain the rationale behind the
plan to close the Abuja Airport.
Sirika stated that there was no other alternatives than to
shutdown the Airport for six weeks.
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki had, however,
shifted the briefing session till Tuesday, insisting that
the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and other major
stakeholders in the renovation be invited for
questioning.
At a
press
conference held during the week, NSE kicked against
the plan to close the Abuja Airport for six weeks, saying
such plan was not an option as there are engineering
acceptable ways of carrying out such maintenance while
operations continue.
“NSE recognizes and praises the effort of the leadership
of NASS in driving the transport sector reforms and
would like to encourage the executive government to
key in”, Otis Anyeji, NSE President noted.
He further called on President Muhammadu Buhari to
appoint competent and professionally exposed Nigerian
engineers to head engineering/infrastructure ministries
as a way of strengthening the change agenda.
One of the options advanced by the engineers is that
the federal government should immediately commence
work on the second runway of the airport.
Besides, NSE argued that, shutting down the airport
would be tantamount to shutting down the nation’s
economy, which is already going through turbulence.
“The aviation sector is part of Nigeria’s transportation
network and contributes significantly to the
socioeconomic growth of Nigeria. Any disruption in the
operations of this sector, particularly at an international
airport that connects Nigeria to the rest of the world,
has huge impacts on the economy,” the NSE Boss
warned.
Anyaeji explained that shutting down the only runway
will create enormous ripple effects for all the
passengers and cargo traffic flowing in and out of the
airport which is an airport hub, adding that in far worse
scenarios, committed efforts have kept airports
operational while maintenance/repairs are ongoing.