Former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has said Enugu Airport is problematic and should be ideally shut down immediately for major repairs.
Hadi Sirika said this on Friday after his ministerial screening at the Senate.
Sirika is one of the ex-ministers re-appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Being a former senator, the nominee was not questioned but asked to take a bow and go.
But briefing journalists after the screening, Sirika answered questions on the planned Nigerian Air and Enugu airport
When asked about his plan for the Enugu airport, one of the several airports across Nigeria owned by the federal government, he said the airport “has a lot of problems.”
“If you ask me, I will close Enugu tomorrow, actually today, because the runway has failed. They are maintaining it regularly to ensure safe operations.
“I am not comfortable because there are also other problems with the runway. It is short, it needs to be extended. We recognise the efforts by the state government by closing down the market beside the airport.
“Also, people have built within the premises of the airport on the safety area of the airport and that ought not be, on the land belonging to FAAN. Whoever is the next minister will contend with that because this is safety. Enugu will be dear to the next minister,” he said.
On the planned national carrier, Nigeria Air, Mr Sirika said should President Muhammadu Buhari reappoint him aviation minister, he will continue that good job.
“I believe having a very vibrant private sector-led national carrier is good for the economy of Nigeria, it is good for the population of Nigeria, it’s good for the centrality of Nigeria, it is good for the wealth and fortune of Nigeria,” he said.
“One aeroplane in Nigeria, wide-body, is equal to 300 direct jobs to start with. The relationship between GDP and air transportation is direct and we have the biggest GDP in Africa.
“By the US estimation we are a trillion-dollar GDP, by official figures of the NBS, we are half a trillion-dollar GDP. All those that are not included like the barbershop, like the ‘akara’ shop and so is considered we might be hitting more than $1.5 trillion GDP, we are 200 million people that will grow more than 400 million people in 2030.
“If it is me or whoever is the minister, I think that this is a priority we will take, thank God a lot of job has been done,” he said.