Sixteen years after it was first conceived by the Federal Government, the second runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, remains a plain stretch of unfulfilled ambition, OLUSEGUN KOIKI reports.

In April 2009, the Federal Government unveiled an ambitious plan to construct a second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, at a rate of N64 billion.

But, 16 years down the line, the plan still remains a tall dream despite its revaluation to N532 billion, with aviation experts divided on the necessity or otherwise of the project.

When the project was promoted in 2009 by the then Minister of Aviation, Babatunde Omotoba, a 4.5-kilometre runway was designed to accommodate the largest passenger aircraft, Airbus A380, with an expansive 75-metre width and Category III airfield lighting (AFL).

The project was conceived as a symbol of a modernising aviation sector and an insurance policy against runway emergencies that could shut down operations in the capital city, but the project was shut down almost immediately by the House of Representatives, citing a “humongous contractual sum”.

Also, during the twilight of the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, the Nigerian government had signed the same N64 billion contract with the contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), but before the government exited the stage in 2023, the sum increased to N90 billion.

By 2024, the same project had increased to N532 billion, according to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.

The contractor, Keyamo said, had cited the current inflation rate in the country and the high foreign exchange rate for the increase in the contractual sum.

Keyamo, had revealed at the National Assembly last December, while defending the ministry’s budget before the Joint National Assembly Aviation Committees, that the contractor had proposed a new contractual sum of N532 billion adjustment for the airport’s runway, a proposal he stoutly and expectedly rejected.

The new variation of N532 billion from N90 billion, indicated a 491.11 per cent increase, a situation which didn’t go down well with Keyamo who threatened to cancel the contract.

As of the time the contract was firmed up in 2022, naira was exchanging for N460/$. But today, its value has dropped to about N1,450.

A source close to the ministry confided in The Guardian recently that the contractor may have abandoned the job due to disagreement with the contractual term.

Before the latest crisis that engulfed the project, President Bola Tinubu had approved the sum of N825 million as compensation for the community affected by the construction of the new runway after reaching an agreement with the Jiwa Community at an inter-agency meeting.

It is, however, not clear if the sum had been disbursed to the affected community by the government.

Besides, the 2024 passenger statistics obtained from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) indicated that Abuja airport recorded 5.48 million passengers, 77,909 aircraft movements within the same period, while its cargo traffic was 9.13 million kilograms during the past year.

Lagos airport remains the busiest in the country in 2024 in terms of passenger traffic, with 7.53 million.

But, despite its high passenger traffic in Nigeria, its volume is far lower than that of one airport in South Africa – O.R. Tambo International Airport, with 17.8 million passenger movements in the past year, though, with two active runways like the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.

However, aviation analysts are divided over the desirability of a second runway for Abuja airport based on its current passenger traffic, but were united in querying the genuineness of the government towards the project.

In his comment, the President of Aviation Safety Round Table (ASRT), Air Commodore Ademola Onitiju (rtd), attributed lack of continuity in policy formulation and implementation as one of the reasons the second runway project had remained in quagmire in the last 16 years, despite the importance of the runway to safety and security of the Federal Capital Territory (F.C.T).

Onitiju, in an interview with The Guardian in Lagos, described Abuja airport as not just another airport, rather the gateway to the capital city.

He explained that anytime there are incidents or accidents at the airport’s runway, air traffic should still continue without disruptions to aviation activities, which is the reverse of the current single runway.

He added: “So, there is nothing wrong with having a second runway at Abuja airport; it’s just a question of priority and pursuing with a sincerity of purpose and pursuing to a successful end.”

He attributed what he described as “the Nigerian factors” to the delay in the commencement of the project 16 years later, despite the country witnessing three presidents within the period.

“Considering its importance, anyone who is privileged to be the leader of Nigeria’s aviation would, of course, have met this on his table and you would have expected that he does and approaches the president as probably what you call the political and lists it among its priorities. So that can still be done,” he added.

Also, the Chief Executive Officer, Belujane Konzult, Chris Aligbe, said Nigeria needed a second runway irrespective of the costs.

Aligbe regretted that the lack of knowledge of the aviation industry by some at the helm of affairs in 2009 led to the suspension of the project at N64 billion, maintaining that the more the project is delayed, the costlier it becomes for the nation to execute.

He maintained that Abuja airport is one of the fastest growing in the country, the seat of power and strategic for the country and so should be given all the priorities it deserves.

Aligbe emphasised that on several occasions, the airport was forced to shut down whenever an incident occurred on the single runway.

He added: “You see, the problem is that you have a multiplicity of interests. People who have no knowledge about the industry make decisions about the industry. That’s the mistake. People who do not know about it have decided to suspend the project.

“You remember, one of the persons who complained vehemently then was Dino Melaye, as a House of Representatives member. All issues come up and people don’t wait to understand what they are talking about and they comment.

“You see what has happened about the person in the Senate saying they are quitting Air Peace over the report of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB). They have no competence in that area. So, in this country, if we learn to only talk about what we have competence in, it will be better for us.”

But, the CEO, Centurion Aviation Security Limited, Grp. Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), declared that none of the country’s airports, including Abuja and Lagos, was qualified to have a second runway facility.

According to him, the total annual passenger traffic for the entire 26 airports of Nigeria was less than that of Oliver Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg.

Findings show that Oliver Tambo International Airport, with two parallel runways, welcomed a total of 17.8 million passengers in 2024, while available statistics revealed that the entire Nigerian airports within the same period processed only 15.6 million passengers.

Also, Ojikutu posited that the London Gatwick Airport saw 43.2 million passengers with 57 airlines and 2.1 million flights in 2024.

He emphasised further that environmental and safety issues may make the construction of a second runway for Abuja airport impossible, noting that a ministerial committee set up in the early 2000s, in its report, objected to a second runway at the present Abuja airport location, except it is relocated.

He added: “Every development in Nigerian aviation is political, with no safety and security considerations or recommendations from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in accordance with the recommended standards and practices.

“Tell the minister to forget about a second runway for any airport, but he should direct the NCAA to enforce the regulations on the periodic maintenance programmes it has approved for each airport. There is no need for a second runway for Abuja airport. The traffic does not require it.”

Chris Amokwu, aviation analyst, warned that if not immediately executed, the second runway project for Abuja airport may add up to the various abandoned projects in the country.

Amokwu mentioned some of the abandoned projects, include the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, East-West Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway (completed only after 24 years of delays), several power plant projects and hundreds of uncompleted federal hospitals and schools cut across the country.

According to him, the National Assembly recently estimated that Nigeria had over 11,000 abandoned projects worth more than N15 trillion.

He, however, expressed that as it stands, any project of the value of the runway awarded in naira was susceptible to variation because of the naira’s volatility.

Amokwu maintained that the Nigerian Procurement Act stipulates that any significant changes to a project’s scope or cost (variations) require presidential authorisation, expressing that new administrations often have different priorities and may be less inclined to approve variations for projects initiated by their predecessors.

“This leads to delays, suspension, and ultimately, abandonment,” he added.

He also mentioned inadequate planning, poor project management, corruption and lack of funding as some of the factors that play significant roles in project abandonment.

The aviation analyst, however, maintained that the state of the economy did not support a second runway for Abuja airport.

According to him, any closed runway situation could temporarily be addressed by diverting traffic to Minna airport for instance, stressing that the Minna-Abuja Road rehabilitation should be a top priority for the government as an alternative for Abuja airport.

He added: “⁠I never supported a second runway for Abuja. What is needed is to send most of the operating Abuja Airport personnel to understudy Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom (U.K), which is the most efficient single-runway operation in the world.”

An Air Traffic Controller (ATC), Oluwole Dada, said that during the adverse weather conditions and Very Important Persons (VIPs) movement, no aircraft could land or takeoff on the single Abuja airport’s runway unlike the Lagos airport with two runways.

He explained that any obstruction to free flight operations at any particular point in time, returns with higher stress to air traffic controllers as hitherto held up aircraft all return to attempt to land simultaneously.

Dada added that having a second runway in Abuja would further increase its capacity, showing the seriousness of the country to improve the aviation industry.

He added: “For Abuja airport, having a second runway is not a bad idea. If we have a second runway, it will go a long way in improving air safety, especially during an incident on the single runway that we presently have.

“For instance, a few months ago, an Aero Contractors aircraft had an incident on the single runway we have at Abuja airport, and we had to close down the airport. How can you close an international airport in the FCT, the seat of the government? We closed down the runway and this led to a lot of diversions – locally and internationally.

“When the airport was reopened, it led to a serious stress on the ATCs because they had to bring in all those aircraft back to the airport. Having a second runway would have solved that problem.”