Use Akwa Ibom’s MRO facility, don’t build new unit, ex-minister tells FG

Former Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, Chief Nduese Essien, has advised the Federal Government to utilise the nearly completed Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility at Obong Atta International Airport in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, instead of constructing a new one.

The ex-minister noted that the facility, which has been in development for over 15 years and is 95 per cent complete, could provide significant benefits to the country’s aviation sector.

He was reacting to a statement recently credited to the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development that the government is concluding arrangements to commence the construction of a new MRO facility for aircraft in Nigeria at an unnamed location.

The report, which quoted an unnamed source in the Ministry of Aviation, said the government entered a Public-Private Partnership arrangement with a private firm to establish an MRO facility for aircraft, explaining that the new facility would operate as an Approved Maintenance Organisation under the regulation of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

It said the AMO approved by the NCAA is meant to perform specific aircraft maintenance activities, which may include the inspection, overhaul, maintenance, repair, and/or alteration and release to service of aircraft or aeronautical products.

The ministry official added that this facility, the first of its kind in Nigeria, aims to meet growing maintenance needs for aircraft operating within the country, which currently often require expensive and time-consuming trips to foreign maintenance centres.

However, speaking with journalists on Wednesday, the former minister questioned the government’s intention in announcing a new MRO project, considering that the existing facility in Akwa Ibom State is at an advanced stage of completion.

He suggested that partnering with Akwa Ibom State would be a more viable option and would allow for prompt delivery of results.

He recalled that the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, in November 2023, visited Akwa Ibom State, and after being conducted around the terminal building, the MRO, and the 3.6km taxiway (also called the second runway), he was quoted to have said that Akwa Ibom State is Nigeria’s “best-kept secret.”

He said, “The minister poured encomiums on the successive governments of Akwa Ibom State and the state’s effort in developing the aviation sector. He went on to promise that the Federal Government would partner with the state in its aviation development programmes.

“This ‘best-kept secret,’ borrowing the phrase of Festus Keyamo, is even more pronounced in the Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility of the airport.

“It is therefore surprising and most inconsistent for the same minister, a year later, to propose a new MRO under a PPP arrangement. This, he says, will be the first in Nigeria.

“If the minister is thinking of an MRO project, I advise that he explores more viable options and hinges on alternatives that would promptly deliver expected outcomes, with ease, to the benefit of the country.

“The obvious alternative would be for the Federal Government to embrace the MRO project in Akwa Ibom State and direct the Private Partner to utilise the nearly completed facilities at Obong Atta International Airport at Uyo. It is doubtful if more than one MRO could be viable in the country for now.

“It is even more worrisome that this is happening despite the state governor’s glaring show of support and willingness to cooperate with the Federal Government; a governor, despite being in an opposition party, has brought down partisan walls for seamless partnership with all layers of government for the nation’s economic growth.

“It appears that once any viable investment initiative springs up in Akwa Ibom, efforts are generated to either diminish its potential or thwart its fruition. In these days of extreme hardship and anxiety to get Nigeria working again, every organ of government and functionaries in government should work together to bring Nigeria out of the woods.”