President Bola Tinubu yesterday declared that no Nigerian community should be made to bear the burden of national development without enjoying its benefits.
   
The president spoke when he commissioned the 7-kilometre access road bypassing the second runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport from Bill Clinton Drive to Tungan Madaki Settlement in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
   
The project, which includes a four-span bridge, is designed to improve connectivity for residents of Tungan Madaki and adjoining communities, while also enhancing security and operational efficiency around the airport’s proposed second runway.

Represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu said the road project fulfilled a promise made to host communities that surrendered their ancestral lands to facilitate the construction of the airport’s second runway.
   
According to him, while the expansion of critical national infrastructure remains essential to economic growth and national security, such projects must not come at the expense of the welfare of affected communities.
   
“When it became necessary to construct the second runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, a project vital to our national security and economic expansion, the original inhabitants of this area surrendered their ancestral lands. They sacrificed for the collective good of the nation,” he noted.
   
“Yet, for years, the paradox remained. These patriotic communities gave up land for aeroplanes to fly, yet they had no motorable roads for their own feet and vehicles. They were cut off. Let me state this clearly: no citizen should be made a victim of national development.”
   
Tinubu described the road as more than a transportation project, saying it represents an important economic corridor that would open up development opportunities for communities previously isolated from the capital city’s economic activities.
   
According to him, the road would serve three major purposes: protect critical aviation infrastructure by reducing local traffic around sensitive airport zones, ease congestion on Bill Clinton Drive, and stimulate economic activities in Tungan Madaki and neighbouring settlements.
   
The President also highlighted the significance of the four-span bridge along the route, describing it as a critical infrastructure designed to ensure year-round accessibility.
   
Commending the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, for what he described as his commitment to delivering infrastructure projects within record time, Tinubu recalled that he approved the project in February 2025, and barely 16 months later, it was completed and ready for use.
   
While acknowledging the economic challenges facing Nigerians, the president defended the reforms undertaken by his administration, insisting that the difficult decisions were necessary to build a stronger economy.
   
He also urged residents to protect the road infrastructure by preventing encroachment on the right-of-way and avoiding indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drainage channels.
   
Earlier, Wike said the commissioning formed part of activities marking the third anniversary of the Tinubu administration and the seventh day of a 31-day programme dedicated to inaugurating completed projects across the FCT.
   
He described the project as a clear demonstration of the administration’s commitment to extending development beyond Abuja’s city centre to underserved satellite communities.