By Emeka Alex Duru
While friends and lovers all over of the World, glued together on Thursday, February 14, 2019 in celebration of the fabled Valentine’s Day, indigenes and residents of Bayelsa State, waited anxiously for the first commercial Airplane to land in the newly-built Bayelsa International Airport. Not wanting to be left out of the history-making exercise, Bayelsans from all the local government councils of the state had started gathering at the airport, located at Amassoma, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, as early as 10 am. None, apparently wanted to be told the story. They wanted to get it firsthand.
Their expectation did not end in vain. By 3.55 pm, the flight operated by Capt. Crosby Otobo and his crew, which took off from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, at about 2.50pm made the historic landing on the 3.5-kilometre runway of the International Airport. The Air Peace flight, the first commercial aircraft to have landed in the airport, was welcomed by a crowd of excited indigenes and residents, including the governor, Henry Seriake Dickson and top government officials.
The flight was also honoured by men of the Fire Service Department, who positioned with their trucks on both sides of the runway and gave it the traditional water salute.
While other enthusiastic Bayelsans at the airport had a field day taking photo shots of the aircraft, an Octogenarian, who identified himself as Timipre Abarowei, attracted attention of the first crop of passengers to the airport. Obviously overwhelmed by the mood of the moment, he went into ecstasy, expressing thanks to God and gods of the Ijaw Nation, that he was alive to witness the occasion. In a manner reminiscent of the Biblical Simeon, who on seeing the Lord Jesus Christ being brought into the Temple, surrendered to God, having seen the saviour, Abarowoei, exclaimed, “ I can now go in peace and tell our forebears that Bayelsa has opened up to the World”.
He spoke further on the significance of the airport. “My son”, he said, “You will not understand why I am in this mood. If you knew what we had gone through before now, you would appreciate the reasons for my action. Bayelsa, at creation in 1996, had only one expressway into the capital, Yenagoa. Even that, it was a very narrow road. Our access to other parts of the state and beyond was by water. We were then derided. For those of us living in Port Harcourt, coming home was a nightmare. But looking back, 23 I can see roads crisscrossing every local government area in the state. To cap it with the International Airport, is the height of what God has done for us. To Him be the glory, always”.
Abarowei was not the only person in the joyful mood. The Senator representing Bayelsa East, Ben Bruce, enthused that the airport would ease movement for indigenes of the state and also boost trade and commerce. In similar vein, Chairman of the State Traditional Rulers Council, King Diette Spiff, expressed delight over the project, adding that it would promote tourism, export and industrial development.
TheNiche learnt that the project which was executed at the cost of about N60 Billion, was in fulfillment of the promise by Governor Dickson, in 2012, of bringing the world to Bayelsa and vice versa. The governor, who spoke at the occasion, described the airport as one of the best in the country, noting that it would serve as a free trade zone not only in the Niger Delta but also for the Gulf of Guinea.
He added that the airport was built to improve the economy of the state, stressing that it would soon be fully inaugurated for both local and international flights.
The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the airport would create over 2,000 direct and indirect jobs for indigenes of the state. “This is the first airport in Bayelsa State, to help develop the economy. This airport will serve as a hub for the petroleum industry but we want to also look away from oil and gas and look at other revenue sources. So this is a legacy project,” he said.
For Bayelsa which has one of the largest crude oil and natural gas deposits in Nigeria, ironically, with the majority of its citizens living in poverty, on account of decades of neglect by successive governments in the land and petroleum prospecting companies, the Airport comes as a huge relief to the people and a gateway to the outside world. Incidentally, the state government does not see the project as an object for luxury. This reporter, was for instance, told that the 3.5 kilometre runway was in anticipation of the heavy cargo aircrafts it would handle when fully operational. It is also envisaged that aside the job creation potentials of the project, it would boost trade and commerce as well as promoting tourism in the state.
Admirers of the governor, count the airport project among his initiatives in repositioning Bayelsa. This is in addition to what they celebrate as his prudent management of the state’s resources.
Through Governor Dickson’s televised monthly briefings on the revenue and expenditure profile of the state, he is said to have earned the admiration of many on issues of transparency and accountability.
Reports also credit his administration with giving the state’s infrastructure and social service sectors, huge uplift, in keeping with his pledge on inauguration, seven years ago.
Among the exciting areas in this consideration, is the compulsory health insurance scheme in the state, created by law and a fund into which deductions from civil servants and others who subscribe to it are paid. The state government, our reporter learnt, also supports it by putting up to five per cent of the state’s monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
The education sector which has seen Model compulsory boarding schools spread across the state plus Constituency Secondary Schools and creation of Educational Development Trust Fund, aside other interventions, rank among the enduring engagements of the administration. These are aside other programmes of the government in areas of roads, housing and human development endeavours, ore reporter gathered.
At the Arrival, Departure and Transit Halls of the Airport, in addition to other structures, the facilities spoke of a project ready to do business and compete with others, with sincere management and adequate maintenance culture.
