The plan by Ekiti state governor to construct an
airport in the State has been applauded by an Ekiti lawmaker for his
foresight in a bid to transform the economy of the state.
Princess Titilayo Owolabi Akerele representing Ikole ll constituency
in the Ekiti State House of Assembly who commended governor Fayose while
fielding questions from aviation correspondents at Ikeja, said the
proposed airport when completed will boost the economy of the state.
According to Titi Akerele, there was nothing wrong in having an
airport in Ekiti to facilitate movement of people if the state has the
financial backings stressing that it will transform the state.
“If there is financial backing to build the airport there is nothing
wrong in having an airport in Ekiti. If you look at the road connection
between Ondo and Ekiti, the roads are bad”
The lawmaker who was a two time national president of Aeronautical
Information Service of Nigeria AISAN, explained that the government was
not thinking of constructing an international airport but considering
building one that will accommodate aircraft. “To me as an aviator, I
don’t see anything wrong with that and I am not trying to be
sentimental”
On the development of aviation in the country, the former AISAN
president expressed worry that aviation has not moved to where it ought
to be saying, that the industry was still behind in terms of
development. “I will say that am not too impressed with the level of
advancement. When we were there, we were very dogged to move the
industry forward and we cried out when there was problem”
She blamed aviation unions and associations for not living up to
expectations in the struggle to liberate workers by adhering to the
truth.
Akerele also berated unions and associations for allowing the recent
financial saga in the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency NAMA where it
was alleged that that millions of naira were traced to accounts of civil
servants adding that such never happened under their watch as they were
always crying out against injustice.
“The news of forged millions of naira in NAMA is worrisome, when I
heard about it in the news the first time, the first thing I asked was,
do we still have unions and professional associations because in those
days, we would have cried out before it gets to this level”
She condemned the invasion of the aviation sector by politicians
saying it led to the crumbling of the industry in the country as
everything was based on political sentiment.
Hon Akerele lamented that appointment in the aviation industry has
been too political since the invasion of the sector by the politicians
saying that professionalism was being eroded leading to neglect of
safety which used to be the watchword in the aviation industry.
