By Seyi Babalola
Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has announced that the Federal Government has begun construction of a second runway at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
He said this on Monday in Abuja at a ministerial press briefing commemorating President Bola Tinubu’s first year in office.
He insisted that the project had been plagued by controversy and delays since the Obasanjo era.
“Since the Obasanjo administration, there has been issue after controversy. Some attempts started during the past government, so we have to appreciate that.
“The necessity of a second runway has long been a critical issue for the nation’s capital. The danger of operating a nation’s capital with just one runway… Imagine foreign heads of state coming to Nigeria and there is a problem with the runway. Where are we going to divert them? Are we going to cancel the conference if they are coming for a conference?
“It is inconceivable that a nation’s capital would be operating on one runway and we have been doing it for many years,” he explained.