…RENAMES MINNA AIRPORT AFTER TINUBU.
Minna, capital of Niger State played host to two major events on Monday, for which Governor Umar Bago succeeded in getting President Bola Tinubu to feature prominently. The first has to do with the inauguration of the Minna agro-processing zone covering a space of about 2,000 hectares. And according to Governor Umar Bago, it will be done by President Tinubu.
The governor, who explained how the 2,000-hectare facility will be used for the agro-processing zone project, explained that 1,000 hectares will be for drip irrigation and greenhouses, while the other half (that is the remaining 1,000 hectares) will be for processing dairy products.
Bago noted that the state sells an average of half a million cattle to Nigerians and people outside Nigeria daily, noting that development will foster trade in the state while generating revenue.
This development, Bago said, will be harnessed as President Bola Tinubu launches the renamed Minna International Airport, which is the second event, in the state today.
Recall on June 20, 1990, the airport was first inaugurated by former military Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida and was shut down as a result of a cut-off runway, but now it has a fully furnished domestic terminal.
History is being made 34 years after, as Bago renamed the airport ‘Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Airport, Minna’, assuring that the airport would facilitate trade and exportation of products from the states.
He said, “We don’t need to transport these cattle by road. You can take the meat that is frozen from the airport anywhere and it will create employment and enhance the value chain. Also, we are constructing about 140 kilometres of water irrigation channels to this place from Shiroro Dam. This project is an ambitious 50-year programme, but the first phase will be finished in the next few years.”
The governor announced that more value will be added when he said, “We are bringing in 80 megawatts of power to this airport.”
