Keyamo: Fuel Subsidy Removal Enabled Tinubu’s Aviation Infrastructure Investments - THISDAYLIVE

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, said the funds saved by removing fuel subsidy were being redirected by the President Bola Tinubu administration and invested in the provision of critical aviation infrastructure and modernisation of the country’s airports.

Keyamo revealed that the federal government was investing over N500 billion in the expansion and construction of a state-of-the-art international terminal at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMIA), Lagos; and construction of a second runway at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at the cost of about N400 billion. He also said the Lagos airport would soon be linked with a rail service that will connect it to the city for easy movement of air travellers.

The minister revealed the developments yesterday in his speech as special guest of honour during the historic celebration of 67 years of Aero Contractors, Nigeria’s first airline, at the Lagos airport.

Recalling past controversies surrounding the Abuja second runway project, Keyamo stated that the National Assembly initially stalled the project about 16 years ago, when the cost of the project was slated at N63.5 billion, but today, that delay had inflated the cost to nearly N400 billion.

In April 2010, the House Committee on Aviation threw out the budget for the second runway at Abuja airport, insisting that the cost was extravagant and outrageous, he said.

Keyamo stated, “Sixteen years later, it’s now costing us nearly 400 billion. That is the danger in delaying the building of infrastructure because the prices will go up every day.”

He explained that past administrations struggled to fund infrastructure because there was no money to fund such capital-intensive facilities. He said this was because the bulk of national oil earnings went into fuel subsidies and suppressing the real value of the naira through Bureau de Change allocations, thereby starving critical sectors of the economy of actual liquidity.

Keyamo stated that following the removal of fuel and foreign exchange subsidies, foreign reserves grew significantly, enabling the administration to raise massive funding, such as $500 million, to rebuild the Lagos airport gateway without relying heavily on unsustainable foreign debt.

Revealing future regional integration plans, Keyamo announced that the government was finalising designs to extend the Lagos Red Line rail project through the General Aviation Terminal (MMA2), with an Air Force Base stop, running directly underground to the new international terminal.

He stated, “If we do not respond strategically, and soon, we risk our airports becoming ghost airports, our hangars falling silent, and our jobs and investment flying quietly across the border.

“We are respectfully asking for a renewed hope for aviation, a deliberate strategic national focus alongside roads, rail and power, so that Nigerian skies remain ours to command.”

On the milestone celebration, Keyamo praised Aero Contractors as the true pride of Nigeria, embodying the indomitable Nigerian spirit. He lamented the high mortality rate of indigenous airlines, stating that over 100 carriers had collapsed over the decades.

The minister explained that past revenues from oil were almost entirely funnelled into subsidising petrol and supporting the value of the naira.

According to him, removing the fiscal burdens allowed the government to build internal liquidity, driving foreign reserves upward and attracting global investors who view the economy as increasingly viable.

Defending the macroeconomic reforms of the current administration, Keyamo emphasised that microeconomic relief was impossible without macro-level economic growth.

He pointed to the ongoing modernisation of the Lagos airport, which had directly engaged over 2,000 previously unemployed Nigerians, including welders, plumbers, and labourers, contracted via CCECC.

Keyamo reaffirmed the government’s commitment to multimodal transport integration, confirming that plans are underway to extend the Lagos Red Line rail network directly to the airport terminal complex to ensure seamless connectivity for travellers and logistics.

In his keynote address, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, narrated how Nigeria’s oldest surviving carrier weathered decades of oscillating fortunes, operational shutdowns, and debilitating financial crises to continue to thrive.

Addressing a gathering of government officials, aviation regulators, and past and present staff of the airline, Sanusi emphasised that the airline’s longevity was not a stroke of luck, but the product of extraordinary grit, sacrifice, and an unyielding belief in the company’s survival.

“I did not come here today merely to cut a cake,” Sanusi told the audience. “I came to tell you a story of resilience,” he added.

He stated, “We have grounded fleets and empty hangars and still, we flew. We have gone months without a single aircraft in the sky, and still, we flew. We have buried colleagues, gone without pay, and watched the world write us off, and still, we flew.”

Sanusi credited the endurance to the quiet, stubborn dedication of the airline’s workforce. He paid glowing tribute to engineers who remained on duty long after their shifts ended, pilots who tirelessly maintained their certifications even when there were no aircraft to fly, and the ground and cabin crew members who stood by the company through years of intense uncertainty.

Tracing its history from a small charter and crop-spraying firm established in 1959 to serve Niger Delta oil fields, Sanusi stated how the airline had continuously evolved into scheduled passenger services, rotary-wing operations, and a premier training ground for aviation professionals.

A major technical achievement occurred on January 4, 2018, when Aero’s indigenous engineers performed Nigeria’s first heavy C-check on a Boeing 737 right inside their Lagos hangar, a first for West and Central Africa.

Sanusi acknowledged the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), which took a majority stake in 2016, when the airline was at its lowest ebb, alongside Receiver/Manager Senator Adeniyi Ayodele Adegbonmire, whose steady stewardship guided the company through its hardest years.

Sanusi used the platform to issue a warning about the future of Nigeria’s wider aviation sector.

While commending the federal government’s infrastructure upgrades at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, he urged the Tinubu administration to extend a similar strategic focus to aviation as a core economic catalyst.

AMCON said during the anniversary that its strategic intervention and long-term investment in Aero Contractors had successfully paid off, stating that the “gamble” is now yielding the anticipated positive results.

Group Head of the Resolution Directorate at AMCON, Usman Abubakar, who represented the managing director of the corporation, said the agency was happy to be associated with the airline.

“We are happy to be associated with Aero, and the gamble we took on Aero is beginning to show the positive fruits that they expect,” Abubakar stated, underscoring the remarkable transformation and resilience of the airline under AMCON’s receivership and restructuring portfolio.

Regional Manager of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Adebukola Teriba, who represented Director-General of NCAA, Captain Chris Ona Najomo, delivered a goodwill message celebrating the legacy and endurance of the carrier.

The theme for the anniversary, “Going the Extra Mile,” resonated strongly throughout the speeches, coinciding appropriately with the global observance of International Customer Service Week.

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