Augustine Ukumba, Lafia
Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura has expressed confidence that the Lafia Airport been constructed would be ready for test-running at least by the early part of May and he will make a maiden flight to the airport before he exit as governor of Nasarawa State.
The governor stated this when interacting with journalists shortly after inspecting ongoing construction works at the airport site in Kwandare, adding that as soon as the structure is completed, there will be installation of navigational equipments and other equipments.
He said: “The equipment are already being manufactured. We have the needed funds that the materials can be delivered by the end of February. So by March and April, there will be installation of navigational equipment and other equipments will be fixed. So, I am very confidence that the airport would be ready for test-running at least by the early part of May and I believe by God’s grace, I will make a maiden flight to this airport before I exit as governor of Nasarawa State.”
“80 percent of work on the airport is completed. The terminal building, we are doing the most critical aspect of it and in the next 30 days it will surprise anybody who come to see what job is here. The apron, you can see it is already prepared for concrete work. This are the parking areas for the plane. They don’t need other improvement except the concrete.”
“They have done all the infrastructures. And that of the tower is about to commence. It is a job that takes forty-five days to complete because it is a small building with not more than 15 square metres total area for casting in four floors.”
When asked that with the political activities being heightened, don’t he thinks it will delay the airport process, Al-Makura responded that the airport was also part of the campaign, explaining that his campaign was already on auto-pilot.
“I don’t need to go every village, every nook and cranny. I have already done that in the seven years I have been in the office. What I need to do is to ensure that I tidy up the campaign. And what I need to do for my campaign as senator is to go to every Local Government
Headquarters to ensure that I consolidate on the gains of what we have been able to put in place.”
“The people who are working around the state are working even without me being there. So that is the plan. And for the governorship election, I intend to go to every Local Government Area along with the governor like I have done in the western zone. By god’s grace, there would be no any problem even with the peak of the campaigns. I will be here every other days to ensure that the progress of the work is consistent with the plans.”
Considering the enormity of the finances involved in such projects, the senatorial hopeful he has no concern over that “Because as far as we are concerned in Nasarawa State, People sometimes wondered where do we get money to do what we are doing. We are not getting any money anywhere. We are getting the same money my predecessors have gotten.
And we are getting the same kind of sharing formula like other states are getting. But we have re-ordered our priorities to ensure that all our priority projects are been given comfort by earmarking and exclusively the funding for such projects.”
“So as far as we are concern, it is a projects that runs into billions but we are not having any sweat about sourcing the money because we have already budgeted for it. We have already saved the money. All we need is for the contractor to do the work and we continue to pay them because the money is right there.”
