CITIZENS COMPASS – The former French Minister of Transport, Mr. Djebbari Jean-Baptiste, has hinted at the desire of investors from his country to invest in the transport sector of Ogun State, especially the agro-cargo airport.
Other areas of interest for the investors, according to Mr. Jean-Baptiste, are the Dry Port, the Olokola Sea Port, and the railway system.
Fielding questions from newsmen after a meeting behind closed-door with the governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, Mr. Jean-Baptiste said he was impressed with the level of infrastructural facilities at the airport, hence the need to draw the attention of French investors to the state.
He said: “This is one of the several meetings I have had with the governor over the years. We discussed aviation-related items owing to the fact that the state is developing the Gateway International Airport, the Dry Port, and all the major infrastructural projects related to transport.
“We have many French operators who are involved in transportation, logistics, and aviation. There are many interested in investing in Nigeria and Ogun State because Ogun State is seen as a very dynamic and reliable partner.”
He said he had met the governor on many occasions, including last December at the occasion of the state visit of President Bola Tinubu to President Macron in France, and proposed to come and see how he could contribute to the amazing development in Ogun State in the area of transport and aviation.
According to the former transport minister, during the two-day visit, his team would tour the Gateway International Airport, assess the opportunities regarding the Dry Port, the Sea Port, and the railway system with a view to sharing experiences, adding that “because I can see your products are developing very quickly and booming, the demography and market demand are very high.”
He described Governor Abiodun as a man with a clear vision who took pains to assemble good hands to assist him in realizing his dreams for the state, noting that “it has been six years since the governor has been heading the state, and I can see that the changes are really massive and positive.”
Governor Abiodun had earlier informed his guests that his administration had developed a multimodal transport master plan meant to assist the state in designing its modes of transport to drive the state economy.
“We took advantage of the rail infrastructure that the federal government has invested in; that is what informed our Gateway International Airport, and that is also what has informed the construction of our Dry Port and our upcoming seaport.
“We believe that cargo destined for Ogun State or other states around can be put on the train and transported to Kajola and cleared there. It will make for a more efficient Tin Can and Apapa Ports and, of course, ease the troubles that manufacturers here have experienced in the past.
“Our airport, in terms of physical construction, has been completed; the runway is 100% completed, and the control tower is 100% completed with all the equipment installed. The terminal building is maybe 90% completed; it is completed physically, and they are doing the fit-out in terms of fittings. We have a temporary terminal building,” he said.
The governor said commercial operations would have started in the last quarter but for the non-installation of navigational equipment like the runway lights, emphasizing that the aim of his administration is to make it the best-equipped airport in Nigeria.
“The airport, as I told you, is an ecosystem. It is situated in what we call our aerotropolis, so we have a Special Agro-Processing Zone there, and we also have the Nigeria Customs and Excise Village because we envision the airport to have a system where Customs and Excise can’t process things very fast,” he added.
