A Non Governmental Organisation in Ekiti State, the Ekiti Justice Group (EJG) has urged Governor Kayode Fayemi to be guided by the overriding interest of the state, not partisan politics in handling the ongoing Airport Project being executed in the State by the Federal Government.
In a letter dated August 18, 2011 and addressed to the governor, the EJG frowned at a newspaper report of Tuesday, August 16, 2011 credited to Fayemi as having said that Ekiti Airport Project was not his priority as the State Governor.
In the letter signed by its Secretary, Comrade Gbenga Babawibe, the EJG said it was public knowledge that the issue of easy access into the State had been a debilitating factor impeding the inflow of much needed investments into the State.
It noted that one of the reasons why Ikogosi Warm Spring was not attracting tourists was non-availability of airport which had been emphasised by all those who were interested in increasing the revenue of the country through tourism.
“It is for the above and other unassailable reasons that the people of Ado-Ekiti championed the establishment of the airport by making a huge expanse of land available for the take off of the project. The state government seized the initiative of the good people of Ado-Ekiti and presented it to the Federal Government.
“The Federal Government did not only agree with the wisdom in actualising the project but made provisions for its implementation in the 2009 budget of the Federation”, the group said.
Disclosing steps already taken to actualise the project, EJG said; “There is no gainsaying the fact that having taken far reaching steps and also having recognised and made provision for the project in the federal budget of 2009, the project as an ongoing one but still awaiting a nudge from the State Government would have by now, seen Ekiti boasting of an airport, be it a cargo or a general purpose airport.”
The group described the issues of sum of N2billion outstanding with the Education Tax Fund, Federal University and construction of 348 kilometres federal roads in the state, which governor Fayemi said he had chosen as priority over the airport project as matters that ordinarily did not require extra efforts.
On the installation of toll gates on federal roads, the body advised the governor to consult with legal experts on the issue.
“The Federal University issue is not a matter that the State Government can shed tears over. The Federal Government is resolute on having the University on Ekiti soil and nowhere else. The issue of its location within Ekiti and the politicisation of same should not now be an opportunity cost for other laudable projects,” EJG said.
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