The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has charged the contractor handling the construction of the second runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja (NAIA), the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Nigeria Limited to employ the locals as part of the manpower to construct the runway.
He stated this at the official taking over of the site for the construction of the 2nd runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The minister said the people of Jiwa have sacrificed their lands for the good of the country and he wouldn’t want to hear that artisans are brought in from elsewhere to do the job that can be done by the people around the site.
According to him, “Today is very historic, this is a day that this country has looked forward to for the past two decades.
The issue of Abuja’s second runway has been in since the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. It was a big issue at that time and successive administrations have not been able to have a day like this where dreams become reality.
“The groundbreaking ceremony will be done later and at that time; the masquerade himself; the President will be here.
We are here for the official handover of the site to the contractor so that the contractor can begin preliminary work.
“We thank the people of Jiwa community, we promised so much because the traditional head fought for the community. The Emir was always concerned about the welfare of his people and when we could not bypass the law; we wished we could pay more but the moment we pay one kobo more for Jiwa, the whole of Abuja community will be affected. It will be like a ripple effect and other communities in the FCT will come. We could not bypass the law but what we did and what the Emir insisted upon was that other palliatives must come to their people and that is why in the 2024 budget, we have already concluded plans to put so many projects for the Jiwa community. A health centre is coming, a bridge, a five-kilometre road and so many other things since we could not bypass the law, we decided to include projects in the 2024 budget.
“As from 2024, the Jiwa community will begin to see development. Aside that, the benefit of a second runway around the Jiwa community will be immense. The economic advantages to this community and the country is huge. The runway opens up so many other possibilities; more planes can land and more commercial activities.
For those who have lost lands, houses, and other belongings, I can assure you that you will gain double fold by the time this project comes to fruition.
For the contractors, our brothers and sisters in the Jiwa community are able-bodied; so we do not want to hear that some welders, carpenters, artisans and other labourers are coming from outside to work with you, it must be the sons and daughters first, if you don’t engage them, I will join them to protest”.
Earlier, the Emir of Jiwa, Idris Isah said the compensation paid to them was too minimal as some people shared N200 among the family members.
He called on his people to be patient with the government, while tasking the contractors to ensure that all jobs that can be done by Jiwa youths are given to them.
