..As Lagos flags-off 9th Ehingbeti summit to chart sustainable socio-economic growth path
The Federal Government, on Tuesday, presented the official letter of approval for the proposed multi-million dollar Lekki International Airport to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika, presented the letter of approval, at the commencement of ninth Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit, at the Eko Hotel c and Suites in Victoria Island. The theme is ‘Lagos State 2022-2052: Charting the Paths to Sustainable Socio-Economic Growth’.
Sirika noted that Lagos has the resources and exigencies for an additional airport which will help to decongest the Murtala International Airport.
According to him, “This is our Lagos, and having this additional airport will make Lagos more accessible. It will link the people and state closer to the markets, culture, history, tradition, schools, hospitals, larger economy, commerce and trade. The GDP of Lagos, now running into trillion, makes about 30 per cent of the country’s total GDP, thus making it not only the hub of West Africa, but of Africa as a whole.
“You will also agree with me that the Murtala Muhammed International Airport is now congested and far from the centre of action at the moment because there is a new Lagos – the Eko Atlantic City, Lekki Free Zone, the road networks around Epe – and many other development projects, making Lagos need this airport like yesterday.
“We are therefore more than happy to approve it, and we will get our agencies to supervise it to ensure it is done very well, which is also the signature of Lagos itself.”
Amid enthusiasm, Sanwo-Olu, while receiving the letter, described it as the result of good partnership with the Federal Government.
The governor stated, “It is very exciting to have the minister here with us today to do the presentation, and this will be the first in the series of announcements to come between today and tomorrow.
“For us, it is about good partnership with the Federal Government through the Ministry of Aviation, but the real beneficiaries are the citizens and the businesses we are trying to activate the more. We are doing Govt2B and B2B models, and that is how you develop economies like this.
“We want to give businesses the platform and infrastructure needed to thrive. This infrastructure will reduce travel time, make Lagos easily and better accessible, and people can make better local and international business decision given all the investments that have put here. So it’s a right step in the right time.”
