The Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika has stated that there was no need celebrating the reopening of the runway at Nnamdi Azikwe Airport (NAA), Abuja.
The Federal Government re-opened NAA, Abuja today after six weeks closure to carry out major rehabilitation work on the only runway, a situation which saw Ethiopian Airways A350—900 aircraft becoming the first international commercial flight to land on the facility.
Sirika said this while speaking to journalists in Abuja shortly after he disembarked from the Nigerian Police aircraft with registration number 5N-HAR, which flew him from Kaduna to Abuja.
On why there is no celebration on the re-opening of the runway, the Minister said, “We are not celebrating because we set out a target and we meet the target. There is no need to celebrate”.
He said that there is no need delaying when the project has been delivered before the due date and that the runway is now in perfect shape.
According to him, “The runway has been completed and it is in perfect shape. I just landed now on the same runway. Final exercise, the friction test was carried out this morning and they found out that it meets international standard, the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO’s) Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs). So the runway is good, perfect.
Speaking further, Sirika said, “April 19 was the due date to conclude and open the airport base on our program of work. We were able to deliver the project earlier than anticipated so we cannot open late. There is nothing wrong in opening it a day earlier. Here we are, we set out to achieve a target and we achieve the target”.
The Minister, who was full of appreciation said, “We thank Allah for His benevolence. We are happy and thank Mr. President, His Excellency for his support, guidance and leadership. And I also want to thank my colleagues who did it all, the media and the Nigeria people for bearing with us during the time of the closure.”
