Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje says continued closure of the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) for international flight operations is impacting negatively on the ease of doing business in the northern part of the country.
Ganduje said this when he led a delegation of legislators, business, traditional and civic leaders to pay a courtesy visit to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, in Abuja.
The Federal Government had in March 2020 suspended international passenger flights into Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu airports due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A statement by Gnaduje’s Chief Press Secretary, Abba Anwar, on Wednesday, quoted the governor as saying that the continued closure of the airport is causing hardship to international travelers from the Northern part of the country, as the action is severely impacting businesses.
He said: “The closure of MAKIA has impacted negatively on the business environment in Kano, which is the commercial nerve center of Northern Nigeria and even some West African Countries.
“We appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari for the completion of the international wing of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport because it will further facilitate commercial activities, and we fervently appeal for the resumption of international flight operations at the airport,” he explained.
Ganduje said the state government has put in place all that is necessary to make the state healthy for flights, including mobilisation of the populace for the COVID-19 vaccinations.
Sirika said the continued suspension of international flights to and from the airport was causing the ministry and its agencies huge revenue loss.
“It does not make economic sense for the government to spend so much money, as it has done in the airport, and just decide to leave it dormant, with the attendant degeneration on infrastructure, staff redundancy, revenue losses and hardship to travellers, amongst others,” he said.
