Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has said the upgrade of the Ibadan Airport to international standard and the Ibadan Circular Road project are dear to his government and quite important for the economic turnaround of the state.
He therefore promised to deliver part of the airport project and the 32km East Wing segment of the Ibadan Circular Road in the current year.
Makinde stated this on Sunday at the 2025 Thanksgiving Service of the Victory International Church, Rehoboth Cathedral, Ibadan.
He noted that his administration would do more for the people of the state in 2025, adding that the Ibadan Airport, when upgraded, will be viable and will compete favourably with the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
According to Governor Makinde, Nigerians will survive the current economic hardship, because tough people are wont to outlast tough times.
He said: “I have always said that when I leave office, I do not want to be remembered just for the projects.
“But some projects are dear to my heart. These include the upgrade of Ibadan Airport to an international standard.
“Some people have said it is not a viable project because Ibadan is close to Lagos. That is true; but Ibadan Airport should have been an alternative airport to Lagos from day one.
“When we came in, there was no storage and fuel dispensing facility at the airport. How will it be viable if planes cannot come and refuel in this place?
“Now, we have put the aviation fuel storage and dispensing facility in there and, yesterday, I saw with my eyes how airplane was being refueled in our airport in Ibadan.
“So, we have removed one of the obstacles that have been making the airport not to be viable. We are also extending the runway so that a Boeing 787 will be able to land in the airport shortly.
“We made a terminal that is only good for 100,000 people yearly. We are now building a new terminal that can take over one million passengers through that airport.
“With what we are doing, Ibadan Airport will be viable and would compete with the Lagos Airport.
“A part of the project would be delivered this year. The terminal would be delivered first quarter of next year, because we have deployed the resources.
“Also, on the Circular Road, the first segment, which is 32km from Technical University to Badeku, will be delivered this year. So, continue to pray and support this administration.”
Governor Makinde also urged residents of the state to be ready to be held responsible for their actions, as according to him, the government will enforce the rule of law across different sectors.
“My urge is for people to obey the rule of law, because we don’t want to be harsh on anybody. I said we will not take people off the streets until we build something for them as a replacement and we have done that at Gate and Challenge.
“We are building one at Ojoo. We are doing all of these and expanding the road so that we can shorten the travel time between point A and point B, and to make economic activities occur quickly. So, you must be ready to obey rules and regulations.
“Don’t dump refuse on the median of the road. Tourism is part of what we want to use to expand our economy and people don’t want to come here and see thrash on the streets.
“This is the time to say thank you to God for keeping us and to also look forward to a rewarding year in 2025.
“Let me use this opportunity to wish all of you a healthy and prosperous 2025. We are here to give thanks to God and the message from the Bishop hit the nail on the head.
“Some are saying we are going through hard times in the nation but the Bishop said it was even harder in the 1990s. That is what I have always been saying that tough times will never last but tough people will.
“We will face challenges and for me and the administration, we will like to say thank you to the church for remembering the administration every time in your prayers. It’s a tough environment.
“If not for the prayers and intercessions, we would not have been able to make some of the progress that you are seeing today,” he said.
Earlier in his sermon, Bishop Taiwo Adelakun, the Presiding Bishop of Victory International Church, called for continuous support for the government through prayers so that it can deliver more dividends of democracy to the people.
