Otti pushes on with Abia airport project, assures landowners of adequate compensation

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has continued his administration’s push for the realisation of the Abia airport project.

On Thursday, Mr Otti had an enlarged meeting with the Nsulu Airport Communities Landowners Forum, where he commended the people of Nsulu in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of the state for their commitment and sincerity in identifying with the administration’s plans to kick start the airport in their community and complete it on schedule.

His Chief of Staff, Caleb Ajagba, represented him at the meeting held at the Government House Umuahia.

The governor thanked President Bola Tinubu for his magnanimity in ensuring that the airport was brought to Abia and said that the host communities and major stakeholders were expected to make great sacrifices for the timely realisation of the project.

He said the meeting was necessary in order to carry the landowners along in the project.

Mr Otti appealed for stronger collaboration with the host communities to ensure uninterrupted work on the project. He reassured that greater opportunities would be given to the people of Abia, especially Nsulu indigenes, in the area of employment and “other considerations.”

“We have agreed that the cutting of the traces must be completed to ensure that we identify the genuine landowners. We have agreed that after that is done, enumeration will continue, and adequate compensation will be paid.

“We also agreed that Abia State indigenes, especially Nsulu people, will all have the right to work and benefit from that project, so the first right of employment would be extended to Nsulu sons and daughters,” Mr Otti said.

The governor affirmed his administration’s commitment to completing the airport project on schedule, adding that the government would continue engaging with the host communities until the project was completed.

Remarks by host communities

Speaking on behalf of representatives of the host communities for the airport project, Uzo Azubuike, a former member of the House of Representatives who led the delegation, expressed satisfaction with the meeting’s outcome.

He advised those whom he described as intruders to stay off the project so that the government could identify the real land owners for enumeration and compensation.

Mr Azubuike, who represented Aba North and Aba South Federal Constituency, thanked the Abia State Government for considering reducing the size of the land mass already earmarked for the airport project. He said this would allow for the survival of the members of the communities, who are predominantly farmers.

He pledged the host communities’ support for the project.

“We are happy with the way this meeting has gone today. We have seen government redirect itself from people that we consider intruders and pretenders who had no land in the affected area trying to distract the government from the real owners of the land, and people mistook that for the landowners resisting development,” Mr Azubuike said.

The former lawmaker disclosed that a part of the key agreements reached during the meeting was the need for the government to unbundle some of the projects surrounding the airport and to clearly demarcate the affected area in collaboration with the landowners.

Mr Azubuike emphasised that the land belongs to individuals, not the Nsulu Community. He assured the Abia State Government that the landowners would provide maximum support, provided that the government fulfils its obligations.

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Earlier, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Lands and Housing, Okorougo Aji, did a slide presentation to show the scope of the airport project. The presentation revealed that no building structures would be affected and that the size of the land has been reduced to a little over 1,300 hectares.

The Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Chaka Chukwumerije, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, and consultants and management of the Ministry of Lands and Housing were among those present at the meeting.