Discard Planned N38billion Cargo Airport Project In The Interest Of The State, Col. Umar Tells Benue Governor

An appeal had been made to Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom to discard the planned N38billion cargo airport project the state is reportedly planning to embark upon.
The appeal was made Monday night by Colonel Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, former Governor of Kaduna in an exclusive chat with NEWSDIARYONLINE.


Umar said the planned should be “discarded” just as he called on the governor to “reconsider” the move in the overall interest of the people given the well known infrastructural challenges facing the state.

The former governor was propelled to make this passionate appeal after reading the story of the looming project in a news report Monday.

Colonel Umar said “I read a report in The Guardian newspaper of 31st October that the Benue State Government is planning to construct a cargo airport at a staggering cost of N38billion.

“And what is the cargo? Agricultural produce. And the only agricultural produce we know being produced in Benue are maize, cassava, yams and oranges. One cannot understand what type of cargo are being produced in Benue State other than these.

According to Col. Umar, “There is nowhere in the world that farm produce of this nature are transported by air.

Also, he said further that, “Benue State is one of those states with the lowest IGR(Internally Generated Revenue) in the country and it is one of the states often reported to be owing workers’ salaries and allowances.

“It also suffers from dilapidated infrastructure and by infrastructure I mean health, educational and other social infrastructure.

“So one will want to believe that the government of Benue State will address these problems.

Umar said therefore, “The idea of constructing a cargo airport should be discarded. I appeal to the governor to reconsider this plan, if true.”