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The numbers of unemployment in Ogun State in not too distant future will be depleted. It is going to cut across all categories of labour.The skilled,unskilled semi-skilled,educated,not so educated and even illiterates.There will   be ample   opportunities to be gainfully engaged in a decent visible means of livelihood in the Gateway state.Some of the social problems that are not peculiar to Ogun State alone will not have favourable ground to fester. Massive real estate development,new  cities will spring up that will  dot the landscape of the state.Thus building items manufacturing companies are expected to record high production with more hands being engaged to accelerate their activities to be able to meet the high demands of estate developers.While the companies will be smiling to the banks,the revenue base of the state is bound to swell from the company tax as well as those of their staff.

All the aforementioned can only happen under a visionary leadership that has the greatest interest of the people at heart. It takes just one man to change the course of history either for good or the other way. A good leader is the one that can identify what will be of  benefits to his people and go ahead without allowing himself to be distracted by primordial sentiment, or  those who see his vision unachievable to bring his lofty ideas and visions into reality.

There is a saying in my village that a man who walks slowly and gently knows the road to his farm.This literally means that he knows what he wants and how to go about it.

Prince Dapo Abiodun,Governor,Ogun State has taken his time to examine  projects in the State started by his predecessors. The aim is  to know how viable and beneficial  they will be  to the indigene of the state.  

Federal and some states  in the country are suffering from  retarded growth in some sectors.One of the identifiable major factor is the abandonment of projects started by previous administrations. Lack of continuity of projects of former regimes, probably with the intention of submerging the images of those who started them and paint their administrations in bad lights.This has never and will never help our quest for accelerated  development.

 In x-raying all the projects he inherited that were not in any where near completion, some did not take off at all, Governor Abiodun distance himself from politics and personal interest. Disparaging the personality of those who conceived the idea and their government has never featured in all his public engagements in respect of past projects that were not of his making.

The GATEWAY AGRO-CARGO AIRPORT is one of the projects he inherited.His (Governor Abiodun) administration started it from nothing to where it is today.

	Below is the Master Plan of the Airport

According to Abdulwaheed Odusile, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ogun State, “By the grace of God, before the end of this year, aircraft will take-off and land on this airport. That will be the first of its kind in the country. This airport would be the fastest built airport in Nigeria.” “This is one of the promises made by the governor. We don’t promise we are going to do everything, but we are going to do everything that we promised. That is the mantra of this administration. No matter who started this, but we will complete it.” “This project was abandoned by the previous administration and we are continuing it.”   “We started the construction of this airport from the scratch and we started in April 2021. This airport would be an international airport in all ramifications.”   “The 4km runway is almost ready, the construction of the fire station is on, the control tower and the administrative building is there and those are the essential components of an airport. Every other thing as you know is luxury and comfort.” “Even, at that you will marvel by the architectural design of the terminal building.”    “We are not just building an airport, we are building an aerotropolis. We are bringing different people and don’t forget, this is a specialised airport as it will be an agro-cargo airport. Though, there is another facility for passenger operations.”   Already, some agencies of the government are scrambling to be here and I can tell you for a fact, the Nigeria Air Force is already looking forward to be here, the Nigeria Customs Service and so many other private investors. This will be the only truly agro-cargo airport in Nigeria. With the indication of the Nigerian Air Force to have its full presence at the Airport,that is additional aerial and ground security boost to those who will be doing business there and the entire people of Ogun State. This is what you get when you have broad minded leader who has exceptional insight as  epitomized by Prince Dapo Abiodun.One of the deciding factors investors have at the back of mind before committing their funds to any projects is the security of their investment and that of the personnel as well as that of the investors. The fear of insecurity   where the worker is not sure of his safety cannot bring  the best  out of him. The Information Commissioner  and Strategy while speaking on the quality of produce that will leave the Airport to other parts of the world, said “There will be an international testing centre here where all agro-produce that go out of Nigeria will come here and be certified as complying with international standard. So, once that is done, goods from here can be exported to anywhere in the world.” The Agro Cargo Airport will not be an avenue for unscrupulous, dubious people to smuggle sub standards agricultural produce outside Nigeria. “You can also see the location of the airport, where we are now is about the centre of Ogun State. The airport on the western side, you will see the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, on the southern side, you have the Sagamu–Benin Expressway. So, whichever way you want to approach the airport, the logistics of that is easy to Lagos, which is the fifth largest economy in Africa and Nigeria’s largest economy. To the hinterland, you have easy access, if you want to go to the east, north and other part of the western it is easy.” “So, goods coming in and out of our neighbouring states will come here and this will also decongest Lagos and it will spread development across the country, especially for us in Ogun State, His Excellency the governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abioudun is desirous of industrialising Ogun State.” “We claim and rightly so to be the industrial capital of Nigeria. We want to use this airport to complement that.” “This airport is also an important component of our transportation master plan, which will bring together rail, road and water transportation. This airport is not just a standalone airport, it is also being supported by other transportation facilities that we are building in Ogun State.”    “This is part of our Five Pillars of Development in Ogun State called ISEYA, which is an acronym for Infrastructure, Social welfare and wellbeing, Education, Youth Empowerment and Job creation and Agriculture and food security.”  “With these five pillars, we have been able to touch the lives of our people in different ways. This airport is also an infrastructural development, economic development and it is also providing jobs.” Aerotropolis: “So many businesses associated with aviation would be here and we are ready to accept everyone.”   Ade Akinsanya, Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ogun State: “The Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos is one of the most difficult airports to get in to before the expanded the road. For this airport, you can access it through six locations; Lagos-Sagamu, Lagos-Ibadan, Lagos-Epe. I don’t think any airport can rival it anywhere within this country and the facility is unique.”   “ The design was done by one of the famous consulting firms in the world….. They have done more airport designs probably than anyone else. So, that credibility is there. The standards we are meeting are world class. Everything you will be seeing today is something that complies with Nigerian and international standards.” From L-R in reflective jacket below:Nicholas Mfarre,Senior Project Manager,Cronegurg Construction Company;Ade Akinsanya,Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure;Abdulwaheed Odusile,Commisioner for Information and Strategy inspecting the Airport master plan. Total weight of the runway: Overall, the total width of the runway is 60; 45 plus 75. And another 7.5 shoulders. Perimeter fencing: “We have perimeter fencing at the airport from the beginning unlike some of the airports that we have around in Nigeria. In front of the perimeter fencing, you will also have security road on both sides for patrol. We don’t want intruders coming into the airport.” The terminal: “It is a kind of a hybrid of what you have in Morocco and a bit of Paris in France. It is a work of art. The same thing also with the control tower – it is something unique.” Terminal buildings: “We have two separate terminal buildings for the airport; cargo and passenger. At anytime, the apron can accommodate four aircraft of Boeing 777 aircraft. It can take two wide body and two Boeing 737 model.” Testing site for agricultural produce: “The only testing site approved in Africa by the Africa Development Bank(AfDB) will be located at a site not too far from here – Sagamu. That is one of the challenges people exporting goods out of Nigeria face because most of those goods don’t meet the international standard. So, before anything goes out, it will be tested before you can export it and it is just nearby Total landmass for the airport: “It is about 5,000 hectares of land. However, we are still in the phase one of the project, there is room for expansion in the future.” Runway: “The runway has about four layers with different classes of MM. The layer is about 65mm of asphalt, the second layer is about 50mm of asphalt and the next is about 100mm of asphalt.” Warehousing facilities: “The state is not in the business of doing all those things. We are going to have private investors to invest in the airport project. Already, there are lots of enquiries. Even, the federal government is interested.” “The state government will provide private investors with the facilities to grow their businesses. That is why it is aerotropolis.” Runway completion: “Right now, we are at about 90 per cent completion for the runway and the runway would be completed by the end of July,2022.” Level of engagement with aviation agencies on approval and authorization: “The first visit by the Senate Committee on Aviation, the regulatory agency, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) personnel came with them and the regulatory agency gave us an approval for whatever we are doing here.” “NCAA has been here and we are engaging them and other key agencies in the aviation industry. NCAA has a team dedicated to this project. We are not working in a vacuum.” Airfield lighting : “This is already programmed into the project. This airport is supposed to run for 24 hours. So, all the auxiliary things that will make it functional are already programmed.” Exportation of agric produce: “Whatever they grow in Nigeria can be exported from this place and whatever they produce in any part of the world can also land here. There are lots of opportunities for the exportation of foodstuffs. “ Proximity to Lagos, Ibadan and Akure airports: “Lagos is too crowded as it is. The cargo operators are not having a good time, the passengers also are complaining. So, this will be a relief to everyone. Passengers can land here and be in Lagos within 30 minutes and for those going to the east, they can land here and be anywhere within a few hours. So, the viability to me is the best location and it will be a big relief for Lagos also.” “Ogun state has the most industry. Sagamu is just about 10 minutes drive and we have lots of industries there, which will make it easy for them rather than going to Lagos. All the things that will complement the airport to make it a good business are being done.” Cost implication: “I can’t be definite at the moment because we are making changes to some of the things here. I don’t want to give you a figure now and tomorrow it changes. When we started this project, a litre of diesel was about N300, but today, it has risen to over N800 and every equipment and supplies rely on that. That is why I can’t give you a specific number at the moment.” “Luckily for us, the contractor, Craneburg has good experience as they constructed the Anambra Airport. They are our partner and we are sitting down with them to look at a lot of things.”   “The location and the auxiliary things coming in are the USP. One of the challenges with us is the lack of Maintenance Repair Overhaul(MRO) for aircraft maintenance. We intend to have that here. That would be done by private investors.” “This is a Class E airport and anything that is as big as B777 and Airbus 350 can land here easily.”  “We are taking everything that will make it viable and profitable into consideration.” “Also, lots of employment will be generated for youths while development to support the airport will come to this area fast.” Control tower: “The control tower has a room for future expansion and it has a unique shape that will make it a quality job. Presently, we are on the third level.” “Everything that will make an airport functional are already here.” Power supply: “We have private power supply and also connected to the national grid. We also have two redundancy’; the generator and the UPS in case of power failure”   Nicholas Mfarrej, senior project manager, Craneburg construction company: “The project would be completed before the end of this year; the runway fire station, control tower, taxiway, apron and the cargo terminal buildings.” Assurances of completion : “We can assure you that it will be completed 100 per cent before the end of the year.” Terminal building capacity : “It can take about 3,000 passengers at a time. We still have some redundancy capacity within the terminal. If four aircraft land at a time, there won’t be an issue.”  Ogun State Government under the leadership of Dapo Abiodun has lit a lamp.If kept steadily burning, is going to be the  source of lighting many other lamps in Ogun State in particular and Nigeria in general. It is  incumbent on the indigene to guard this Tree of hope that is expected to elevate  Ogun State to a visible status in the  world aviation map.