Magnus Eze, Enugu
The Association of South East Town Unions (ASETU) has urged National Assembly members from the region to make development and standardisation of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport one of their priorities.
ASETU National President, Chief Emeka Diwe, told Daily Sun in Enugu, yesterday that the facility was strategic to the regional economy of the South East, including the new drive for increased investment by people of the zone.
Diwe applauded the Eighth Senate for rising in unison against threats by the immediate past Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika to downgrade the international wing of the airport.
“The National Assembly deserves sincere commendations for rising to the occasion. But, it should not end at that. The poor condition of the Akanu Ibiam Airport, in Enugu, should rekindle in the National Assembly, the consciousness that it is, indeed, the bastion of democracy and inclusiveness, and every discriminatory policy against any part of the country is a direct attack on its lofty ideals,” he said.
Chief Diwe said whoever conceived the idea of downgrading the airport did not mean well for Nigeria, and noted that the state of the facility clearly showed the level of marginalisation of Ndigbo.
“In short, that there is such unbearably poor infrastructure at the international wing of the only connection, which the entire South East has with the outer world, justifies the longstanding disputations about the marginalisation of Ndigbo in Nigeria.”