I am glad by the report and the plan by Jigawa state government to airlift my native, the Jigawa pilgrims from Dutse International Airport not from another place since we have our own aiport, but to be candid, i am marvel, astonish and worried by the present administration’s approach since from its inception of attacking, discrediting and condemning the construction of the first class Airport of an international standard built by Sule Lamido’s administration in Dutse, the Jigawa state capital while the present governor, Alhaji Muhammadu Badaru uses the Airport to receive and send-off his friends, families, observers, relatives, political and business associates etc within and across the country before, during and still after his inauguration. In short, even Lamido, did not make use of the Airport like the present governor, Alhaji Badaru did in these few months. What a pity!!!
The day the Dutse International airport was commissioned is a day that would be remembered for a long time to come. It was also the day on which the 2014 airlift of Nigerian pilgrims from the newly built Dutse International Airport was inaugurated. The day was a festive one in the Jigawa State capital of Dutse. All roads leading to the new airport were jammed with vehicles. Among the eminent personalities who were there to grace the event were the former vice President Mohamed Namadi Sambo, Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad, the Shehu of Borno, former Niger State Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, former Minister of Transport Senator Idris Umar, former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Nurudeen Muhammad, the Emirs of Kano, Hadejia, Suleja, Ringim, Dutse, Daura, Kazaure, Gumel, Kaltungo and Maradun etc as well as Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos, who was the 2014’s National Amirul Hajj.
Dutse International Airport project began on October 5, 2012 when President Goodluck Jonathan did the ground breaking ceremony and ended on October 21, 2014 when Jonathan commissioned it, two short years. It has been the best and fastest airport project ever executed by any government in Nigeria. It stands as a telling testimony to Sule Lamido’s declared intention to build the facilities and institutions that would anchor the state’s development agenda. This brand new airport was planned and built by his administration to help prepare for the state’s rapid industrialization, to make it an investors’ haven and to ease the movement of goods and services in and out of the state. Jigawa State will be able for the first time in its 23 year history to establish its infrastructural independence from facilities in far-away Kano.
Not only was Dutse International Airport completed in record time but it will also enter the records for having some of the best facilities of any Nigerian airport. It was built on five square kilometers’ piece of land 10 kilometres northwest of Dutse town. Among the edifices in its architecturally beautiful sprawl are the standard terminal building, tarmac and runway, seven storey control tower, fire service station, apron and car park, access roads as well as fully air-conditioned arrival, departure and protocol sections. This N16 billion edifice also has a 3000 by 60 meters runway. It is one of very high quality as attested to by the German pilot Capt Ripp Christian who led 3-member crew that made the inaugural flight into Dutse Airport on October 5, last year. He said, “I have gone round most of the airports in Nigeria but I have never had as smooth a runway as this one. It is of international standard.”
Security was also given serious attention in the airport’s design and construction. It has been fully fenced; there are three brand new fire trucks of category 9 standard which are basic requirements for the landing of 747-400 series aircraft, and there is a combined water stock of 37,500 litres, the first of its kind in Nigeria. In addition there are Body scan machines, conveyer belts, the high resolution Close Circuit Television cameras (CCTV) which record movements in the whole airport.
Also with respect to safety, there are state of the art air navigation equipment, Doppler voice communication and control system (VCCS) and the Conventional Very High Frequency unidirectional Radio Range (CVOR) housed in the 7- storey control tower. It establishes communication from all directions with aircraft at a distance of 180 nautical miles from Dutse International Airport. The CVOR is the latest and best air navigational equipment in the world manufactured by Thales. The airport’s Landing Aid Instruments Localiser which guide the aircraft to the centre of the tarmac, the Glide Slope that provides glide angle, the Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) and Non Directional Beacon were all carefully installed to give pilots and passengers a pleasant experience while landing at the airport. All these combine to make it a most modern airport in Nigeria equipped with the latest equipment and facilities.
The pilgrims of Jigawa, Borno and Yobe states respectively that took off from the airport for the 2014 concluded hajj exercise also witnessed a preparation that was among the best in the country. Jigawa State had a team of clerics who preached to them and guided them throughout the hajj exercise. The pilgrims also had a qualified medical team with an adequate provision of drugs that attended to their health throughout the rigorous hajj rites. There was also the provision of daily meals while the state pilgrims’ board did very well by securing accommodation close to the Masjid ahram. A Jigawa State pilgrim was thus able to observe his or her five congregational prayers in the Masjid haram because they were quartered not far away. The remarkable records on the successful airlift of 2014 Jigawa pilgrims from Dutse International airport is a testimony of the determination and political will of Sule Lamido’s administration on welfare of his people. Everyone is elated with successful conduct of Hajj exercise since inception of his administration and the construction of the newly Airport.
The 2014 Hajj exercise is best in the history Jigawa state and it is attributed by the support and prompt release of fund by the administration of Sule Lamido and the innovations of provision of feeding, accommodation subsidy and good medical attention to Jigawa pilgrims. It is stressed that, Jigawa state has became a reference point on Hajj exercise. Jigawa is the first state that has introduced meal for pilgrims and the policy of first timer pilgrims giving priority for ensuring equity and justice in which made many states in the country emulate Jigawa. And so, in the airport and in the 2014 hajj, Jigawa State got the best of both worlds. But the question here is, can the present administration under Alhaji Muhammadu Badaru hold the tempo and maintain the process? Alas! That is on the contrary, because i read from the report that, the pilgrims had already paid for the two meals. I appeal to governor Badaru to subsidize the meal, medical and other related issues for the pilgrims.
Adamu is former media aide to Sule Lamido
