KACRAN Hails Tinubu’s Takeover Of Yobe International Cargo Airport, Says It’s A Masterstroke For National Economy
By Sani Gazas Chinade, Damaturu
The Kulen Allah Cattle Rearers Association of Nigeria (KACRAN), a peace-loving national association keenly interested in anything that brings peace and development to Nigeria, has expressed deepest appreciation and highest commendation to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In a press statement by Khalid Muhammad Bello who is the national President of the association, he said that “We commend Mr. President for his visionary decision to approve the Federal Government takeover of the Yobe International Cargo Airport and the refund of the huge amount invested by the Yobe State Government to build the airport to international standard.
“Sincerely speaking, this giant step taken by Mr. President to convert the airport from State ownership to Federal ownership is an action that deserves the highest appreciation. KACRAN immensely thanks Mr. President and members of the National Assembly who approved the promissory note for the reimbursement of the Yobe State Government.”
KACRAN, he continued, strongly supports this takeover because we hope that with its economic might, the Federal Government will, within the shortest possible time, make the airport a fully functional international cargo hub that will be easily used by the people of the North East, Nigerians, neighbouring countries and the business community for transportation and export of commercial goods.
At this juncture, KACRAN highly applauds the Father of modern Yobe politics, His Excellency, Senator Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, CON, Honourable Minister of Police Affairs, who, out of foresight and wisdom, initiated the construction of this historic cargo airport on Yobe soil to make Yobe one of the leading commercial States in Nigeria.
“We equally commend His Excellency, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, CON, the Executive Governor of Yobe State, who, despite the heavy financial implications of this elephant project, vigorously continued with it to the level of completion and commissioning.”
In the same vein, KACRAN acknowledges the patriotism, genuine love and sacrifice of Governor Mai Mala Buni, who out of North East and national interest agreed to hand over the only international cargo airport in the North East to the Federal Government. This singular action has proved Governor Buni’s inbuilt nationalism and statesmanship.
There is no doubt that the handing and taking over of the Yobe International Cargo Airport coincides with a strategic period when the North East Development Commission (NEDC), which we consider as the engine room for the region’s reconstruction from insurgency, organized a stakeholders’ enlightenment and sensitization workshop on Electric Vehicles (EV) ahead of its planned deployment across the North East.
The workshop, successfully completed last week across the state capitals of the North East, is part of the Commission’s sustainable development and economic recovery agenda for which the Commission is set to deploy over 10,000 electric tricycles, taxis and buses across the 6 States of the region.
KACRAN used the medium to highly commend the NEDC management under the able leadership of its Managing Director, Alhaji Mohammed Goni Alkali, the Executive Director, Administration and Finance, Dr. Garba Iliya, other prominent Directors, State Coordinators and the entire staff of the Commission for their sincerity and commitment.
Apart from uncountable developmental services, we have never seen a Commission that in a single purchase bought over 10,000 electric tricycles, taxis and buses for free distribution to stakeholders in the transportation value chain.
It is of great importance to note that the benefit derivable from the Federal Government’s operationalization of the Yobe Cargo Airport is beyond aviation. It will massively bring significant economic opportunities to the North East, Nigerians and foreign investors who want to engage in agriculture, mining and other businesses, because the airport has the potential capacity to become a major agricultural, livestock and commercial export hub, connecting the region’s abundant resources to domestic and international markets.
It is on record that the North East has enormous potential in livestock production, including cattle, sheep and goats, fisheries as well as agricultural products such as sesame seeds, gum arabic, beans, groundnuts, grains, vegetables and fruits.
An operational cargo airport would provide an efficient means of transporting these products to major Nigerian cities and international destinations.
One particularly promising opportunity directly linked to the full operation of the cargo airport is the provision of opportunity to North East governments and businessmen and women to establish modern, internationally certified Halal Meat Processing and Export Centres where the Cargo Airport would be conveniently used in exporting hygienic, quality-certified beef, mutton and goat meat to markets in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Asia, while also serving domestic consumers.
It would also ease the exportation of finished goods and raw materials from the North East, Niger, Chad and Cameroon Republics to national and international markets.
When fully operational, by God’s grace, it will create millions of job opportunities and provide direct and indirect employment for farmers, livestock and fisheries producers, processors, logistics operators and other service providers. It will also bring:
Another issue of great importance is that the takeover and reimbursement of billions of Naira wisely invested by the Yobe State Government will provide the State with huge funds to be redirected to other critical sectors.
In view of the billions to be reimbursed by the Federal Government, KACRAN passionately appeals to His Excellency, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, to kindly channel some of the refund into the following critical sectors: Agriculture, Commerce , water supply, planting of economy, works and Other Critical Sectors: like Education, security, health, youth and women empowerment, job creation through establishment of small-scale industries and provision of soft loans easily accessible to businessmen and women as well as pastoralists who want to continue with their pastoral occupation.
“We call on all North East States, who are the direct beneficiaries of this magnanimous economic booster project, to think of the resources that each State can produce and process for large-scale exportation to the Middle East, Europe and Asian countries for the development of their States, the North East and Nigeria at large.”
