BIAFRA: THE CLOSURE OF ENUGWU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND THE CONSPIRACY OF YORUBA MEDIA

Written by Okey Igbokwe

Published On TheBiafraPost

May21,2019

Mr Hadi Sirika, Minister of state for Aviation gave reasons such as dilapidated runway, Siting of Free Trade Zone, birds flying across flight paths as a result of the presence of an abattoir and radio masts for wanting to downgrade and shut the Enugwu International airport. He even claimed that he has held talks with Gov Ugwuanyi to find solutions to the risks listed above and relocation of most of them.

To an objective, unbiased mind, should these be tenable excuses to permanently downgrade the only International airport in a whole region to local status? Are the scenarios painted around Enugwu airport by Sirika worse than the ones around Muritala Muhammad airport Lagos?

In the middle of Goodluck Jonathan's tenure when former aviation minister Stella Oduah worked to upgrade the airport to International status, several discriminatory and propaganda theories started emanating from newspapers in Lagos describing Igbo land as den of crime and unsafe for investment and habitation for anyone. The manner with which the horrible picture was painted, you would assume Lagos and the entire Yoruba land was immune to crime of any sort or better than most advanced European countries.

The purpose for publishing such preposterously biased article against Igbo land was to scare off international investors and tourists and create the impression that an International airport anywhere in the region would be a waste.

If Hadi Sirika and his co conspirators in perpetually subjugating Igbo land and the rest of Biafra regions has good intentions for their so called one Nigeria, having discussed with Ugwuanyi, why not work on eliminating those perceived hitches and impediments hampering free flow of flights to help keep the economic activities across the country flowing?

That the southwest and north and to some extent, majority Nigerians do not want to see any visible development or economic advancement in and around Igbo land and the rest of Biafra regions due to their malicious insecurities, jealousy, complex and fear of being left behind is no longer a hidden fact, neither do they pretend over it. It would not take a second thought to see through the hideous intentions and prejudice buried in the Hadi Sirika's actions.

When the propaganda raged about Igbo land being a crime heaven, having seen that Stella Oduah was not deterred in her airport upgrade, they schemed another malicious propaganda to ease her out with the phantom N250m bulletproof car deals. Jonathan finally succumbed and sacked her. We are a witness to the logo scam which Sirika wasted over $600m to develop for Nigeria Air. That scam was bigger than the alleged bulletproof car corruption against Oduah, yet Sirika was kept on his post without any consequence.

When the first Ethiopian flight made a groundbreaking landing on the airport, another propaganda swept the airwaves that the entire airport is waterlogged and being eaten up by erosions even when Abuja and Lagos airports are suffering the same flooding issue and even worse. All these were to scare off International flights from using the Enugwu airport.

I listed some of these recent biases against the only International airport in Igbo land to enable us notice a clear and deliberate prejudicial pattern.

Having noticed that all their underhand efforts and propaganda has failed at stopping international flights from using the airport, they now resorted to open executive prejudice. To permanently shut down and kill the airport and render Igbo land hopeless.

The age-long plot had been to perpetually keep the whole of Biafra land down and never allow them to rise. The entire sea ports in the south, Warri, Portharcourt, Calabar, Onicha were deliberately abandoned to rot and with heavy operational/bureaucratic costs heaped on them in order to force Igbo people with their high entrepreneurial energy to migrate to Lagos and North.

There has been no airport in Nigeria that received the level of witch hunt and malicious opposition than Enugwu International airport ever since Oduah's effort to upgrade it.

Biafrans have been clamouring to be allowed to peacefully leave Nigeria to have their own independent nation where they could better manage and govern themselves and quit disturbing others with their boisterous life, yet the people who cowardly accuse them of these and that complain, don't want to let them be. What they are now using to douse the Igbo intention of leaving is the fantasy Igbo presidency enticements while they do everything with the other hand to deny Igbo land needed and adequate development.

I've stated severally that the solution to Igbo problem in Nigeria is not Igbo presidency. Igbo presidency can never nip Nigeria problems nor stop making others to be insecure and jealous of them. Ndi Igbo need their own territorial domain like the Jews to be able to live their lives as nature made them.

Published/Edited by Anyi Kings Reach Anyi for your article via Twitter @Anyikingsl Facebook Anyi kings E-mail anyikings57@gmail.com