The Ebonyi State government said it has secured a licence to operate its own airline, saying that its own aircraft is real and on the ground. The Commissioner for Aviation and Transport Technology, Ngozi Obichukwu, made this known while briefing newsmen shortly after the departure of the 92 scholarship awardees to Europe at the Chuba Okadigbo International Airport, Onueke, Ebonyi State.
According to her, “My joy goes to the fact that His Excellency is a humanitarian and empathy-filled governor. Like what somebody said, if you are developing anything and you have not developed a human being, even those things you develop will crumble.
“He is particular about human development, and we are happy because when these people go outside the country to make themselves better, Ebonyi will be better off. Remember that before now, we were called the backward people.
“Nobody wanted to identify with Ebonyi because we are so backward, illiterate, and all that. But His Excellency’s effort, for three years now, has shifted Ebonyi from that position of illiteracy, downtroddenness, and backwardness. We are now moving even further than some other states that were there before us.
“Aviation is not a ministry of land transport. It is practically purely safety inclined. And as we are doing here, we want to ensure that the aviation or the airport is safe and safety assured.
“About three days ago, we completed the elevation. I mean the elevation in the tower, the permanent tower. For the past five years, we have been using what we call the mobile tower. The governor has graciously completed the tower. The main permanent tower is behind there.
“And we now have the lift, or you can call it the elevator, where people will now climb from the ground up. We have a nine-storey building there. And with the elevator, we can now climb so easily.
“And again, we have very good runway lights. Which means we can operate even at night. In the night, once the runway light is on, the aircraft and the pilot will see their way up.
“That’s one of the most important things that some airports do not have. And again, this airport is now licensed. We now have a licence for every air flight operation.
“So, we have the licence to operate our own, even our own flight. Ebonyi Air is real. Ebonyi Air is on the ground.”
“Aviation is not something you walk over. We have a procedure. Some people are expecting it to be parked here. The Ebonyi Air cannot park here because we don’t have hangars. Where we have hangars is only Lagos and Abuja.
“And until they are now okay, all documentation is done. We will now commence what our governor said during his speech. Our governor never lied.
“He is a truthful person. He cannot see white and call it black. He is sure that the aircraft is already on the ground. And like I’m telling you, more documentation must come up before everyone else does.
“You will see cargo flights here. You will see commercial flights here. You will see the domestic and international. They will all be here by the grace of God,” she emphasised.
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