Work has commenced on the construction of a new international terminal at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja with the mobilisation of the project contractors, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.
A statement by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, on Tuesday, said that preliminary works on the project, including soil tests and site mapping, were carried out as soon as the contractors were mobilised to site.
The statement recalled that the Federal Government and China had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of five ultra modern international terminals at the country’s major international airports.
The terminals are Abuja, Enugu, Kano and Port Harcourt, as part of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda in the aviation sector.
The MMA project was the second of the five projects that had been started, it stated, adding that the Enugu project started first and its foundation laying ceremony was performed by President Jonathan on May 18, 2013, the same day that the remodelled terminal of Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu was inaugurated.
On completion, the new international terminal at the MMA would enhance the chances of the airport becoming the major hub in the West African air transport region, the statement said.
It also recalled that the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, had recently called for necessary collaboration between the civil and military aviation to enhance safety in the Nigerian airspace as part of the aviation transformation programme.
She said that there should be regular forums for stakeholders in the sector to meet and deliberate on issues that would promote the aviation business.
Oduah was quoted as saying this while responding to pleas from stakeholders to rehabilitate and reopen the Mubi and Kaduna Airstrips in Maiduguri and Kaduna, respectively to ease the military operations in the fight against Boko Haram and other terror activities in the country.
She decried a situation at the airports where there were different and conflicting command and control centres.