The Nigeria Air force ,NAF has commenced construction process of establishing operational base in Ekiti state.
The proposed Air Force Military base sited on 1,257 hectares of land is located along new cargo airport road Ijan/Igbemo Ekiti.
The Nigeria Airforce and the Ekiti state government said the development would enhance the fight against insecurity and boost aviation economy in the interest of the people.
The ground- breaking ceremony for the NAF base came up on Thursday at the operational base location in Ekiti.
In his remark,the state governor, Biodun Oyebanji stated that “this partnership between the Nigerian Air Force and Ekiti State Government will open opportunities for further collaboration, with a view to bolstering the already existing relations and partnership”.
He lauded the efforts of the immediate past Governor Kayode Fayemi whom he said had opened channel for the development.
“What we are witnessing today is a result of the several efforts by my predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and the support of the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Saddiq Baba Abubakar. It also speaks to our continuity and prosperity agenda.
“As the then Secretary to the Government of Ekiti State, I was part of the discussions between the State and the Air Force authorities on the desire of the State to have a military base in our proposed Cargo Airport, which to all intents and purposes, was meant to be multipurpose facility.
“As a matter of fact, the discussion for the operational base started in 2020 when the former Chief of Air paid a courtesy visit to the state to inspect the location of the proposed Ekiti Cargo Airport. He was impressed by the level of work done and the vision of the State and then made the promise to establish an Air Defense Unit in Ekiti, due to its strategic position in South Western Nigeria. Since then, there have been continuous engagements between the State and the Nigeria Air Force for the actualisation of the promise”
Oyebanji expressed confidence that the event signalled the actualization of strategic vision in tackling insecurity.
“It, therefore, delights me greatly that today’s event is in fulfilment of our strategic vision of expanding security architecture and air military presence in our dear State. It will be recalled that one of the reasons we opted for this airport, which is situated on 4072 hectares of land with the capacity to land any aircraft including military, is to secure our people.
“Let me reiterate the fact that the decision to have an airport in our State is primarily for economic, security and tourism development. As a land locked State, we need to open and connect our economy to the rest of the world. As an agrarian economy, one of the ways to expand our economy is to find a way to connect our farm produce to the international market and to develop new frontiers of economic opportunities.
“For example, we want to create an aviation economy where aviation-related services: such as Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Operation(MRO), Aviation Hospital, Aviation Training, Cargo Handling, and Tourism Marketing, among others are provided in the nearest future.”
The governor therefore enjoined the residents on peaceful atmosphere with the officials in charge of the project for realization of the objective.
The Chief of Air staff,Air Marshall Oladayo Amao at the event highlighted the importance of security in economic prosperity ,he regretted the rate of insecurity in the country with the assurance that military efforts would yield positively.
“we are all aware, security is a veritable condition necessary for development, as no economy can thrive in an insecure or unstable environment. It is also common knowledge that almost every geopolitical zone in our country today is faced with one form of security challenge or the other, including terrorism, insurgency, armed banditry. kidnapping and others. Accordingly, the Nigerian Air Force has been employing airpower in support of the overall efforts to tackle these security situations facing our dear Country. Part of our strategy to meet the increasing demands of addressing these challenges, is to establish new bases at strategic locations. It is for this reason that we are establishing the Nigerian Air Force Base Ekiti.
“The proposed Nigerian Air Force Base in Ekiti will provide operational support services to Nigerian Air Force platforms operating in the South-West Geo-political Zone of the It is heart-warming to note that Mr President has authorized the acquisition of modem and well-equipped platforms to boost Nigerian Air Force air power employment and projection capabilities as well as air combat training. This is in addition to over 49 aircraft already procured and inducted into the inventory of the Nigerian Air Force. A few of these additional platforms were delivered to the Nigerian Air Force in December 2022 while others are to be delivered in coming months. Consequently, additional new main Bases with equipped aircraft hangars as well as alterate bases would be required for the seamless operation of some of the platform new aircraft in line with the principles of aircraft dispersal and air asset optimisation.”
The event was attended by government functionaries ,military officials and traditional rulers in the state.
