There is a controversy right now in Anambra State. It is the controversy generated by the building of a second airport in the state when the first one is still gasping for breath. But what makes the controversy even hotter was the earlier denial by the Anambra State Government of Prof Chukwuma Soludo that it was building another airport.
What happened?
In September 2025 the Anambra State Government, through the Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, debunked reports of a second airport at Ndikelionwu, Orumba North LGA as ‘false and speculative’.
Mefor said at the time no decision had been taken and that a recent site visit was just for feasibility studies on multimodal transport for the 4,000-hectare Anambra Mixed-Use Industrial City, AMIC.
He also said there was no plan whatsoever to build another airport less than four years after the inauguration of Chinua Achebe International Cargo Airport in Umueri, Anambra State.
But barely eight months later, June 2026, precisely, the story changed, with Mefor publicly confirming that construction on the site for the new airport at Ndikelionwu was already underway, with flights expected in one to two years.
He explained that it was being positioned as part of Governor Soludo’s “African Dubai-Taiwan” vision. The government said the earlier rumours likely came from the AMIC site visit, where airport and railway were being studied as long-term options.
The Anambra State Government’s admission now that it is indeed building a second airport comes as a surprising somersault and it is at a time some groups like Ndigbo Unity Forum and other strident voices have been urging Soludo to focus on rail and agriculture instead, calling a second airport a ‘waste of resources’.
Indeed, many have been questioning Soludo’s reason for building another airport when the existing one is only being serviced by two airlines owned by Anambra sons: Air Peace and United Nigeria Airlines. At inception, five airlines were approved for the airport and they included: Air Peace, Nigeria; United Nigeria Airline; Dana Air; Ibom Air and Anab Jet. What it means is that if not that the two airlines plying the route currently are not owned by Anambra people, they would not have been doing so and that would have rendered the airport almost useless.
At the moment, Air Peace flies to Abuja and Lagos daily, and United Nigeria Airlines flies to Abuja and Lagos daily too. These are the only airlines running commercial flights at the airport.
Investigations revealed that the airport handled 142 flights and 3,865 passengers in its first month; and over 450,000 passengers total since December 2021. It also comes with many flight cancellations and readjustments too. This is also apart from the numerous other problems.
Such challenges include:
1. Underutilization /Low traffic. According to sources, despite 5 years of operation, it has handled only 8,600 flights and 600,000 passengers cumulatively.
The MD himself was reported to have appealed to Anambra residents to “use what we have” instead of patronizing Asaba, Enugu, and Owerri airports.
Critics say it’s a case of underutilized existing capacity.
2. Staff and welfare issues:
Workers were said to have written to Governor Soludo and the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, in March 2025, complaining of: 4 years of casualization, with no permanent employment; non-payment of statutory allowances; no training; non-implementation of minimum wage; poor salary structure; poor safety measures and lack of maintenance at the facility, calling it modern-day slavery policies.
3. Infrastructure and facilities gaps:
No ceiling/roof insulation in the departure hall, with excessive heat making the main hall unusable, prompting the use a makeshift departure hall; lack of warehouses for cargo operations. A traditional ruler was reported to have urged Soludo to build warehouses so it can function as a true cargo airport; access road problem.
The host community says they have no direct link road and must go through 2 neighboring communities to reach the airport; general FM issues. A 2026 study flagged inadequate maintenance culture, insufficient funding, obsolete equipment, poor safety systems, weak tech integration, man-power shortages.
4. Viability and competition debate:
Experts question whether a second airport is needed when this one isn’t fully utilized; proximity to Asaba, Owerri, and Enugu airports makes it hard to attract airlines and passengers, with only Air Peace and United Nigeria airlines currently operating there.
5. Category upgrade ongoing:
The airport is trying to move from Category 5 to Category 7, and aims for Category 9 + full cargo operations this year.
Bright spot: When Enugu Airport was shut in April for repairs, airlines diverted flights to Anambra, so it did serve as an alternative hub.
The major issues at the airport are not having enough passengers/airlines, poor staff conditions, and missing infrastructure like warehouses, proper terminal cooling, and access roads.
Thus, with these problems yet to be sorted out after five years of operation, one rightly wonders why the craving for another airport is being entertained. Is it going to serve as something to be used as bragging rights or prestige project so that the state will boast of having two airports when some others are yet to have one? Has the Anambra State Government considered that with the current airport as it is, building a second one will mean the two airports cancelling out each other? When aviation experts are concerned that nearby airports in Asaba and Owerri are stifling the growth of the current airport, it is wondered how much more negative impact another one will have on it; and not just that is the likelihood of both suffering.
So how come Soludo who should know better is prioritizing the building of another airport over the provision of rail network? It just doesn’t add up and that is why a lot of people are questioning the rationale behind it. As at this moment the state government has not come out to explain things to the people, especially after heatedly denying building it in the first place.
And what about the humongous financial implications? As someone noted somewhere, if it cost the past government of Chief Willie Obiano N18 billion to build the current airport in Umueri in 2021, it could well be costing Soludo about N50 billion to build another one today, given the spiraling cost of things in the country. That amount, or even half of it, would have provided the people of the state a lot of other infrastructure.
Again, whatever another airport would have served in Ndikelionwu, the existing one will serve it as long as it is well run and maintained. But going ahead with the construction of another airport may just end up as a prestige project rather than something economically viable. But then, work has already begun at the site of the proposed airport and anyone still shouting now may just be wasting time.
But then, the way the state government has gone about this leaves much to be desired as the secrecy shrouding it gives rise to dangerous and mischievous speculations. The government simply has to talk to the people of the state whose taxes are being used to fund the project.
The initial attempt to hide the project has only amounted to attempting to cover a pregnancy which must be seen at the appropriate time. We have seen it now and we deserve some explanations.
Last Line
Last weekend was designated as a general day of environmental sanitation in Anambra State. I have absolutely nothing against it, even though it has yielded little success as people usually stay indoors and come out once it is over. But the state government should not relent in pushing the agenda for the cleaning up of the state’s environment.
However, while we are at this topic, I want to remind the state government about something that I see as contradictory to its efforts. At the seat of government work which is the workers’ secretariat, called Jerome Udoji Secretariat, sanitary conditions are horrible. Workers at the secretariat still go to the bush to relive themselves due to the unavailability of water. People there cannot flush the toilets and so prefer to go to the surrounding bushes to do their thing.
This did not start today because I remember doing a story on that in the previous administration of Willie Obiano. It is just too bad that while the government is compelling the citizenry to clean up the environment, a facility as big as a workers’ secretariat is in a sorry state.
I therefore urge the authorities to quickly do the needful so that the workers can enjoy their time there. What we have there now is not acceptable.
By: By Jude Atupulazi
