Buni pledges free land, security to Damaturu Cargo Airport investors

Mai Mala Buni, the Yobe State Governor, says the state government will give free land alongside other incentives to agro-allied investors willing to invest at the Damaturu Cargo International Airport in the state capital.

Buni said with the completion of its 3.6-kilometre runway, terminal building and the installations of state-of-the-art aeronautical equipment and its strategic location, the airport is poised for business.

The governor spoke at the 2024 Airport Business Summit in Lagos where he urged the federal government to mandate the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to collaborate with Yobe state government in ensuring the airport opens for optimum operations especially the lifting of agro-allied produce.

Represented by Mustapha Gaidam, the permanent secretary, Yobe State Ministry of Transport and Energy, the governor affirmed that the agrarian state produces the largest number of livestock in the country adding that the airport will best serve as a transit location to neighbouring countries and across the world if when the livestock are exported while it generates huge revenue for Yobe state and the federal government.

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“When one of the installers of the aeronautical equipment came to the airport, he said the only airport that has this kind of infrastructure and technology in our clime was Damaturu International Airport because they are new models found only in the developed airports in the United Arabs Emirate,” Gaidam said.

“On a daily basis, you see thousands of trucks leaving Yobe state to other parts of the country especially Lagos filled with cows and their byproducts; we are just producing and selling within the country, why not export them?

That is why we are calling on investors to “take advantage of the business opportunities to invest in the airport, especially in the agro-allied sector by building warehouses for storage of the abundant farm produce and livestock in the state for export.”

He said “the airport has a large landmass of about 2.5 by 5 kilometres. We are now calling on investors to come. His Excellency the Governor is ready to give them land free of charge for all agro-allied businesses.”

Speaking on the security of the airport, the Perm Sec assured that “In terms of security, we have one battalion of the Nigerian military in the airport, and more importantly we must realise that the security challenge in the North-East has drastically reduced.”