The dream of having an airport in Abia State will soon materialize as the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Management, Mr Festus Keyamo, is expected to flag off the Airport project next Tuesday.

The Federal Government had selected Abia (the only State without an airport in the South East zone) for an airstrip but the State government decided to take advantage of the gesture to upgrade it to an airport by providing the runway for bigger aircraft.

Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu, told journalists that the airport was not the initial project of the Abia State government, “but when the Federal Government indicated interest for an airstrip, the Governor partnered to build an airport for Abia State.”

Kanu expressed satisfaction with the prospect of having the airport sooner than expected as work would commence immediately.

He also reaffirmed government resolve to commence free and compulsory education for primary and junior secondary from January 2025 and to build 20 smart schools in the State.

The Commissioner for Basic and Junior Secondary Education, Elder Goodluck Ubochi, explained that the smart schools would be selected among the existing secondary schools and would be retrofitted and equipped for the programme.

The idea, according to him, is to give public secondary schools an advantage over the private and leave the choice to parents and guardians. Ubochi said in arriving at the decision, the government had taken into consideration the envisioned challenges including electricity for the interactive board which enables students outside the classroom to be part of the lesson.

He said teachers would be trained to man the equipment in line with the government welfare programme for teachers, especially those in the rural areas.

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