The establishment of the Muhammadu Buhari (now Chuba Okadigbo) International Airport, located in Onueke in the Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, South-East of Nigeria has remained a subject of discourse among both economic and non-economic experts. The controversies hinge on the economic viability of the airport; how the N10 billion approved for the project by the then Federal Government under Buhari’s watch was expended by the then David Umahi’s administration; the over-publicised N36 billion spent for the construction of the project and who the contractors were; and the proposed N13 billion expenditure by the current state government under Governor Francis Nwifuru, for runway repairs. Before the construction of the airport, no fewer than 200 houses were demolished in the area by the then-Umahi-led state government.
The development saw to the displacement of over 800 natives including elderly men/women and nursing mothers. Investigations by South-East PUNCH revealed that most of the owners of the affected houses were never paid compensation. The few that were lucky got paltry sums ranging from N200,000 to N400,000.
Today, amid the suffering and hardship residents of the state contend with, the airport which is supposed to be a revenue-generating enterprise is currently lying economically lifeless and inactive, yet drains the scarce resources of the ‘starter’ state. On Thursday, April 26, 2023, the Ebonyi Airport was inaugurated with two inaugural flig.