ON PLANS TO RE-OPEN OSUBI-WARRI AIRSTRIP – WE ARE NOT EXCITED UNTIL WE SEE THE EXPANSION/UPGRADE AND FUNCTIONALITY OF THE OSUBI-WARRI AIRSTRIP TO ACCOMMODATE BIGGER AIRCRAFT AND OPEN FOR PASSENGERS AS AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
February 24, 2021 | News
With reports that the House of Representatives on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, urged the Nigerian Federal Government through the Ministry of Aviation and Other relevant bodies to reopen the all-important Osubi-Warri Airstrip for full flight operation,
ON PLANS TO RE-OPEN OSUBI-WARRI AIRSTRIP – WE ARE NOT EXCITED UNTIL WE SEE THE EXPANSION/UPGRADE AND FUNCTIONALITY OF THE OSUBI-WARRI AIRSTRIP TO ACCOMMODATE BIGGER AIRCRAFT AND OPEN FOR PASSENGERS AS AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
With reports that the House of Representatives on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, urged the Nigerian Federal Government through the Ministry of Aviation and Other relevant bodies to reopen the all-important Osubi-Warri Airstrip for full flight operation, let me reiterate here that I and other well-meaning Deltans are no longer moved by such development until there are concrete steps taken for the earlier planned expansion/upgrade project of the said Osubi-Warri Airstrip to a Standard Airport with the required tarmac runway that can accommodate bigger aircraft, and then fully open for flight operations.
Let us recall that the said Airstrip facility also named after Osubi where it is located in Okpe/Sapele Federal Constituency of Delta State, has been closed since February 2020, on account of Shoreline oil Services Ltd (SOSL) inability to manage the facility, myriad of complaints by airline operators who use the airstrip, and SOSL’s inability to fulfill the financial commitment to Federal Government Agencies like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). Though, the call for its reopening followed a motion under matters of urgent public importance sponsored by the lawmaker representing the constituency in the House, Hon. Oberuakpefe Anthony Afe at plenary, but not until Deltans and Nigerians in Warri and environs start seeing the actual move to expand/upgrade the said Airstrip to a Standard Airport, nobody will take them seriously.
Mind you, this is not the first time we are hearing something like this. It was about three months ago that the Hon. Minister of State, Labour, and Employment, Chief Festus Keyamo (SAN), promised all Stakeholders and people of Delta State at the South-South Stakeholders meeting with the Federal Government in Port Harcourt, that this same Osubi Airstrip near the oil city of Warri, will function in a few weeks’ time. But up till now, which is almost three months now, the same Osubi-Warri Airstrip is still under lock and key. What exactly should we call this?
Secondly, the Nigerian National Legislature has become more like a barking dog that cannot/or has refused/and unwilling to bite, especially in the way they have not exerted their oversight and statutory functions in checkmating the excesses of the Federal Executive. So, what assurance do we have now that the Federal Government would heed their call to re-open the said Osubi-Warri Airstrip? What happened to the promise, made by Keyamo, on behalf of the Federal Government, to address this issue some months back? Was that not yet another empty promise of this administration?
I have been on this topic of Osubi-Warri Airstrip expansion/upgrade to make it a standard Airport and fully functional, since 2003 and to date. Then I had advised former Delta State Governors; James Onanefe Ibori and Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, and the current Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, to intervene and address this Osubi-Warri Airstrip issue because of the strategic location of the said Airstrip, and its importance to the oil and gas operations/industry in the region, and the economy of Delta State. But all my advice and efforts seem to have gone on deaf ears. Even yesterday February 23, 2021, Okowa was reported to have said similar statements regarding the re-opening of the Osubi-Warri Airstrip. But it not just to open it, it is to expand/upgrade it to a standard international Airport.
The truth is that no country or State can achieve great milestones of development without the needed aviation infrastructure. The Osubi Airstrip is just too strategically located for it not to be functioning as it ought to. And like I said before, big aircraft cannot land and take off in the Osubi-Warri Airstrip due to the small size of the tarmac runway. The Osubi Airstrip is just about 1,800meters as against the normal length of about 3,000meters for most (domestic) standard airports in Nigeria. For example, the length of the runway of the Benin Airport is 3,609meters, which is twice the length of the Osubi Airstrip runway. The small length of the runway of Osubi Airstrip means that ‘only small aircrafts’ (not exceeding 50-passenger capacities such as the DASH or the Donier) can land and take off from the Airstrip. And since the Federal Government has decided to take over the said Osubi Airstrip from Shoreline Petroleum Resources, then there is the need for prompt steps to be initiated as well to expand the runway/upgrade its facilities to make it a functional Standard International Airport for flight passengers in the Oil city of Warri and environs. So that people would not have to waste time and resources traveling all the way to Benin or Asaba just to get a flight to Lagos and Abuja.
Though, Runway dimensions vary from as small as 245 m (804 ft) long and 8 m (26 ft) wide in smaller general aviation airports, to 5,500 m (18,045 ft) long and 80 m (262 ft) wide at large international airports built to accommodate the largest jets, all that is required of the Federal Government to expand the runway of the Osubi-Warri Airstrip to an International Standard Airport, is the willingness to do so. This is because the expanse of land that is required to expand the said Osubi-Warri Airstrip runway, is already there at the location of the facility. In fact, it was in 1975 when the Federal Government acquired a site at Osubi to build an Airport. However, the project did not see the light of the day. Several years later, a consortium of oil/gas companies, including Shell (SPDC), decided to build a modern airstrip on the same site. But when irreconcilable differences arose between the potential partners, the NNPC/Shell/Elf/Agip Joint Venture Partners, decided to do it alone. A total of 1190 hectares of land was previously gazetted for acquisition by the Federal Government in 1975 for the development of a new Airport. However, due to funding constraints, the proposal was dropped from further consideration. As Shell (SPDC) became the sole participant, a smaller landmass (approximately 1078 hectares) was acquired, and the company single-handedly built the now Osubi Airstrip with the acquired land, also kept in view of the future needs of other interested parties. In other words, the original intent of the Federal Government in Osubi was to build a Standard Airport that would be ‘commercially attractive’ for Airline operators to patronize. The land is already acquired, all that is needed is to expand the tarmac/runway of the Osubi-Warri Airstrip.
The oil city of Warri remains the most viable commercial city in Delta, but it is without a Standard Airport. Here is a commentary on this issue from Engr. Abdulahi Bukar, who happens to be an expert in the Oil and Gas industry, a Shell Scholar, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, best known as “the gas man.”
In Bukar words: “My brother. I feel very sad to hear that one of the jewels of my career in Shell, the Osubi Airport has been closed. Those of us who laboured day and night between1996 to the formal commissioning by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001, of the Famous Osubi Airport serving Delta and Edo States and the Oil Industry then, operating one-quarter of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry from Warri must be very sad at this turn of events. Delta State, and indeed the whole area around Warri and environs, needed this infrastructure to open up Oil City of Warri as one of the biggest industrial centres in the country. The Warri Area is unique in Nigeria in having itself as the base for over 800,000b/d of oil production, 600 mmscd/d gas production, a Refinery for 100,000b/d, Petrochemical Plant, the Aladja Steel Plant, the Port of Warri, the Niger-Benue Transport Company also at Aladja - ALL UNIQUELY POSITIONED TO PROVIDE A SOLID INDUSTRIAL BASE FOR PRODUCTIVE ENTERPRISE AND ROBUST BUSINESS.
“No other city in the country is so endowed like Warri. The full utilization of the Assets concentrated in this area is absolutely a SOUND BASE FOR OUR LOCAL CONTENTS DEVELOPMENT, IN MANUFACTURING AND TRADE. The recent opening in October of the Railway line between Itakpe in Kogi State and Aladja near Warri, has widened the economic impact of this hub. So, without hesitation, Shell proposed and executed this project in record time, to provide easy air access to all comers. At one time in 2002 and 2003, Osubi Airstrip was only second to Lagos in terms of aircraft movements statistics in this country.”
According to Dr. Adogbeji Ideh, who is the first Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Chairman of Delta State, and Owner of Delta Clinic, he recently said this about Osubi-Warri Airstrip, and I quote: “…The Osubi airport/airstrip is the best airport in West Africa. Quote me anywhere. The German Engineers who were my Patients told me so.”
I will not stop this advocacy until the Osubi-Warri Airstrip is expanded/upgraded to a standard International Airport and fully opened/operational for flight passengers/airline operators. I once again urge that the issue should be given the needed attention as already intended by the Federal Government and relevant Aviation Authorities. Enough of the promises to do this and that! They should simply do what is expected.
Zik Gbemre.
February 24, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
With reports that the House of Representatives on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, urged the Nigerian Federal Government through the Ministry of Aviation and Other relevant bodies to reopen the all-important Osubi-Warri Airstrip for full flight operation, let me reiterate here that I and other well-meaning Deltans are no longer moved by such development until there are concrete steps taken for the earlier planned expansion/upgrade project of the said Osubi-Warri Airstrip to a Standard Airport with the required tarmac runway that can accommodate bigger aircraft, and then fully open for flight operations.
Let us recall that the said Airstrip facility also named after Osubi where it is located in Okpe/Sapele Federal Constituency of Delta State, has been closed since February 2020, on account of Shoreline oil Services Ltd (SOSL) inability to manage the facility, myriad of complaints by airline operators who use the airstrip, and SOSL’s inability to fulfill the financial commitment to Federal Government Agencies like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). Though, the call for its reopening followed a motion under matters of urgent public importance sponsored by the lawmaker representing the constituency in the House, Hon. Oberuakpefe Anthony Afe at plenary, but not until Deltans and Nigerians in Warri and environs start seeing the actual move to expand/upgrade the said Airstrip to a Standard Airport, nobody will take them seriously.
Mind you, this is not the first time we are hearing something like this. It was about three months ago that the Hon. Minister of State, Labour, and Employment, Chief Festus Keyamo (SAN), promised all Stakeholders and people of Delta State at the South-South Stakeholders meeting with the Federal Government in Port Harcourt, that this same Osubi Airstrip near the oil city of Warri, will function in a few weeks’ time. But up till now, which is almost three months now, the same Osubi-Warri Airstrip is still under lock and key. What exactly should we call this?
Secondly, the Nigerian National Legislature has become more like a barking dog that cannot/or has refused/and unwilling to bite, especially in the way they have not exerted their oversight and statutory functions in checkmating the excesses of the Federal Executive. So, what assurance do we have now that the Federal Government would heed their call to re-open the said Osubi-Warri Airstrip? What happened to the promise, made by Keyamo, on behalf of the Federal Government, to address this issue some months back? Was that not yet another empty promise of this administration?
I have been on this topic of Osubi-Warri Airstrip expansion/upgrade to make it a standard Airport and fully functional, since 2003 and to date. Then I had advised former Delta State Governors; James Onanefe Ibori and Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, and the current Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, to intervene and address this Osubi-Warri Airstrip issue because of the strategic location of the said Airstrip, and its importance to the oil and gas operations/industry in the region, and the economy of Delta State. But all my advice and efforts seem to have gone on deaf ears. Even yesterday February 23, 2021, Okowa was reported to have said similar statements regarding the re-opening of the Osubi-Warri Airstrip. But it not just to open it, it is to expand/upgrade it to a standard international Airport.
The truth is that no country or State can achieve great milestones of development without the needed aviation infrastructure. The Osubi Airstrip is just too strategically located for it not to be functioning as it ought to. And like I said before, big aircraft cannot land and take off in the Osubi-Warri Airstrip due to the small size of the tarmac runway. The Osubi Airstrip is just about 1,800meters as against the normal length of about 3,000meters for most (domestic) standard airports in Nigeria. For example, the length of the runway of the Benin Airport is 3,609meters, which is twice the length of the Osubi Airstrip runway. The small length of the runway of Osubi Airstrip means that ‘only small aircrafts’ (not exceeding 50-passenger capacities such as the DASH or the Donier) can land and take off from the Airstrip. And since the Federal Government has decided to take over the said Osubi Airstrip from Shoreline Petroleum Resources, then there is the need for prompt steps to be initiated as well to expand the runway/upgrade its facilities to make it a functional Standard International Airport for flight passengers in the Oil city of Warri and environs. So that people would not have to waste time and resources traveling all the way to Benin or Asaba just to get a flight to Lagos and Abuja.
Though, Runway dimensions vary from as small as 245 m (804 ft) long and 8 m (26 ft) wide in smaller general aviation airports, to 5,500 m (18,045 ft) long and 80 m (262 ft) wide at large international airports built to accommodate the largest jets, all that is required of the Federal Government to expand the runway of the Osubi-Warri Airstrip to an International Standard Airport, is the willingness to do so. This is because the expanse of land that is required to expand the said Osubi-Warri Airstrip runway, is already there at the location of the facility. In fact, it was in 1975 when the Federal Government acquired a site at Osubi to build an Airport. However, the project did not see the light of the day. Several years later, a consortium of oil/gas companies, including Shell (SPDC), decided to build a modern airstrip on the same site. But when irreconcilable differences arose between the potential partners, the NNPC/Shell/Elf/Agip Joint Venture Partners, decided to do it alone. A total of 1190 hectares of land was previously gazetted for acquisition by the Federal Government in 1975 for the development of a new Airport. However, due to funding constraints, the proposal was dropped from further consideration. As Shell (SPDC) became the sole participant, a smaller landmass (approximately 1078 hectares) was acquired, and the company single-handedly built the now Osubi Airstrip with the acquired land, also kept in view of the future needs of other interested parties. In other words, the original intent of the Federal Government in Osubi was to build a Standard Airport that would be ‘commercially attractive’ for Airline operators to patronize. The land is already acquired, all that is needed is to expand the tarmac/runway of the Osubi-Warri Airstrip.
The oil city of Warri remains the most viable commercial city in Delta, but it is without a Standard Airport. Here is a commentary on this issue from Engr. Abdulahi Bukar, who happens to be an expert in the Oil and Gas industry, a Shell Scholar, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, best known as “the gas man.”
In Bukar words: “My brother. I feel very sad to hear that one of the jewels of my career in Shell, the Osubi Airport has been closed. Those of us who laboured day and night between1996 to the formal commissioning by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001, of the Famous Osubi Airport serving Delta and Edo States and the Oil Industry then, operating one-quarter of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry from Warri must be very sad at this turn of events. Delta State, and indeed the whole area around Warri and environs, needed this infrastructure to open up Oil City of Warri as one of the biggest industrial centres in the country. The Warri Area is unique in Nigeria in having itself as the base for over 800,000b/d of oil production, 600 mmscd/d gas production, a Refinery for 100,000b/d, Petrochemical Plant, the Aladja Steel Plant, the Port of Warri, the Niger-Benue Transport Company also at Aladja - ALL UNIQUELY POSITIONED TO PROVIDE A SOLID INDUSTRIAL BASE FOR PRODUCTIVE ENTERPRISE AND ROBUST BUSINESS.
“No other city in the country is so endowed like Warri. The full utilization of the Assets concentrated in this area is absolutely a SOUND BASE FOR OUR LOCAL CONTENTS DEVELOPMENT, IN MANUFACTURING AND TRADE. The recent opening in October of the Railway line between Itakpe in Kogi State and Aladja near Warri, has widened the economic impact of this hub. So, without hesitation, Shell proposed and executed this project in record time, to provide easy air access to all comers. At one time in 2002 and 2003, Osubi Airstrip was only second to Lagos in terms of aircraft movements statistics in this country.”
According to Dr. Adogbeji Ideh, who is the first Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Chairman of Delta State, and Owner of Delta Clinic, he recently said this about Osubi-Warri Airstrip, and I quote: “…The Osubi airport/airstrip is the best airport in West Africa. Quote me anywhere. The German Engineers who were my Patients told me so.”
I will not stop this advocacy until the Osubi-Warri Airstrip is expanded/upgraded to a standard International Airport and fully opened/operational for flight passengers/airline operators. I once again urge that the issue should be given the needed attention as already intended by the Federal Government and relevant Aviation Authorities. Enough of the promises to do this and that! They should simply do what is expected.
Zik Gbemre.
February 24, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes