By Tony Okafor
The leak about the proposed Ndikelionwu airport has opened up a storm that was entirely avoidable. What should have been a bold conversation on development has instead degenerated into denials, speculation, and growing distrust.
The Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and his Chief of Staff were both captured on video discussing the project. To deny it now suggests not strategy but misplaced priority — an attempt to manage perception ahead of elections. Such doublespeak erodes public trust and fuels needless controversy.
If transparency and inclusive governance had been prioritized, this brouhaha would never have arisen.
A project as consequential as an airport should begin with robust town hall engagements, where government and people meet eye-to-eye. That is how ownership, trust, and sustainable development are built.
Critics are right to ask why the Chinua Achebe Airport at Umueri remains incomplete while another airport is being conceived. Does Anambra truly need two airports? Perhaps yes — if properly integrated into the Anambra Mixed-Use Industrial City (AMIC) masterplan. But without clarity, the idea appears like indulgence rather than strategy.
This is where leadership counts. Government must explain how such projects connect to the wider development vision, provide timelines and budgets, and show the people how multiple projects can coexist to drive industrialization, investment, and jobs.
Ndikelionwu is not an afterthought; it is part and parcel of Anambra State. If the project is to move forward, it must be presented to the people not with secrecy and denials, but with openness and accountability.
An airport at Ndikelionwu could indeed be transformative — but only if pursued with honesty, credibility, and clear priorities. Otherwise, it risks becoming yet another symbol of political overreach.
However, while government must take responsibility for clarity and transparency, the opposition too must resist the temptation of weaponizing this controversy for cheap political capital. The debate over Ndikelionwu airport should remain focused on the merits of development, not reduced to partisan mudslinging.
The choice is the government’s: to continue stoking avoidable controversies, or to seize this moment as proof that Anambra can do things differently — transparently, inclusively, and sustainably.
History beckons, and the people are watching.
