LIVE UPDATES
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has renamed several Nigerian airports after prominent Nigerians.
In honour of their service to the nation, Tinubu in a memo released by the Federal Ministry of Aviation announced on Monday.
The memo signed by the Director of Airport Operations, Mrs Joke Olatunji noted that the airport renaming was part of the President's effort 'reform the Aviation sector'.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari approved the renaming of the airports before leaving office on May 29.
While the selection process is unknown, it is worth noting that Fmr. President Olusegun Obasanjo's name was not on the list.
Obasanjo had declared the 2023 presidential election and the victory of President Bola Tinubu at the poll as a painful 'show of shame'.
The former head of state threw his weight behind Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate who is currently challenging the outcome of the presidential election.
Obasanjo and Tinubu's feud dated back to when the former was president and the later Governor of Lagos state over federal allocation to the state.
Tinubu had accused Obasanjo of shortchanging the allocation given to Lagos state, claiming the state deserved higher allocation from the federal cophers.
However, Obasanjo faulted the claim, stating the state was not big enough to get more than the current allocation given to them.
In no particular order, below are the airport renamed and the people they were renamed after.
- Akure Airport – Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu
- Benin Airport – Oba Akenzua II
- Dutse Airport – Muhammad Nuhu Sanusi
- Ebonyi Airport – Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo
- Gombe Airport – Brigadier Zakari Maimalari
- Ibadan Airport – Samuel Ladoke Akintola
- Ilorin Airport – Gen. Tunde Idiagbon
- Kaduna Airport – Hassan Usman Katsina
- Maiduguri Airport – Gen. Mumammadu Buhari
- Makurdi Airport – Joseph Sarwuan Tarka
- Minna Airpor – Mallam Abubakar Imam
- Nassarawa Airport – Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio
- Osubi Airport – Alfred Diete Spiff
- Port Harcourt Airport – Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo
- Yola Airport – Lamido Aliyu Mustapha
