By: Peace Udugba
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on Monday inaugurated Enugu Air, a state-owned commercial airline launched by the Governor Peter Mbah-led administration, starting with three Embraer aircraft.
Reflecting on Mbah’s tenacity and drive in actualising the project, Keyamo described him as “an incredible, high-performing governor,” adding that with the pace of work achieved in just two years, defeating him in 2027 would be difficult.
Governor Mbah, on his part, hailed the milestone as a triumph of vision and a bold step toward positioning Enugu as a major aviation hub in the country.
“Governor Peter Mbah was the first governor to visit me immediately after I was sworn in as Minister,” Keyamo recounted. “I said to myself, this man won’t even let me settle in. He was relentless, persistent, and kept pushing. At a point, I asked him, ‘With this kind of private sector energy you’re injecting into governance, are you trying to make Enugu explode?’”
“It was incredible. He was not even waiting for us to come to him. Dr. Peter Mbah was coming to Abuja almost every week to press the button to make sure that a couple of things happened and this (launch of Enugu Air) is just one of them,” he said.
Keyamo commended the state’s choice of XEJet as partner and operator of Enugu Air, describing XEJet as a highly competent and 100 per cent Nigeria-owned key player in the nation’s and Africa’s aviation industry.
“XEJet is not only supporting Enugu Air, it is running the Sierra Leonean National Airline. That is what the Renewed Hope Agenda is all about,” he stated.
The minister dismissed the misgivings over the federal government’s plan to concession the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, AIIA, and lauded Mbah’s strenuous effort to ensure the imminent completion and operationalisation of the airport.
“He also came back to us and said, ‘Look, I want to attract private sector investment into Enugu Airport. I will not wait for bureaucracy to run this airport for the good of the Enugu people. The pace of development is too slow.’
“I said, ‘Your Excellency, just finish the Enugu Air first.’ He said no. As I speak to you, in the next few months and a few years, Enugu Airport will not be what you see here today. The private sector is coming into Enugu Airport, driven by the governor.
“We are running the airport at a loss because we don’t have the drive of the private sector. But Enugu will be a bigger international hub now and we are going to approve regional operations from here to African States. Bring your letter tomorrow we will approve it,” Keyamo stated.
He noted that although he and Governor Mbah belong to different political parties, he could not deny the governor’s impressive performance, adding that it would be difficult to unseat him in any future election.
“Dr. Peter Mbah, you’re in the PDP, but honestly, we’re afraid of you. With the pace you’re setting, we don’t know what will happen. We’re not even sure how to come up with a strategy to defeat you — but rest assured, we’ll be planning,” he said with a mix of humour and admiration.
