UNGA78: Adeleke’s Wife Woos FG To Build Airport In Osogbo

• Yusuf Oketola

The wife of Osun State Governor, Ngozi Adeleke, has wooed the Federal Government to construct an airport in Osogbo, the state capital, saying the project is important for the quick social and economic growth of the state.

Mrs Adeleke made the request when she met with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on Friday in New York, just before the commencement of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

She told reporters that she was in New York for an investment drive for the state and had been privileged to meet important stakeholders and organisations, who pledged to work with Osun State, particularly on issues affecting women and children.

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The Governor’s wife said she told the aviation minister that, “Siting an airport in Oshogbo will not be a very bad idea since we don’t have an airport. And he too has promised.”

Regarding the possible investors, she said that she had developed an excellent rapport with them and between them and the governor, Ademola Adeleke.

“I have established contact with them. I believe it will help my state along the way because I intend to create good relationships even between me and them and between them and my husband as well,” she said, adding: “And then, all other investors from other African countries and even New York that were there, I appealed to their emotions about my state to have come and do business and invest in my state, Osun.”

She said that as a former bank marketer, she was able to convince investors to pursue their discussions with Osun State. She added that in addition to urging foreign investors at this year’s UNGA, she also urged other ministers to consider Osun State for the establishment of federal projects.

In response to a question on the state’s investment chances, she said there are countless possibilities, especially given the infrastructure that her husband’s administration has already built, she said: “You can do agriculture in Osun, you can do tourism in Osun, Osun is very huge in mining and education; we are there in infrastructure. So many things, it is not only one thing. There is nothing you cannot do in Osun. Osun is a fertile land waiting for investors to come and cultivate.

“Now, the government of my husband, Senator Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke has had investors in his mind from day one. And what did he do in the very first six months of his administration? He fixed all the roads in and out of Osun so that any investor coming into Osun to invest will not find it difficult to operate in Osun.

“He fixed electricity. Right now, electricity is regular. He fixed water. All the 33 local governments in Osun State, he dug boreholes for them.

“Security wise, Osun State is now top notch such that you cannot come into Osun to invest and you will say your life is being threatened. It doesn’t happen.

“Security in Osun is something else. So, he had investors in his mind and needed all of this in order to make sure that any investor coming in will have an enabling environment to operate. Any investor coming into Osun State today has nothing to regret.”