President Bola Tinubu has commissioned an access road bypassing the second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, linking Clinton Drive to the Tunganmadaki settlement in the FCT, declaring that no Nigerian should be made a victim of national development and that communities which give up land and livelihoods for infrastructure projects must receive adequate compensation and connectivity in return.
Represented at the commissioning by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu said the road fulfilled a commitment to communities whose ancestral lands had been acquired for the airport’s second runway but who had been left without motorable roads for years after the land was taken. He said when FCT Minister Nyesom Wike brought the situation to his attention, his directive was that whatever the communities required to make their lives whole should be provided without conditions.
Wike said the Tunganmadaki community had demonstrated exemplary cooperation during the land acquisition exercise, choosing to ask for employment opportunities and infrastructure rather than monetary compensation. He said the federal government’s response had rebuilt the community’s confidence in public institutions and said other communities facing similar situations should learn from that approach.
Tinubu acknowledged the economic difficulties confronting many Nigerians and said the reforms his administration had implemented from 2023 onward were difficult but necessary choices that would produce a stronger Nigeria in future. He appealed for continued public support and said the government was building not for headlines but for generations.
