Why Anambra does not need a second airport, By Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu

The decision to proceed with a second airport therefore appears to rest more on aspirational narratives of future industrial agglomeration than on demonstrated current or near-term traffic fundamentals. Even setting that aside, claims that the new facility will create millions of jobs warrant particular caution. Construction phases generate temporary employment, yet permanent operational roles in aviation, ground handling, retail and hospitality tend to be limited in number and often require specialised skills that may not be abundantly available locally in the initial years.

In recent months the government of Anambra State has moved to active construction of what officials describe as a second international airport located in the Ndikelionwu area of Orumba North Local Government Area. The project is presented as an integral component of a larger aerotropolis concept tied to an ambitious mixed-use industrial city master plan. Proponents within the administration argue that the facility will generate millions of jobs, substantially increase internally generated revenue, attract foreign and domestic investments in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and logistics, enhance tourism prospects, elevate property value in surrounding communities and place Anambra firmly on the global aviation map. They further contend that it will deliver balanced regional development by reducing travel burdens for residents and businesses in the southern parts of the state, who currently rely on airports in neighbouring Enugu or Owerri. The vision evokes images of seamless connectivity that would accelerate time-sensitive cargo movement and position the state as a competitive node in national and regional supply chains.

A closer review of operational realities at the existing Chinua Achebe International Airport in Umueri, however, invites serious scrutiny of these projections. Commissioned in December 2021, the facility has now accumulated roughly five years of service. During that period it has handled approximately six hundred thousand passengers and around eight thousand six hundred aircraft movements in total. These aggregate numbers equate to an average of fewer than five flights per day and roughly three hundred and thirty passengers daily across the entire lifespan of the airport. Even allowing for seasonal fluctuations and the gradual build-up typical of new facilities, the sustained level of activity falls well short of what would ordinarily justify the capital and operational commitments associated with a full international gateway. In the broader Nigerian domestic aviation market, where total passenger movements reached approximately thirteen million in the most recent full year reported, the contribution from Anambra remains marginal. Neighbouring facilities such as Asaba have captured greater shares of regional traffic, while established hubs in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt continue to dominate volumes by orders of magnitude.

Moreover, aviation industry patterns across Nigeria and indeed much of sub-Saharan Africa underscore the challenges of sustaining viable operations at secondary airports, without dense origin-destination demand or strong hub-and-spoke integration. Many state-initiated airports commissioned over the past decade-and-a-half have required ongoing public subsidies for maintenance, staffing and security, long after their ribbon-cutting ceremonies. High fixed costs for runways, terminals, navigation aids and safety certification combine with relatively thin passenger and cargo flows to produce chronic under-recovery of expenses. Short-haul routes that might theoretically serve Anambra residents often prove unprofitable for airlines once fuel, crew and airport charges are factored in, especially when improved federal and state road networks already offer competitive travel times to Enugu or Owerri for many origin points. Cargo operations, while conceptually attractive for perishable agricultural produce or high-value manufactures, have similarly failed to scale at Umueri to levels that would signal latent unmet demand sufficient to support an entirely new parallel facility.

The decision to proceed with a second airport therefore appears to rest more on aspirational narratives of future industrial agglomeration than on demonstrated current or near-term traffic fundamentals. Even setting that aside, claims that the new facility will create millions of jobs warrant particular caution. Construction phases generate temporary employment, yet permanent operational roles in aviation, ground handling, retail and hospitality tend to be limited in number and often require specialised skills that may not be abundantly available locally in the initial years. Multiplier effects through supplier chains and induced spending are real but typically far smaller than headline figures suggest, particularly when the core activity itself operates below design capacity. Historical precedents from other Nigerian states that pursued similar prestige infrastructure show that optimistic job forecasts frequently give way to fiscal drag once the initial excitement fades and recurrent costs mount. In the aviation sector globally, secondary airports succeed when they serve genuine catchment areas with high propensity to fly or when they function as efficient cargo gateways backed by established export volumes; neither condition appears robustly established for the proposed Ndikelionwu site at present.

National economic conditions in 2026 further counsel restraint in the allocation of scarce public resources. The federation has recorded GDP growth in the vicinity of four per cent in recent annual periods, a respectable headline performance driven by services, oil and agriculture. Yet, this expansion has not fully translated into broad-based improvements in household purchasing power or fiscal space at subnational levels. Real per capita income growth has remained modest, with many households still recovering from earlier cost-of-living shocks.

Inflation, after receding from peaks above thirty per cent in 2024, settled around twenty-three per cent for 2025, before registering renewed upward pressure to approximately fifteen point nine per cent by May 2026 amid fuel price adjustments linked to global supply disruptions. The persistence of double-digit inflation continues to squeeze real incomes, elevate the cost of imported inputs for construction and aviation, and intensify competition for budgetary resources between capital projects and recurrent obligations such as salaries, pensions and basic service delivery.

Public debt, though moderated relative to GDP in some recent assessments, still absorbs a significant portion of revenues in servicing costs, while fiscal deficits hover around two to three per cent of GDP. States depend heavily on monthly federation account allocations that remain sensitive to oil output volatility and national revenue performance. In such an environment, every major capital commitment carries an opportunity cost measured in foregone investments elsewhere, particularly when those commitments involve long-gestation assets whose utilisation depends on broader economic momentum that has yet to materialise in the aviation segment.

Anambra itself has registered visible progress in several categories of physical infrastructure under the present administration, most notably an expanded network of roads that has improved intra-state and inter-state mobility. These gains deserve systematic consolidation through timely maintenance regimes, drainage upgrades, and integration with other transport modes rather than dilution across multiple mega-projects. The existing airport at Umueri, despite its modest utilisation, represents sunk capital that could yet yield higher returns if paired with targeted interventions such as airline route development incentives, public-private operational partnerships, improved last-mile connectivity, and coordinated marketing of the state as a destination for both passengers and cargo. Duplicating runway and terminal capacity without first exhausting the productive potential of the current asset risks locking resources into parallel underperforming infrastructure at the very moment when more granular, people-centered investments could deliver quicker and more widely distributed dividends.

Nowhere is the case for re-prioritisation more compelling than in the domain of housing. The major population and economic centres of Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi have experienced sustained pressure on residential accommodation arising from urbanisation, internal migration, commercial vibrancy and limited formal supply. Rents have risen persistently, consuming larger shares of household budgets for both salaried employees in public and private establishments and, perhaps more acutely, for the self-employed traders, artisans, transporters and small-scale manufacturers who form the backbone of Onitsha and Nnewi markets. For these self-employed operators, high and unpredictable rents directly erode working capital, limit inventory investment and constrain the ability to weather business cycles or expand into new product lines.

Employed residents similarly face difficult trade-offs between housing quality, proximity to workplaces and family welfare, often resulting in long commutes or overcrowded conditions that affect productivity and social cohesion. Elevated housing costs therefore reduce discretionary income available for business expansion, education, healthcare and savings, thereby dampening the very entrepreneurial energy and human capital development that have historically distinguished these communities. A comprehensive, historic housing initiative structured around genuine public-private partnerships could address this constraint directly and at scale while generating visible, daily improvements in living standards across income segments.

Such a scheme would involve the state government making strategic contributions of land banks, expedited approvals, infrastructure trunking and perhaps targeted fiscal incentives while inviting credible private developers and financiers to design, build, finance and manage mixed-income estates that meet modern standards of construction quality, sanitation, security and green space. Delivery could encompass a spectrum of unit types from starter homes for young families and lower-income workers to mid-market apartments and limited high-end options that cross-subsidise affordability components. Because construction is inherently labour-intensive and draws on local supply chains for materials, skilled trades and professional services, the employment and economic stimulus effects would be immediate, geographically dispersed across the three urban nodes, and more inclusive than those associated with specialised aviation infrastructure.

Artisans and small contractors in Anambra would find sustained work, while suppliers of cement, roofing, electrical fittings and sanitary ware would experience increased turnover that circulates within the local economy. Over time the estates would expand the property tax base, formalise parts of the rental market through regulated agreements, reduce urban sprawl pressures by concentrating development in serviced locations, and contribute to improved public health outcomes through better-planned neighbourhoods with reliable water, waste management and recreational spaces. The multiplier from such activity typically exceeds that of aviation projects because housing demand is constant and less cyclical than discretionary air travel, thereby ensuring steadier returns on invested capital for both public and private partners.

The contrast in risk profiles between the two approaches is instructive. A second airport entails concentrated, high-value capital outlay on a single site whose revenue model depends on sustained growth in air travel demand that current statistics do not yet evidence. It also carries governance complexities illustrated by recent protests from farming communities in Iwolo and Omogho over land acquisition processes and compensation adequacy. Such disputes can generate litigation, implementation delays, cost escalations and erosion of public trust. A well-structured housing partnership programme, by contrast, distributes activity across multiple sites and multiple private actors, incorporates market discipline through developer profitability requirements, and engages communities as stakeholders rather than solely as project-affected persons. International and domestic experience with public-private housing models demonstrates that, when properly governed, they can mobilize private capital at multiples of public seed funding while delivering units at pace and quality levels that pure public procurement often struggles to match.

Furthermore, the housing agenda aligns closely with the broader national imperative to accelerate inclusive growth and strengthen household resilience. With poverty levels remaining elevated and real per capita income growth modest, interventions that directly lower the cost of living for working families and micro-entrepreneurs yield high social returns. Reduced rent burdens free resources for productive investment and consumption, supporting the very domestic demand that underpins services and small business sectors. In commercial hubs such as Onitsha and Nnewi, affordable, quality housing also enhances labor retention and productivity, making the state more attractive to the skilled personnel required for industrial and logistics ambitions.

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Leadership at moments of fiscal and economic constraint is defined less by the number of signature projects announced than by the wisdom of choosing those investments whose benefits are broadly shared, whose risks are well understood and whose opportunity costs are explicitly weighed. Anambra possesses dynamic commercial centers, improving road connectivity and a population renowned for enterprise. These assets can be leveraged more effectively through disciplined optimisation of existing infrastructure and bold, practical action on housing affordability than through the premature addition of another airport whose traffic fundamentals echo the modest utilisation already observed at Umueri.

By redirecting attention and capital toward a historic, partnership-driven housing programme in the state’s principal communities, the government would address a tangible daily pressure on residents, stimulate widespread economic activity and lay foundations for more resilient, inclusive urban growth. Such a course would demonstrate prudent stewardship, align expenditure with evident need and ultimately strengthen the social and economic fabric of Anambra in ways that a second airport, however grand its stated ambitions, has yet to demonstrate it can match.

Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu, an indigene of Nnewi, Anambra State, writes from Abuja, Nigeria. He can be contacted via [email protected].