President Bola Tinubu has approved the renaming of the Port-Harcourt International Airport after former Premier of the old Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
The president also renamed the newly constructed Ebonyi State Airport after the former President of the 8th Nigerian Senate, the late Dr Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo.
Thirteen other airports were renamed after several Nigerians, according to a memo from by the Federal Ministry of Aviation dated June 1, 2023, and signed by Mrs Joke Olatunji for the Director of Airport Operations.
The renaming of the airports, according to the memo was part of the President Tinubu’s “reforms of the Aviation sector”.
According to the memo, the Maiduguri Airport was renamed after the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, while the Nasarawa Airport immortalised the late founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, Usman Dan Fodio.
The Benin Airport was renamed after the late Oba of Benin, Oba Akenzua II, and the Ibadan Airport was renamed after the late Premier of the old Western Region, Ladoke Akintola.
“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; Nasarawa Airport – Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio; Osubi Airport – Alfred Diete Spiff; Port Harcourt Airport – Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo; Yola Airport – Lamido Aliyu Mustapha.”
