Williams Attah
6 November 2008
Gombe — Gombe, the Gombe State capital is agog as Nigeria's 2008 Amirul Hajj and Speaker of House of Representatives, Honourable Oladimeji Bankole, Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar, Secretary General of Islamic Affairs in Nigeria Alhaji Aresekola Alao and many other top government functionaries are billed to be in Gombe today for the historic launch of the first airlift of this year's Muslim Pilgrims at the new Gombe International Airport.
Daily Champion reports that there has been high expectations and excitement since last Monday afternoon, when a large crowd of the residents of the state capital and surrounding villages trooped to the airport to have a glimpse of the first Boeing 747 aircraft from Kabo Airline which landed at the airport on a test flight of the facilities at the airport.
The large crowd, including Governor Mohammed Danjuma Goje couldn't hide their excitement when the aircraft landed at the airport around 12 noon on Monday as they shouted in celebration of a new airport and the assurance that the pilgrims from the state would be airlifted from the airport.
Attention in the last couple of weeks in the aviation industry in the country had shifted to Gombe International Airport as many of the aviation bodies, NCAA, NAMA and FAAN had at different times inspected facilities at the airport where they all gave it a clean bill of health to start flight operation.
Other bodies that visited the airport and the hajj camp to appraise its readiness for the airlift, included the National Hajj Commission led by its Director of Operations, Dr. Badmus Yusuf.
The airport project which was started in 2004 and commenced operations with smaller flights in 2005, has gulped the state government about seven billion naira, according to the State Commissioner for Works, Professor Istifanus Williams. The flight operations had to be stopped in 2007 to allow for the upgrading of facilities at the airport.
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