The Federal Government on Tuesday declared that it would double the number of airports across Nigeria by 2023.

Nigeria has about 31 airports currently. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria operates 26 of the facilities, while others are largely run by states.

Responding to a question on airports which the government intends to develop in 2021 as captured in the budget of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said a lot of work would be done across airports in Nigeria.

He disclosed this at the Abuja headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Finance during the presentation of the 2021 budget.

Sirika said, “Since this administration came in, we drew our roadmap in trying to improve on civil aviation and transportation in general. We understood the importance of air connectivity.

“So we believe investment in this sector will do very well for our economy. Before the end of 2023, we would have doubled the number of airports in Nigeria.”

He added, “We have a saying that one-mile-long road leads to nowhere, but one-mile-long runway leads to everywhere.

“We understand the importance of aviation infrastructure as a critical component for the working of our economy and they are also national security assets.”

The minister said airports were being built in various locations in Nigeria and that more were in the works.

“So, all over the place, airports are being built in Nigeria which is a sign of growth for us,” Sirika added.