Abuja—Osubi International Airport in Warri, Delta State has been named after the former military Governor of old Rivers State and Amanyanabo of Twon Brass Kingdom in Bayelsa State, HRM King Alfred Diete-Spiff.
It was gathered that the approval was given last Friday by former President Muhammadu Buhari. This was according to a statement from the Ministry of Aviation signed by the Head of Press and Public Affairs, Odutayo Oluseyi, that 15 airports were renamed after some prominent Nigerians.
Others include Akure International Airport named after Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu; Benin International Airport now known as Oba Akenzua ii; Dutse International Airport renamed Muhammed Nuhu Sanusi; Ebonyi International Airport Okadigbo now known as Chuba Wilberforce; and Gombe International Airport renamed Brigadier Zakari Maimalari.
They also include Ibadan International Airport (Samuel Ladoke Akintola); Ilorin International Airport (General Tunde Abdullahi Idiagbon); Kaduna International Airport (Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina); and Maiduguri International Airport (President Muhammadu Buhari).
Others are Makurdi International Airport renamed after Joseph Sarwuan Tarka; Minna International Airport renamed Mallam Abubakar Imam; Nasarrawa International Airport named after Sheikh Usman Danfodio; Port Harcourt International Airport renamed Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo and Yola International Airport now known as Lamido Aliyu Mustapha Airport.
Meanwhile, the Niger Delta Nonviolence Agitators Forum (NDNAF) has expressed displeasure over the naming of the Port Harcourt International Airport after the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The group said the renaming of the Airport after the late Nigerian politician is an insult to the sensibilities of the people of Rivers State, Niger Delta, and Ijaws in particular.
In a statement signed by its National President, Comrade Wisdom Ikuli on Monday, the group asked why the airport was instead not named after one of the illustrious sons of the Niger Delta such as the late High Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye, Chief Dr. Melford Okilo, Major Isaac Adaka Boro or others.
The Group hence rejected what it termed an insult and urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to correct what it further described as an abnormality; stating that “Yorubas and Northerners will never allow the naming of any state or federal institutions nor monuments that are domiciled in their domains after any Niger Delta hero.”
