No Community Should Suffer for National Development

No Community Should Suffer for National Development – Tinubu
Commissions Abuja Airport Access Road
Promises Inclusive Development

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday declared that no Nigerian community should be made to bear the burden of national development without benefiting from its gains.

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Eko Hot Blog reports that the President made the remark while commissioning the seven-kilometre access road linking Bill Clinton Drive to Tungan Madaki Settlement in Abuja, constructed to bypass the proposed second runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

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The project, which also features a four-span bridge, is expected to improve connectivity for residents of Tungan Madaki and neighbouring communities while enhancing security and operational efficiency around the airport’s planned second runway.

Represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu said the road fulfilled a commitment made to communities that ceded their ancestral lands for the construction of the airport’s second runway.

He noted that although the expansion of critical national infrastructure remains necessary for economic growth and national security, host communities should not be left to suffer the consequences of development.

“When it became necessary to construct the second runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, a project vital to our national security and economic expansion, the original inhabitants of this area surrendered their ancestral lands. They sacrificed for the collective good of the nation,” he said.

“Yet, for years, the paradox remained. These patriotic communities gave up land for aeroplanes to fly, yet they had no motorable roads for their own feet and vehicles. They were cut off.

Tinubu Inaugurates Major Abuja Expressway Extension — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

“Let me state this clearly: no citizen should be made a victim of national development.”

Tinubu described the road as more than a transport project, saying it would serve as an economic corridor capable of unlocking opportunities for communities that had remained isolated from Abuja’s economic activities.

According to him, the project will help safeguard aviation infrastructure by reducing local traffic around sensitive airport facilities, ease congestion along Bill Clinton Drive and stimulate economic activities within Tungan Madaki and adjoining settlements.

The President also highlighted the importance of the four-span bridge on the route, noting that it would guarantee all-season access for residents.

Commending the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, for delivering the project within a relatively short period, Tinubu recalled that approval for the road was granted in February 2025 and completed within 16 months.

While acknowledging the economic challenges facing Nigerians, the President defended his administration’s reforms, insisting that the difficult decisions being implemented were necessary to reposition the economy for sustainable growth.

He urged residents to protect the infrastructure by preventing encroachment on the road corridor and avoiding indiscriminate disposal of waste into drainage channels.

Earlier, Wike said the inauguration formed part of activities marking the third anniversary of the Tinubu administration and the seventh day of a 31-day programme dedicated to commissioning completed projects across the FCT.

He described the project as evidence of the administration’s determination to extend development beyond Abuja’s city centre and improve infrastructure in underserved satellite communities.