I try not to get involved with conversations around Kogi State politics because engagements are usually puerile and framed from a crude we vs them perspective. Most times, I find such debates a waste of my time.
However, I have found myself genuinely intrigued by the arguments around the viability, or otherwise, of a proposed airport in Kogi State, and I want to share my thoughts.
Firstly, I do hope that the proposed airport will be situated around Lokoja and easily accessible from the highway. Now that we have that out of the way, you know where I stand.
I actually look forward to an airport in the state because, unlike other states often cited as examples of airports being bad decisions, I do not believe Kogi falls into that category.
In November, I missed honouring an invitation back home to a funeral because I was in Lagos. Travelling to Ogori would have meant many hours by road, enduring bad stretches at several points, or flying to Abuja and then travelling another four hours by road, again through bad sections. I had only four days and realised the stress, cost, and physical toll would be too much. I ended up not travelling at all.
In December, my older brother travelled home for Christmas from Port Harcourt. His initial plan was to fly into Abuja and continue by road. However, when he started reading reports of people sleeping on the road due to severe congestion, he abandoned that plan. Instead, he flew from Port Harcourt to Lagos and then travelled by road to Ogori. Did a reverse on his return journey – travelled by road to Lagos then flew to PH. Meanwhile, we have an old mother at home we would have loved to see more frequently.
These are two real scenarios that just two direct flights could have resolved. And they are only two of many.
And this is where I differ from many critics. Most arguments against a Kogi airport are ideological, not practical. They assume that because Kogi is not a major tourist destination, it automatically lacks demand. That assumption ignores the real nature of the state.
Kogi is not a destination state, it is a transit state. Lokoja sits at the confluence of Nigeria’s major corridors, linking North to South, East to West, Abuja to Lagos, and several other critical routes. This makes Kogi a logistics and movement hub, not merely a leisure location. An airport here would serve business travellers, government officials, NGOs, development partners, investors, and a vast diaspora population that currently struggles to access home efficiently.
People often say, “Just fly to Abuja.” On paper, that sounds logical. In reality, Abuja to most parts of Kogi is between four and six hours by road, often on poor or congested routes. So what is presented as a solution is really just a compromise: fly, then suffer. That is not transport planning, that is transport endurance.
Kogi also has a massive diaspora challenge, not in population but in accessibility. Many Kogites visit home infrequently, avoid hosting events, hesitate to invest, and postpone community engagement simply because getting home is physically exhausting. Infrastructure shapes behaviour. When access is difficult, emotional and economic distance grows. An airport changes frequency of visits, speed of emergency travel, corporate presence, and willingness to commit resources to the state.
Beyond passenger convenience, airports are not only about people. They are critical for cargo, medical evacuations, security operations, disaster response, election logistics, and government mobility. Kogi is agric-heavy and rich in solid minerals. Over time, air cargo alone provides a strong justification, especially for perishable goods, high-value minerals, and rapid institutional deployment.
Geographically, Kogi is large, elongated, and internally fragmented, with difficult terrain in parts. Relying on road transport alone in such a state is outdated thinking. Modern development is built on multimodal systems: road, rail, and air. That is not extravagance, it is resilience.
There is also a political economy dimension we rarely acknowledge. Federal presence, investor attention, and corporate interest tend to follow infrastructure signals. An airport places Kogi on national aviation maps, attracts federal agencies, stimulates hotel development, encourages conferences, and raises real estate value. It becomes a psychological and economic upgrade of the state.
The real question, therefore, is not whether Kogi “deserves” an airport. The real question is whether Kogi wants to remain a pass-through state or become a stopover state.
An airport is how you move from being a place people merely drive through to a place people actually land in.
My personal experiences already demonstrate the use case: missed funerals, abandoned trips, multi-leg journeys, emotional and financial costs. Multiply that by thousands of people across 21 local governments, federal institutions, NGOs, security agencies, and agribusiness operators. And you realize it is no longer a luxury project. It becomes a mobility correction.
Kogi does not need an airport because it is flashy. Kogi needs an airport because it is structurally inconvenient as it is. And in development planning, where people can land often determines where development actually stays.
– Petra Akinti Onyegbule, a former CPS to Kogi State Governor, writes from Abuja.
