The removal of the fuel subsidy has enabled the Federal Government to raise about $500m for the reconstruction of the Lagos airport and other aviation infrastructure, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said.
He disclosed this on Monday in Lagos while speaking at the 67th anniversary of Aero Contractors Airline, where he highlighted the investments made in the aviation sector under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
According to Keyamo, the funds were not obtained through borrowing, but became available as the country’s liquidity and foreign reserves improved under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
The minister was responding to a question from the Managing Director of Aero Contractors on the state of the aviation industry under the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Keyamo said the government’s ability to undertake major infrastructure projects was linked to the economic changes following the removal of the fuel subsidy.
He said: “Let’s be honest. Forget about what the politicians are saying. You know, we are all politicians. But I am saying, in actual fact, that is what happened.
“The President raised $500m to rebuild the Lagos airport. Not money borrowed, because we were able to do what we should do. Our liquidity rose. Our foreign reserves also rose from $3bn to $56bn now.
“And investors are rushing into the country because they now see the country as viable.”
Responding to concerns over the relevance of foreign reserves to Nigerians facing economic hardship, he said, “People say, ‘What will foreign reserves do for the economy? People are hungry.’ You know, this is the cheap talk they engage in to play on cheap sentiment.
“They will say people are dying and so on. All those things they are saying are cheap blackmail.”
Keyamo said the government’s priority should be to create conditions capable of attracting investors into the country, arguing that foreign investment would bring capital, infrastructure and employment opportunities.
Questioning the calls for the suspension of the subsidy removal, the minister said, “Tell me, what exactly will bring investors? What will bring jobs? Tell me.
“It is when foreign investors see that you are healthy, your economy is healthy, and your foreign reserves are healthy that they will come into the country. They will build infrastructure, they will bring in money, and they will bring jobs.
“And that is what brings jobs. That is what creates jobs.”
He argued that employment could not be created through government pronouncements alone, stressing that sustainable job creation depended largely on infrastructure development and private investment.
“Jobs don’t fall from heaven, jobs come as a result of either the infrastructure you are building or investments. That is how jobs are created,” he said.
