Joe Igbokwe
An All Progressives Congress (APC) party leader, Joe Igbokwe, deploys varieties of cheering photographs on Facebook claiming they are that of the recently reopened Akanu Ibiam Airport in Enugu state.
The Facebook pictures are mostly misleading because many of them are those of other airports, rather than the just reopened Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.
Full Text
The Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu State, which was closed down for repairs in August last year, was reopened on August 30th with the minister of aviation, Hadi Sirka, and several dignitaries in attendance to certify the airport satisfactory to commence operations.
The aviation boss stated that the airport was certified to commence local flights while international flights will only resume on the 5th of September.
Several reports highlighted the uncompleted state of some sections of the airport which suggested they are still undergoing construction.
However, several images have been paraded on social media, all claiming to be the new state of the Akanu Ibiam Airport.
A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Joe Igbokwe, made a splash of pictures purportedly of the airport on his Facebook post, where he used these pictures to compare the immediate past administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan with the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. His ‘pic 1’ portrays the state of the airport under Jonathan’s administration while pics 2 to 5 depict the state of the same airport under Buhari.
In the post, which garnered over 80 shares and 139 likes within few hours of going live, Igbokwe listed names of some officials in the Jonathan and Buhari’s governments and then wrote:
Sixty years after independence, provision of basic amenities like this airport should not be a key performance index for leaders…But rate the two teams yourself and tell us who failed and who is succeeding…Tell us who is your true friend and who is your enemy?
Tell us which of the two teams should be called OHANEZE NDIGBO CLASSICALS!
Verification
A google reverse image search of all the photographs reveal very dramatic representations. Whereas pic 1 is truly that of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, pics 2 and pic 3 are not. They are images of the Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano https://www.faan.gov.ng/mallam-aminu-kano-international-airport/
The search also revealed pic 5 as that of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, in Abuja. Search for pic 6 returned no results as the origin could not be traced. The search also traced pic 4 back to several reports and blog posts that have used the same image referring to it as the Akanu Ibiam Airport. However, we couldn’t ascertain the location of the image.
Conclusion
The Facebook post is misleading as most of the pictures used to depict the just reopened Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu are of other airports.
The researcher produced this fact-check per the Dubawa 2020 Fellowship partnership with Sparkling 92.3 FM to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
WHEN I READ THE COMMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE “OPENING OF AKANU IBIAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,” ESPECIALLY THE DEMAND BY ARTHUR EZE THAT A DELEGATION OF SOUTHERN EASTERN GOVERNORS AND OTHERS SHOULD TRAVEL TO ABUJA TO THANK BUHARI FOR “BUILDING” THE AIRPORT I KNEW THINGS HAVE REALLY FALLEN APART. THE AIRPORT IS NOT EVEN FINISHED. THERE ARE ABOUT SEVEN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS IN THE NORTHERN NIGERIA AND THEY DONT EVEN TALK ABOUT THEM; JUST BUSINESS AS USUALLY.
CONTRACTORS LIKE ARTHUR EZE AND JOE IGBOKWE ARE INTERESTED IN POLITICS AND WHAT THEY CAN GET OUT IT, IGNORING THE FACT THAT TRAVELERS WITHIN THE FIVE SOUTHEASTERN STATES HAVE SUFFERED FOR YEARS WITHOUT A “PROPER” AIRPORT.
I CRY FOR MY IGBO BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND THEIR CHILDREN. THIS PRESENT GENERATION OF IGBOS ARE SIMPLE SUCKERS, NOT PREPARED TO EVEN OWN THEMSELVES BECAUSE OF “FEDERAL CONTRACTS.” SHAME, SHAME, SHAME TO YOU. SEE AMOTEKUN GOING STRONG AND SECURING ITS PEOPLE, WHILE YOUR LITTLE LAND IS BEING OVERRAN BY HERDSMEN YOU ARE SPONSORING.