Nigerian Pilot Faults Dapo Abiodun’s $800M Gateway International Agro-Cargo Airport, Says Runway Undulates

Her remarks strike at the heart and indict one of Governor Dapo Abiodun’s most celebrated flagship projects, a facility that reporting around its launch placed at a capital expenditure of $800 million, though the Ogun State government has not published a fully audited cost figure or any independently verified financial breakdown.

Captain Ekpoh made her observations as part of a broader personal series in which she has been documenting her firsthand experience flying into Nigerian airports that most citizens never knew existed. The Gateway Airport, which received its Interim Aerodrome Operational Permit from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in August 2025 and commenced commercial operations in October of the same year, was among the facilities she assessed.

More pointedly, Captain Ekpoh said the airport shatters your confidence as a pilot. That is not the language of mild professional dissatisfaction. That is a trained aviation professional describing infrastructure that falls demonstrably short of the standard it was certified to meet.