The first international flight to land in the international wing of the Victor Attah International Airport, VAIA, in Uyo, took place at 16:04 hours, Sunday, May 3, 2026.
The airline was Ibom Air. The pilot was Captain Abdulkarim Abubakar and the co-pilot was EwongoAbasi Esara, one of the pilots trained by Akwa Ibom State Government in France.
Only the previous day, Saturday, May 2, 2026, the nose of the Airbus 200-300 series, belonging to Ibom Air, had hit the fresh air space over Akwa Ibom State at precisely 15:17 hours, to go on record as the first time in history any aircraft had taken off from the pristine international wing of the VAIA.
The history-making pilot was not the same as the one who piloted the aircraft back on the return flight from Accra, Ghana. The very first pilot to lift an aircraft out of the hi-tech VAIA, on Saturday, May 2, 2026, was Captain Oluwakunmi Toyinbo and his co-pilot was Usman Abdullahi. The three cabin crew members were the same, to-and-fro: Helen Udeme Jacob, Abigail Udoh and Comfort Iniama.
Inside the aircraft, code-named Flight Q1640, were 64 elite passengers mostly made up of the crème de la crème of Akwa Ibom State along with Aviation kingpins and journalists. At the top of the flight manifest, occupying the premium front seats were Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State and Festus Keyamo, SAN, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development.
About 10 minutes after landing back in Uyo and going through the Immigrations and Customs checks, the history-making passengers walked (as my village people would say) ‘majestically’ into the expansive and palatial International arrivals hall, beaming with toothpaste smiles, as if they were the crew of ARTEMIS II returning from the backside of the moon.
The applause from the waiting crowd was deafening. No doubt about it: they all made history in their own respective ways.
Governor Eno, the man with a midas touch, who carries the oil of a finisher’s anointing, walked into the hall at last, surrounded by aides. He went straight to the microphone, spoke so eloquently about the memorable event and its implications for Akwa Ibom economy [see back page] . Repeatedly, he precipitated multiple rounds of applause and ovations.
There is a debate in the Aviation world about the first airport in the world. Some say it was the Pearson Air Field in Washington constructed in 1905 by Captain John Pearson, a pioneer military aviator in the US. Others say the first airport in the world is the College Park Airport in Maryland, USA, built by the Wright Brothers in 1909 which is still in use today.
However, there is no debate or controversy about the first airport in Akwa Ibom State and who initiated it. This airport was the brainchild of Governor Victor Attah, the second civilian governor of Akwa Ibom in 2006.
I wished I could speak with the legendary Governor Attah himself at this juncture of the airport’s history. He was out of the country, close aides told me.
But I spoke with Captain Mfon Udom, an eyewitness and pioneer of Akwa Ibom Aviation history. He was the Technical Adviser to Governor Attah on the Airport. He was also the pioneer CEO and the incumbent Chairman of Ibom Air. He told me Governor Attah was a man with a deep sense of vision and direction for the future of Akwa Ibom State. And against all odds including criticisms by naysayers, Attah got the Airport project off the ground.
Udeme Nnana, who was the Director of Press Affairs to Attah told me also that a discrete study conducted by Governor Attah at that time showed that 70 percent of travellers through the neighbouring airport of a sister-state in Calabar, were from Akwa Ibom State. Thereafter, the big man hit the table and put in motion a technical committee led by Captain Udom, to search for a suitable land and design the airport. It was a very humble beginning.
But last week, precisely on Saturday, May 2, 2026, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development in Nigeria, Festus Keyamo, SAN, stood tall, before a national audience on live TV and declared VAIA as the very best Airport in Nigeria. To quote him: “This Airport is not only the best in Nigeria as many people have said, it is the only one we have in its class in Nigeria. It’s the only one. There is no basis for comparison of this airport with other airports in Nigeria because there is no other. It’s the only one. This is huge. It is a pacesetter”.
Attah was a man of strong conviction and unshakable will power. In fact, that’s the meaning of his name, Attah. Once he has made up his mind on any issue, his mind is made up. By the sheer finger of God, Attah was lucky to be succeeded back-to-back by a generation of big thinkers and big doers. From Governor Godswill Akpabio through to Governor Udom Emmanuel and Governor Eno, there has been ‘no feeble one’, to borrow a Biblical phrase, in Akwa Ibom State Government House since 1999.
I wrote extensively about the secrets of Akwa Ibom successes a few weeks ago for THISDAY NEWSPAPERS in an Op-ed I titled WHY AKWA IBOM IS WORKING. The secret is hidden in the realisation and conviction that good, people-driven governance is a continuum.
In this edition of ARISE PROJECTS IMPACT, you will discover virtually on every page how quality leadership recruitment, a deep sense of relay-race and continuity by successive leadership, have turned a hitherto backdoor State into a standout subnational in Nigeria.
Sit back and enjoy the snippets of Akwa Ibom Aviation adventure.
To quote Governor Eno: “AKWA IBOM IS RISING”.
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