EWU–AGBEDE: EDO STATE’S NEXT GROWTH POLE

By Saintmoses Eromosele (SME)

Edo State has reached a moment that demands honest reflection. Benin City, the heart of Edo South, and capital of Edo State, has grown into a true metropolitan centre—a city of culture, commerce, and opportunity. But Edo Central and Edo North have not enjoyed the same trajectory. Their growth has been uneven, hesitant, and constrained, not for lack of people or enterprise, but for lack of catalytic infrastructure. Roads, schools, and markets matter, but they do not create metropolitan momentum on their own. Something more decisive is required.

An *Edo International Airport, Ewu–Agbede,* together with a properly gazetted and planned *Ewu–Agbede City,* offers that decisive shift. Sitting naturally on the *Edo South and Edo North borderlands;* between *Ewu in Edo Central* and *Agbede in Edo North,* this proposal is not an abstract ambition. If adopted and executed, it becomes a practical engine of growth— *an airport that births a city, and a city that sustains an economy.* It means jobs, investment, housing, services, and order, growing deliberately rather than by accident.

The question often asked is whether such a project is necessary or viable. The answer lies already on the ground. Edo Central and Edo North host real industries and institutions whose daily operations are slowed by distance and inefficiency. Quarrying and mining activities around Okpilla *move heavy materials across long routes.* Health services anchored by Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital depend on *timely movement of specialists, equipment, and emergency supplies.* Academic work at Ambrose Alli University requires *constant travel for research, conferences, and collaboration.* Agro-industrial players such as the Ewu flour mills operate within *national and regional supply chains where cargo time and cost matter.* Across farms, clinics, and *production sites, workers move slowly because infrastructure is distant.* A cargo-capable airport within this corridor does not invent demand; it responds to demand that already exists.

There is also the human question of *dignity and access*. It is unreasonable that people in Edo Central and Edo North must routinely travel over a hundred kilometres to Benin City just to catch a short flight to Abuja or Lagos. It says something is out of balance when leaders such as Adams Oshiomhole from Etsako West or Oserhiemen Osunbor from Esan West must first endure long road journeys before accessing air travel. What is inconvenient for leaders is far more burdensome for businesspeople, academics, medical professionals, farmers, and young people. *Edo Central and Edo North deserve proximity to aviation infrastructure*, not perpetual detours.

This is why the project must be understood correctly. It is not for Ewu and Agbede alone. *Ewu stands in for Edo Central; Agbede stands in for Edo North.* Their development lifts the entire state. *Naming the facility “Edo International Airport, Ewu–Agbede” matters* because it affirms ownership by all Edo people while respecting the historic weight of the name Edo, rooted in Edo South. It is inclusion without erasure, unity without rivalry.

When Edo Central and Edo North begin to urbanise properly, *pressure on Benin City will ease.* Congestion, crime, and urban decay do not disappear by force; they reduce when opportunity spreads. Over time, Edo State can grow into a connected, multi-hub metropolitan system—North, Central, and South reinforcing one another—much like Lagos State today, where urban continuity makes boundaries almost invisible.

This outcome is not utopian. It rests on disciplined planning, statutory clarity, and strategic public-private partnerships. Communities gain equity and infrastructure, investors gain certainty, and the state gains a legacy asset that outlives administrations.

Edo State has the rare chance to choose foresight over delay. Opening structured conversations around the Edo International Airport, Ewu–Agbede, and the Ewu–Agbede City project is not a commitment to build tomorrow, but a commitment to think seriously today.

Having studied, lived, and worked across multiple regions, I bring a grounded understanding of how infrastructure shapes destiny. Ewu–Agbede is not merely an airport or a city. It is Edo State deciding to grow as one.

_*Saintmoses Eromosele (SME)* writes from his Cassava farm in Ewu and Eidenu – talktosme@gmail.com_