A United States-based Nigerian, Ikhide R. Ikheloa, has condemned the condition of Benin Airport in Edo State, describing the state of its facilities as embarrassing.
Ikheloa, who travelled from Lagos to Ewu in Esan Central Local Government Area, raised concerns about the condition of the airport in a Facebook post, particularly the state of its bathrooms.
“I would be too embarrassed to invite anyone to this planet,” he wrote while expressing his displeasure over the state of the facility.
He added: “You can tell the state of a nation by the state of its airports’ bathrooms.”
Ikheloa also criticised the condition of the road from Benin City to Ewu, recounting what he described as a difficult journey through heavy rain and badly deteriorated roads.
According to him, a journey that previously took about 45 minutes from Benin City to Ewu took him five hours during the trip.
“Just returned from a harrowing trip to Ewu from Lagos. Got into Ewu on Friday, fled Ewu on Saturday. It was mildly terrifying, the trip,” he said.
Ikheloa said the journey from Benin City to Ewu was made particularly difficult by heavy rain and what he described as tortuous side roads.
“From Benin to Ewu used to take 45 minutes leisurely driving, took 5 hours driving in the blinding rain, through tortuous side ‘roads’ that looked like they had been fashioned with cutlasses and hoes by subsistence farmers,” he wrote.
He further described the main road from Benin City to Esanland as being in a deplorable condition, saying it had become a shadow of what it once was.
He noted that the journey had become a severe test for motorists, adding that his Ford F-150 truck, which he described as a rugged vehicle built for difficult roads, was put through its paces during the trip.
Ikheloa, however, ended his post with a political jab at the Edo State Government, joking that he had applied to become Governor Monday Okpebholo’s “hype man”.
He wrote: “Anyway, nor mind the haters, I have applied to be Governor Okpebholo’s hype man. The current hype man will need help to lie to the masses that there is actually a functioning government in Edo State.”
Ikheloa also compared the current administration with the immediate past government led by former Governor Godwin Obaseki, adding: “He is still better than Obaseki!”
Watch Video:
