● With cutting-edge infrastructure, Ogun International Airport promises to revolutionize commercial travel
● ValueJet launches Abuja route as Ogun positions itself as Nigeria’s emerging aviation hub
Great cities are rarely remembered by the noise of their markets alone but by the gateways they carve to the wider world. For Ogun State, that threshold now gleams in steel and tarmac, a runway stretching into tomorrow’s sky.
The Gateway International Airport at Iperu, a vision once uttered in scepticism, now prepares to thunder with the roar of jet engines and the promise of prosperity.
On October 7, 2025, Ogun’s sky will witness history. The newly minted Gateway International Airport will welcome its first commercial flight, as ValueJet takes off on the Ogun–Abuja route. For Governor Dapo Abiodun, it is more than an inaugural flight. It is proof that vision, when pursued with faith and precision, becomes destiny.
The Gateway International Airport (GIA)’s story began four years ago as a bold promise by Abiodun’s administration to reimagine Ogun’s transport system and industrial capacity. What seemed improbable in its infancy has matured into one of the most advanced aerodromes in West Africa.
With a 4,000-metre-long and 60-metre-wide runway, the airport is among the longest and widest on the continent, ready to host wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A350. Beneath its asphalt lies both impeccable engineering and ambition: a determination that Ogun State should no longer be a passenger in Nigeria’s aviation history but a pilot steering its own trajectory.
The facility bears every hallmark of world-class standards: a Doppler VOR for precision navigation, an independent high-band power system for uninterrupted operations, a state-of-the-art control tower, rescue and firefighting equipment, cargo warehouses, and a modern passenger terminal. It is infrastructure designed to endure and elevate Ogun into global reckoning.
ValueJet will inaugurate GIA with a twice-weekly schedule between Ogun and Abuja. Every Tuesday and Thursday, travelers will depart Iperu at 8:30 a.m., arriving in the nation’s capital at 9:45 a.m. The return journey leaves Abuja at 4:00 p.m., touching down in Ogun by 5:15 p.m.
Tickets went on sale September 25, available through online portals, travel agents, and on-site counters at the airport. It was indeed a symbolic moment: technology and tradition, digital bookings and physical presence, all converging on Ogun’s soil.
For ValueJet, the expansion aligns with its growth philosophy. Its Managing Director, Capt. Omololu Majekodunmi, noted that the Ogun route provides a critical alternative to Lagos and Ibadan, relieving congestion and offering travelers convenience. For Ogun, however, it is a declaration that the state is ready to play host to global travelers, investors, and opportunities.
One other thing GIA has going for it is the advantage of its location.
Few airports can boast of a location so strategically endowed. Nestled near the Sagamu Interchange, at the crossroads of the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, the Gateway International Airport is a hub in waiting. Its catchment area is vast, stretching across Ogun, Lagos, Oyo, and even Ondo States, positioning it as a lifeline for millions of travelers.
More than convenience, it is a corridor for commerce. Cargo destined for West Africa can now find a swift route through Ogun. Traders weary of the bottlenecks of Lagos ports and airports will discover relief. Manufacturers whose goods must move with speed and efficiency will find Ogun’s runway a blessing.
The Ogun State Government describes the launch as a “significant economic breakthrough.” The language may sound official, yet the reality is irrefutable. An airport is a marketplace of futures. It births jobs, attracts industries, feeds tourism, and sustains commerce.
With the commencement of commercial flights, Gateway International Airport is poised to become a fulcrum of Ogun’s industrial renaissance. It complements the state’s burgeoning free trade zones, deepens its magnetism for investors, and expands the geography of opportunity for residents. Already positioned as Nigeria’s industrial hub, Ogun now ties its destiny to the skies.
There is no gainsaying that Governor Abiodun’s fingerprints are visible in every inch of the airport’s story. Critics once doubted the feasibility, citing Nigeria’s turbulent aviation history and the weight of abandoned projects. Yet Abiodun pressed on, framing the airport as a central pillar of his administration’s socio-economic agenda.
His creed was clear: infrastructure is the spine of development. By investing in roads, power, seaports, and now air transport, Ogun would evolve into the state of choice for global investors. The Gateway International Airport is hardly an isolated achievement but part of a wider narrative of deliberate planning and execution.
When commissioned on August 15, 2025, the airport secured its Aerodrome Operational Permit from the NCAA, a feat that signaled readiness for global aviation standards. That permit is now bearing fruit with ValueJet’s entry. The lesson is unmistakable: governance rooted in vision and diligence does not produce abandoned dreams but living monuments.
For the weary traveler, GIA offers a lot more than convenience. It brings dignity back to movement. No longer must residents of Ogun brave Lagos’ snarling traffic or endure the detour to Ibadan just to use an airport. With such modern facility at their doorstep, they can now move swiftly to Abuja, and soon, to other parts of Nigeria and beyond.
For Ogun, the prestige is undeniable. Airports are symbols as much as they are infrastructures. They tell the world that a city or state has arrived, that it is open, prepared, and eager for the currents of global commerce. With every jet that lifts off Iperu’s tarmac, Ogun’s name will be written a little deeper on the map of global mobility.
There is no gainsaying ValueJet’s leadership is bullish about the future. Capt. Majekodunmi has assured travelers of competitive pricing, top-tier safety standards, and dependable services. These commitments are not empty; they are grounded in the airline’s record of steady growth, anchored by customer loyalty and a culture of safety.
Ogun’s Special Adviser on Media, Kayode Akinmade, frames the commencement of operations as a regulatory triumph, proof that the airport has cleared the hurdles of oversight and quality. For the public, these voices amplify confidence, erasing lingering doubts and fanning optimism.
Beyond aviation, the Gateway International Airport is a catalyst for transformation. Tourism will find new wings, as Ogun’s cultural treasures, from Olumo Rock to the ancient towns of Ijebu and Remo, become more accessible to domestic and international visitors. Trade will accelerate, with cargo flows enabling Ogun’s manufacturers to reach wider markets.
The ordinary citizen will feel the impact in more tangible terms: more jobs in aviation services, hospitality, and logistics; better access to opportunities; and a growing sense of pride in belonging to a state that truly pursues and fosters development.
Yet, the Gateway International Airport does not stand alone. It is built into a larger complex of infrastructural ambition. Alongside plans for the Olokola Deep Sea Port, the industrial parks at Sagamu and Agbara, and the expansion of power infrastructure, the airport signals that Ogun is moving in concert with a global rhythm.
Abiodun’s administration has made transport its leitmotif: roads that connect, ports that welcome, and now an airport that links Ogun to the skies. Together, these projects constitute a vision of the state as Nigeria’s undisputed gateway, by land, sea, and now by air.
Airports are often named gateways, yet few truly embody the word. Ogun’s Gateway International Airport is one such rarity. It offers a pathway to the skies even while serving as a portal to prosperity and economic renaissance.
As October 7 approaches, anticipation builds. Travel agents prepare ticket desks, ValueJet primes its fleet, regulators tick final boxes, and the people of Ogun watch the sky with a new kind of expectation. Soon, the silence above Iperu will be broken by the roar of engines, the promise of connectivity, the arrival of a new chapter.
The Gateway International Airport is no ordinary infrastructure project; it is a metaphor for Ogun’s ascent. Thanks to Governor Abiodun. On his watch, Ogun now stands as a lighthouse to Nigeria: an indisputable proof that governance, when married to courage, can build monuments of pride and possibility.
