August 31, 2026
By Dele Abiodun
For decades, public-private partnerships in Nigeria have carried the weight of a familiar national frustration: grand announcements, elaborate ceremonies, signed agreements, and then, too often, little else.
That pattern may finally be changing. The concession of Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, offers perhaps the clearest illustration yet of what can happen when political commitment, regulatory discipline and private-sector confidence converge. More importantly, it provides a useful test of whether Nigeria is beginning to build a PPP culture in which projects are not merely conceived and contracted, but actually delivered.
Enugu was once considered a difficult proposition for private investors. When the Federal Government initially advertised airports for concession, including Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu, investor appetite was concentrated elsewhere. Enugu was regarded as commercially unviable.
