The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Olubunmi Kuku, has stated that she will step down when she feels it’s time to leave her position.

Kuku made the remark while answering aviation industry-related questions on Television Continental on Thursday evening.

The FAAN MD, who admitted to stepping on toes and said she would continue to do so carefully, remarked, “If I am tired, I will get out of the job.

“I have stepped on toes and I am still stepping on toes and I know that I need to do that with caution but definitely not at the jeopardy of the airport system.

“If I have to, I will step down, I will resign if I see that it is not working but what is important is to make sure that I do what is right.”

Kuku also addressed the criticism surrounding her statement that N580 billion is needed to repair outdated runways across the country.

She, acknowledging the widespread criticism questioning the need for such a large sum, appealed to those interested in understanding the necessity of the amount to learn more about the costs involved in maintaining aviation infrastructure.

“I would like to clarify two things; First we have a number of runways in Nigeria today, we have mentioned to you that there are 22 airports that are owned by the Federal Government and we also support some that are state-owned.

“I also made specific reference to airports with runways that have exceeded their lifespan. The average lifespan of a runway is about 20-25 years and a lot of our runways in Nigeria have actually exceeded that time. Meaning that we had them for 30 to over 35 years.

“What it means is that we have to reconstruct those runways. The N580bn that I initially mentioned was for over 17 runways and it is not just runways but also includes some perimeter fencing and so on.

“I have seen commentaries where people asked what we would be needing those monies for. Just look it up in Google to understand what it means to build runways, taxi expansion and all that is needed to be done.”

Speaking about her achievements during her first 100 days in office, Kuku highlighted the restoration of order and improved standards at Nigerian aerodromes as one of her top accomplishments in the past 90 days.

“We have spent too much time talking about the decay and it is time for us to start fixing things and that is exactly what we are doing. And what is more critical is the continuity, meaning that wherever we stop, somebody needs to pick that up and that is the biggest challenge that we see. Because we have a new administration we tend not to complete or continue old projects.

“Now to what we are doing; I think what to do is to block some immediate gaps which is what we have done. If you have been a traveller in the last 90 days, you will observe that the airports are cleaner and more friendly in terms of the atmosphere.”