Again, workers in the aviation industry have rejected the plan by the federal government to concession Nigeria’s major airports, starting with the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The workers insist that government is not sincere with the process and aims to sell the facilities in a self-serving transaction that would not meet the target objective for the concession, which is private investor funding and management of the facilities.
The workers under the aegis of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) have given the federal government 15 days to jettison the planned concession of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos and three other major airports in the country and also disband the Transactional Advisors meant to concession the airports.
The workers threatened to paralyse the aviation industry indefinitely if the federal government continues with the planned concession, which they insisted was insincere and self serving.
Speaking in a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, the General Secretary of NUATE, Olayinka Abioye alleged that the federal government through planned concession wants to sell the nation’s airports to already designated companies without open bidding or transparent process.
The workers said that there is alternative and more workable solution to the management of the airports, adding that the planned concession under the Public, Private Partnership (PPP) cannot work under the insincere disposition of successive governments that has not shown commitment and sincerity in the management of airport facilities.
The workers said that a more workable alternative should be the comercialisation of FAAN, noting that the agency has not been able to meet the expectations of Nigerians because of government’s interference and erosion of its activities of through policy summersault.
“Nigerian aviation workers have critically analysed the PPP concept as a veritable vehicle to drive the process of engendering revenue growth, quality service delivery and maintenance of facilities, infrastructures and returns on investment and accepted its workability, if driven with good intentions and in a transparent manner.
“Unfortunately for us and given the penchant with which our political class makes pronouncements without deep thoughts, we became deeply worried and hugely concerned about the haste, hush-hush and secret disposition of the Minister in actualizing this contraption without following due diligence as practiced worldwide while we have also observed with grave concern, the deceit and coercion that goes with the current process of concessions, that is lacking in transparency which is hugely required at this moment,” Abioye said.
He said that although many believe that the concession of the Lagos airport domestic terminal, known as MMA2 to Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) under the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement was a good example of a successful concession.
The workers insist that concession is not the solution to the problem of airport facilities management but the commercialisation of FAAN.
“Why not allow the airports run as commercially oriented profitable concerns with accountability to shareholders, who may be government agencies or private investors, as we had canvassed for the full commercialization of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria long ago albeit without the usual political, ministerial, presidential official meddlesomeness and interference, which has been the bane of lack luster performance and failure of the aviation system in Nigeria?”, the workers asked.
