Employees under various unions in the aviation sector have threatened industrial action should the federal government go ahead with its concession plan of Nigeria's four major international airports. The aggrieved workers during a protest on Monday in Abuja vowed to resist the moves by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, to give out the Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano international airports on the concession. They promised to down their tools if the concession process continued. They argued that the identified airports were the most profitable in Nigeria and the concession of these facilities would lead to job losses.
Sirika had commenced the concession process for the NAIA; Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano; Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos; and the Port Harcourt International Airport in Rivers State.
In recent past, the minister, while receiving the outline business case certificate of compliance from ICRC for the concession of the 4 airports stated that the concession was part of the reforms in the aviation sector and had argued that it would create more jobs.
Simply explained, an airport concession involves the transfer of the responsibility of management and development of the airport to a private operator, while the ultimate ownership remains with the government. Where we are in Nigeria, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), there are predictions that developing countries, including Nigeria, will see a surge in air transport in the next 15 – 20 years.
However, with this predicted expansion in air transport, many of these countries including Nigeria do not possess the facilities to manage the expected traffic. With the country’s situation of having limited resources to expand its airports, according to the belief of some Nigerians, the best option in view is the concession of the airports as rightly raised by the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika.
The Group Managing Director, Finchglow Group, travel, and aviation development company, Mr. Bankole Bernard, in an interview, said concession of the airports will attract international funding to upgrade, modernize the facilities as well as remove political interference in the management process.
