Sudden concession of airports
On Monday last week, September 11, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo announced at the fifth Presidential Quarterly Business Forum in Abuja that the Federal Executive Council [FEC] had approved the concessioning of Lagos and Abuja international airports. He did not name the concessionaires. He said, “We are working hard to make the airports more passenger friendly, but then we have several issues. Infrastructure is in a terrible state and we know that public sector has a poor record on maintenance of facilities.”
A week later, Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika announced that Kano and Port Harcourt airports were also included in the concessioning. He said approval was also given to engage transaction advisers for the process. Sirika spoke at the certification of Murtala Muhammad Airport (MMA) by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, at his ministry in Abuja on Tuesday September 19. He said, “President [Muhammadu] Buhari has approved that the Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt airports be under concession. FEC has also approved transaction advisers for the airports and they will start the process soon.” He added that no airport in Nigeria had ever been so certified by NCAA.
Government’s sudden, bombshell announcement of the airports’ concessioning quickly led to protests in Lagos and Ilorin, among other places, by air transport workers. General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees [NUATE] Mr. Olayinka Abioye promised that his union would frustrate the concessioning of the airports. He said, “The government needs to engage the unions before it can consider the concession of the airports and tackle the issues that will arise from the concession, including job losses, which should be properly looked into.” He added that “Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika must also demonstrate transparency on the concession of these airports. FAAN already has 64 legal cases over concession that have not been resolved, yet the government wants to go ahead to concession the airports.”
From all indications the decision to concession the airports was hasty, shrouded in secrecy and was taken without proper study and due consultation. It is irregular that the first thing the nation heard of such a significant undertaking was that FEC had improved the concession. This is a serious national economic and security matter. Even the reconstruction of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja’s runway last March was subjected to much more public engagement than this, with debates in the National Assembly and in the newspapers. The way this matter is being handled cannot but add fuel to rumours that national leaders are planning to give the airports away to their cronies or to themselves.
Was any feasibility study done even in secret regarding the sustainability of the concession and the qualifications of the companies that will take over? If so, was there any particular reason that necessitated such secrecy? If there’s no such reason, and we have not seen any compelling reason, then we call on the authorities concerned to reveal the results of such undertaking and let the people participate in the discussion so that they can take ownership of the outcome. This is even more important to this administration that was voted on account of its promise of change. It may also be that the government has not chosen the concessionaires. If so, public discussion would be a good place to start. It doesn’t make sense that after spending so much on such important national assets, the government should simply give them out under a dubious cover of concession. Let’s open it to discussion to ensure transparency and competition.
We do however concede that our airports have not been operating efficiently and are an embarrassment for many Nigerians. Therefore, anything that can be done to ensure effectiveness, safety, comfort and convenience of travelers should be done. But such measures must be done within reason, in the interest of the people and with the participation of citizens.