LAGOS – Barr. Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development has assured that any concessionaire that wins the bid for the planned airports concessioning exercise would also bear the liabilities of the Federal Government relating to the aerodromes.
The minister also pledged to carry the industry unions along in the planned airports concession exercise, assuring that no staff of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) would be affected as a result of the policy.
Speaking at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos over the weekend, during the launch of the Consumer Protection Portal by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the minister promised that the exercise would be executed with all the transparency it deserved.
According to him, apart from the concessionaires winning the bid for the airports, the government would also ensure that all the liabilities, especially the staff’s job are protected.
The minister informed that advertisements for the exercise would soon be published in the media, maintaining that unlike in the past when such attempts attracted various crises due to its lack of transparency, the current government would eschew such unpleasant experiences by carrying along all the relevant stakeholders.
He said: “We are advertising very soon for airport concession, but however, we want to carry the unions along. This is my major focus in this drive. I don’t want to do it like the previous ones, which led to several complaints either from within, resistance by the unions, other people and even the co-bidders that the processes were not transparent enough.
“First things are my brothers in the unions; your jobs are safe and one of the first conditions we will give whosoever that wants to do concession with us is that they should carry our liabilities along. Make sure their jobs (FAAN staff) are saved, then we can start talking; without this, we can’t start talking.”
Keyamo had earlier in the month said that President Bola Tinubu had given the go-ahead for the concessioning of four international airports, namely: Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA), Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja; Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano and Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.
He stated that the big plan for the airports, especially the international airports, was still to concession them to the best in the world.
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He had said: ““We are looking for the best partners in the world to come and collaborate with us in turning the airport around and running them professionally. And all will be to the ultimate benefit of Nigerians.
“We are going public very soon and it is going to be the best. I spoke to Mr. President about it. Mr. President said, Minister, go for the best. Nobody is interested in whoever is coming to do it. The process that was done before, maybe you asked that there was a process before we came into office. We halted that process because there were complaints.
“There were litigations. People went to court. It was not transparent enough. But under this government, under Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government, it is going to be as transparent as possible.”
On the gains of the consumer protection portal, Keyamo said it would further enhance the Nigerian aviation industry rating, while aggression from the flying public would reduce as they now have an avenue to lodge their complaints and vent their anger.
He explained that the plan of the government was to eventually improve the travelling experience of the travelling public, maintaining that air travellers deserved to know how their complaints were being treated by the NCAA.
“When they brought it to me, I told them this is no-brainer, we have to do it. The last one year in office, we have concentrated on some of these issues, including redesigning the policies to redirect the direction of the aviation industry as a hub,” he said.
On the rating of Nigeria by the Aviation Working Group (AWG), which soared from 49 to 70.5 within the past week, Keyamo said that it was due to the government’s determination and zeal to succeed.
He explained that what the government could do for the sector’s investors was to open up the environment for them to thrive.
“Government does not even need to give money. What sort of money do you want to even give to aviation? It is so capital intensive. There is no amount of money the government gives to the industry that can make them survive.
“It is actually the kind of policies to attract investors to attract patronage to make the industry safe and conducive for people to come in with their equipment, engines, parts for the local operators to survive and that of course has been our focus,” he said.
