Workers
at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Tuesday staged a protest
against moves by the Federal Government to concession the facility as
well as three other vibrant airports across the country.
They also
vowed to embark on subsequent protests, adding that they might be
forced to shut down the country’s main airports if the government
continued its moves to concession the facilities
.
The Minister of
State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, on several occasions had
announced the Federal Government’s resolve to concession Nigeria’s four
major airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano.
Sirika had
argued that the government lacked the required funds to improve the
airports as expected, which was why it was important to concession the
facilities as this would make them more efficient.
But workers
under the aegis of the National Union of Air Transport Employees urged
the Federal Government to avert the concession of the four vibrant
airports and focus on the dormant ones across the country.
The
Chairman, NUATE, Abuja State Council, Mr. Lanre Popoola, while leading
the protest at the NAIA, said, “We are not saying they should not
concession airports, they should go to dormant airports like Minna. I
wonder what Minna is doing with two airports.
“They should go to
dormant airports like those in Gombe. Katsina and Akure. They should go
there and concession. The Abuja, Lagos airports, the four vibrant
airports are the heritage of our nation. We are not going to allow some
contractors, in the guise of a minister, to come and sell our heritage.
“We
are not going to take that any longer. We must put a stop to this. This
is going to be a continuous exercise, we are not going to relent until
and our message is carried straight to Mr. President.”
Popoola
urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to allow the aviation minister to
give him a bad image, saying, “This is a clarion call to you, Mr.
President. We call on you to talk to your people, talk to your minister
to have a rethink; our four vibrant airports are no go areas.”
Some
of the executives of the NUATE told our correspondent that the workers
had planned to shut the toll gate of the NAIA, adding that this was
moved to stage two of the protests.
“The one (protest) of today is
a milder one. We had planned to close the main toll gate that leads
people unto the premises, but we decided to do it during our next
protest if they fail to listen. And even after that, if they still don’t
listen, we may be forced to close the runway,” an official, who spoke
to our correspondent in confidence, said.
Meanwhile, the union
called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to come and
investigate the aviation sector, alleging that there were serious
ongoing corruption cases in the industry.
Popoola alleged that
there was illegal recruitment going on in all aviation parastatals
without any known publication of vacancies in the agencies.
When
contacted for comments, the spokesperson for the aviation ministry, Mr.
James Odaudu, told our correspondent that Sirika was not in town and
that he (Odaudu) could not speak on the issue.
In a text message
response, Oduadu said, “The minister is not in town and I am unable to
respond, having no knowledge of the issues canvassed at the protest.”
