…Says It Is Aimed At Killing FAAN
The plan by the federal government to concession four major airports in the country has been described as abnormal and ill timed as it will lead to job losses.
The Publisher of Aviation Safety and Security Magazine, Alhaji Abdulyakeem Umar who said this while fielding questions from aviation journalists on his reaction on the proposed plan to concession the four major and viable airports in the country.
He advised the government to drop the idea as it would be wrong for government to concession only four viable airports leaving the 17 non viable ones that depended on the four viable ones to survive.
According to him, “it is totally wrong to concession airports because only four viable ones in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano have been selected. What happens to the 17 other non viable ones that depend largely on these four airports? Anybody taking the four airports should go with the liabilities of the 17 non viable ones.”
Umar further advised government to improve on Yola, Jos, Akure and Makurdi airports by designating them as agro-airports to boost the evacuation of farm produce.
He argued that the proposed concession was aimed at killing the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria(FAAN) and sending workers into unemployment market ,as it was in the case of the liquidated Nigeria Airways Limited, adding that the government has been wasting human resources especially manpower.
Umar called on the Minister of Aviation, State, Senator Hadi Sirika as an aviator to stamp his feet on the ground and take far reaching decisions aimed at developing the aviation sector in the country.
He urged the minister to consult the Aviation Round Table (ART) team for the way forward in the aviation sector by tapping from their wealth of their experience.
Umar called for the total restructuring of the aviation sector to achieve development, adding that some management staff have no business in the sector.
