By Chinelo Obogo, [email protected] 07064781119
Controversy continues to trail the directive of the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, for offices of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in Lagos to be demolished.
At the headquarters of FAAN on Thursday, the Air Transport Staff Senior Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSAN), the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) held an emergency congress where they vowed to resist the minister’s directive for the offices of the agencies to be demolished for an aerotroplolis to be built.
The workers who carried different placards to express their disaffection with the decision of the government, insisted that they would continue to vigorously kick against the planned demolition of the buildings until the government complies with the Labour Act on relocation of staff.
Some of the placards read: ‘No to demolition of FAAN headquarters Annex,’ ‘F.G. stop the demolition of headquarters annex Lagos,’ ‘FAAN headquarters annex not for sale,’ ‘Build FAAN corporate headquarters,’ and ‘Demolition of FAAN headquarters is fraud.’
Speaking during the congress, the General Secretary of ATSSSAN, Frances Akinjole, said the present administration has barely two months left to exit office, yet demolition of aviation agencies buidings is top on its priority list.
Akinjole further described the planned action of the minister as unwarranted, warning that the unions and their members would not be taken unawares by the government’s plans. He however, said that the unions were not against the planned demolition of the agency’s annex office in Lagos, but said the government must ensure the payment of the staff’s relocation allowances and other benefits accrued to them.
He also said that the unions would protest alleged plans by some people in government to convert government properties to their personal asserts. He recalled that almost three years after the first batch of workers in some of the agencies were relocated out of Lagos to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, their relocation allowances were yet to be paid, adding that most of the agencies, including FAAN had no office complexes in Abuja.
Besides, he mentioned that the space at the headquarters of the former Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), now Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), which was demolished for the expansion of the new international terminal at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos terminal, was still empty a year after the exercise, decrying that most of its staff lacked office accommodation in Abuja.
He declared that the unions in collaboration with their members nationwide would continue to reject any attempt to demolish the buildings in Lagos and the relocation of the workers in contravention to the Labour Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Akinjole further observed that over 75 per cent of aviation activities happen in Lagos and wondered how the agencies would operate without office complexes in the state.
“They want to demolish in public interest, but they will now be the beneficiaries of these properties. This is our common patrimony. We will fight this out. We all know the challenges the staff of the other agencies that were relocated to Abuja are facing.
“For instance, staff of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) that are in Abuja don’t have offices of their own, while those in AIB (NSIB) were told to be working from home here in Lagos. FAAN does not have its own office in Abuja, yet they want to push everyone to where there is no accommodation for staff,” he said.
In the same vein, Mrs. Safiya Araga of the Nigerian Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), accused the minister of maltreating aviation workers since he came assumed office about eight years ago.
Araga said that despite the “gigantic policies” the government had for the industry, none was achieved in the past eight years. She insisted that there must be adequate provisions for the workers before they are relocated outside their present offices, while insisting that the agencies’ offices would not be allowed to be demolished by the government.
She also called on the incoming government to take a serious look at the activities of the present government in the sector in the past eight years, alleging that the sector had been stagnant for almost a decade.
“We had gigantic policies that never came to fruition in the last eight years. The NAMA case is a terrible one. Till date, NAMA uses a rented apartment in Abuja. For the past eight years, we have not been encouraged by this government. What does the Labour Act say about relocation? The workers need to wake up, defend their work-life and their families. We should all be on standby. A people united can never be defeated,” she said.
General Secretary of Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), Abdulrazaq Saidu, described the action of the minister in the past eight years as illegal.
According to him, the failure of the minister to constitute Board of Directors in the various agencies contravened the Acts setting up the agencies and the directive of the presidency. He said that the unions would challenge the attempt of the minister in the court of law.
Sirika, had at the National Aviation Stakeholders Forum held recently in Abuja, said that the Lagos office of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) would soon be demolished to pave way for the take-off of the aerotropolis (airport cites) project, being one of the items on the aviation sector roadmap. He said the project would get off the ground before the Buhari administration winds down on May 29.
He said: “FAAN/NAMA in Lagos will be demolished and a proper aerotropolis setup with cinema, shopping malls, etc. It sounds ambitious but it will happen before we leave. It involves the development of Nigeria’s major commercial airports and surrounding communities into efficient, profitable and self-sustaining commercial hubs through increased private sector participation and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) will create jobs and grow the local industry.
“The project will be structured as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement where the private partner will be required to design, develop, finance and maintain the Aerotropolis during the agreed period. The Aerotropolis will contain the full complement of commercial facilities that support airlines and aviation linked businesses. Other components of the project include the development of hospitality and tourism oriented real estate assets; and ancillary support infrastructure.
“It is in the procurement phase. From there, the selection of the preferred partner and we commence negotiation. We will demolish necessary structures to have it. It’ll be one of our major projects before we leave. Same with the national carrier.”
A reliable industry source revealed to Daily Sun that the Minister has concluded plans to begin the demolition as early as next week and that unless something like a court injunction is effected, nothing will stop the demolition from going ahead.