Henry Uche
As the discussion on whether or not to concession airports in Nigeria continues, experts and other stakeholders in the sector have remained vocal to determine the direction to follow with the aim of giving the industry a total revamp as a major contributor to the nation’s economic growth and development.
At a colloquium held yesterday in Lagos put together by NigeriaTravlesmart, the Chairman, House committee on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji, who spoke on the theme: “Airport Concession, Options for Airport Development in Nigeria”, said that the lingering argument on airport concession is uncessary, saying that it is high time all stakeholders reached a common decision on the matter.
Nnaji stressed that since the first airport came on board in 1936 in Nigeria, the aviation sector has not only been underdeveloped but grossly underutilised.
He added that Nigeria has not exploited even 10 percent of the possible non -aeronautical revenue due to the inability of the players to harness the potentialities maximally.
“I am not impressed by the state of our local and international airports, but while International Air Transport Association (IATA) is not in favour of privatisation of airports, the Airport Council International (ACI) sees it as the best way to go. It is important for us to look closely at the suggestions from the Airport Business Summit as it seems to offer indigenous solutions that takes the basic concerns of the people into consideration.
“The important thing here is that we need functional airport services that will balance the observed variance of IATA and ACI to liberalise the airports. This is in line with my efforts as the chairman, House C’ttee on aviation to make the sector viable,” he said.
He suggested that the 2017, 2018 and 2019 reports from Nigeria’s annual Airport Business Summit should be respected and implemented. According to him, the reports suggested the unbundling of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) shall adresss the basic problem of job loss and unemployment in the sector if well restructured.
“Already I have suggested just few days ago during the preliminary debate on the 2020 budget, that the remittances from Internally Generated Revenues (IGRs) of the aviation industry should be retained for the next ten years for the development of the sector,” he added
Some experts who weighed the options said that unless the concession is economically viable for all, there may be no need to privatise. “Unless it would be well planned and implemented, then the idea is not ideal,” CEO, Kitari Consult Ltd, Ali Magashi said.
Equally, the Managing Director, Ropeways Transport Ltd, Captain Dapo Olumide, decried the level of infrastructure decay in the sector under review, saying that the level of embarrassement passengers experience in almost every airport in the country is not only spiteful but demeaning.