Airport Privatization: Going Round in Circles

The news filtering out of Abuja this week, that the government is dumping airport concession for privatization is simply ludicrous.

The government that have not been able to manage the rancorous public private participation (PPP) effectively, with the objective of capturing and sustaining a regular stream of revenue with improved services for all Nigerians now want to cede the airports to the same individuals to own. This is a recipe for disaster or misadventure for the proponents of this idea.

The concessionaires who have refused to remit to government despite an act and a board supporting Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) will definitely be uncontrollable in a privatized environment. Government is a process, therefore the penchant of having my own programme by different appointees who are easily ambushed by self serving advisers, experts e.t.c, without thoroughly assessing preceding programmes is simply retarding aviation development.

The federal government have refused to invest in our airports just like they have done with the airlines, therefore to reduce and permanently stop the embarrassing ambiance in our airports with the usual apologies, stiches, patches and solicitation of funds from states and other agencies as presently being witnessed, the government should either concession the airports using the regional clustering as espoused by the Capt Dele Ore committee’s in their report or undertake to bundle all the airports, simply put, concession FAAN in entirety.
We should avoid another hasty mistake like the liquidated national carrier; right now we are being challenged to get a replacement, considering the private carriers have not been able to assert themselves.

The challenge before the government should be, how to keep at least 50% of N54 billion recently appropriated for public travel with Nigerian carriers and reducing wastage through appropriate sanctions and legislation. The Nigerian football federation (NFF) took the super eagles to London from Abuja, after the dinner with Mr. President on British Airways, when Arik a Nigerian carrier is flying on that route with low public expenditure patronage. In furtherance the NFF chartered a foreign carrier to lift the team to South Africa while compelling the airline to paint the aircraft in Nigerian colours. The charter failed and the tax payers will be losing N74million, when Virgin Nigeria that is IAOSA certified has aircrafts with Nigerian colours and Nigerian boldly written for all to see even in the dark.