The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Olubunmi Kuku, has called for increased private sector participation in the country’s airport operations while emphasising the need for transparency, improved staff welfare, and urgent reforms in revenue generation.
Speaking during a stakeholder engagement held in Abuja, Kuku assured that both the Honourable Minister of Aviation and the President were committed to a transparent concession process.
“My position is that for this organisation which is being forwarded, we need private sector participation. But I also agree with you that there has to be transparency in the process,” she said.
“The one thing that I can assure you is that between the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, and President Bola Tinubu himself, he fully agrees that in the concession of these airports, we need to think about it realistically. So not just the individual airports.”
She noted that the Minister of Aviation had personally committed to not moving forward until all pending concerns are resolved.
“In fact, the Minister and I had a conversation where we were discussing another issue. And I had mentioned to him that I’m aware that there are some issues that have not been answered. And he said very clearly that I will not move forward until all of those issues have been addressed. “If there are issues, they should be brought to my attention,” he said.
“Which I mentioned to the legal advisor, and she’s doing so. So please know that you have the assurances of the Honourable Minister who’s championing this process and has said until the issues are resolved, he will not move forward.”
On staff conditions of service, Kuku acknowledged the delay in submission but assured that the process was being finalised.
He explained, “On the conditions of service, I am indeed aware that FAAN has not yet submitted. I would like to take my time to have a better understanding. And we had a couple of meetings which the union participated in where we reviewed the conditions of service. I believe that the final version is now coming back to me from human resources.
“The DHR actually mentioned that it was coming back to me this week for onwards submission to the ministry.”
The FAAN MD also decried the poor state of medical facilities at airports, describing the situation as “deplorable”.
“The state of the medical facility is deplorable. It is totally unacceptable for what we’re running today. We’ve had conversations, and we have a plan that I’m currently reviewing because I tasked the GM Medical to provide a turnaround plan for our facilities, which she has submitted. “There is a team that is looking at it,” she explained.
“We’re also exploring the hospitals that were initially built by the ministry to see what we can do. We understand there are some where they’re close to completion. There are others where they have equipment, to see if we can have specialised centres in some of those locations,” she added.
She added that reputable hospitals were being considered for partnership to provide quality care for staff and revealed gaps in logistics and infrastructure, particularly the lack of operational vehicles in many airports and poor housing conditions in staff quarters. “I’ve gone across the airport, and I’ve also seen that a lot of airports do not have operational vehicles at all, especially critical departments… So that’s one of the tasks that they have, and of course, I’m sure you will see that happen in the next couple of weeks.
“The same for the staff quarters. The engineering team, along with the GM estate, have compiled staff quarters for review across all the airports because I’ve told them it’s not just HQ; it’s not just Lagos. I see Benin City; the staff quarters are leaking; there are people putting buckets under.”
She also addressed casual employment, expressing concern about the uncontrolled hiring of casual workers without approvals: “The issue of casual workers is a major concern for me. But this is where I may not 100 per cent agree. I do agree that we should engage and onboard or hire the casual workers we have first. But at the same time, I’m also highly concerned with the rate at which we bring on casual workers without approval.
“Because every time you attempt to hire casual workers, the next thing you go to the outstation, they’ve hired more. How do we stop this? How do we stop the bleeding?”
Highlighting cases of absenteeism, Kuku recounted an incident involving non-compliant staff in Abuja and attempts by political figures to intervene.
She explained, “They’ve been queried, and they informed all of their superiors that there’s nothing that can be done to them. And I said, ‘Send them to me in Lagos.’ Transfer every single one of them where I’ll be seeing them.
“I then started getting calls from senators, from the villa, from the National Assembly, from the ministry, and I said no. In fact, I told everybody that called me that I’m glad you’re calling on their behalf because now I know where they are coming from. They must show up at work if they want to stay here, because we will not work for others.”
She also spoke strongly against revenue leakages within the agency, stating, “The potential of FAAN to generate five times its revenue exists. But we have chosen to cheat ourselves. We have staff who collect money and put it in their personal pockets. We have people who want to cheat the system, the same system that pays them. The same system that takes care of their families.
“We’re starting a process of automating a lot of revenue points… Commercially, for example, planes are landing and staff are collecting dollars in cash. Why? You run after planes landing to collect cash. No way. It must stop.”
On developing cargo infrastructure, Kuku stressed that further support was needed to attract investors: “We said cargo is the way forward. The Director of Cargo, you are here. Nobody is going to invest in cargo if they don’t know what they are getting back. We have established a cargo unit. They’ve been trying. They’ve been active. But to be fair, they need some additional support. There’s work that needs to be done ahead.”
SOURCE : PUNCH
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