More than three years after moving its headquarters from Lagos to Abuja, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has ordered the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), to relocate all its staff to Lagos.
However, Aviation stakeholders have knocked the minister over the relocation of the headquarters of the FAAN from Abuja to Lagos, describing it as a misplaced priority.
LEADERSHIP reports that FAAN, in June, 2020, moved its headquarters from Lagos in compliance with the directive of the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, that all agencies in the sector relocate their headquarters to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
However, in what could be a new twist, the managing director of FAAN, Olubunmi Kuku, in a memo made available to LEADERSHIP ordered relocation to Lagos.
The memo dated January 15th, 2023, read, ”The Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development has directed that the Headquarters of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should be relocated from Abuja to Lagos.
”Consequent upon the above, you are requested to provide the implication of the relocation to the management.”
FAAN relocation came after over three years when the former minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Hadi Sirika, ordered all aviation agencies to move to Abuja.
The agencies affected by Sirika’s order were FAAN, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
However, responding to relocation back to Lagos, stakeholders said it was a misplaced priority.
According to the general secretary, Aviation Round Table Initiative (ARTI), Olumide Ohunayo, the Minister should be bothered about providing quality and efficient facilities rather than relocating the agencies.
“I am more bothered with the provision of quality facilities at the airport, extending operating hours, fixing the runway, it’s lighting system as well as the repair of lift at the control tower. These are more important than relocation of the agencies. We need to manage this relocation issue before we get distracted especially now that we have new management and expanded directorates.
“The relocation was supposed to be planned rather than sudden because a huge amount of money will be spent on relocation. I would rather want a necessary department who can work from Lagos to be in Lagos while others can still be in Abuja. I don’t think relocation should be a major priority at the moment and if it should have to be, it should be a gradual process and must be justified by looking at the cost component.”
He continued, “I am not seeing it as a cheering news but we should see the provision of infrastructure as important, certification of the airport and proper structuring of regular and operation staff to put necessary bite to the organisation and place it where it should be.”
Changing management and relocation won’t solve the problems we have and if decisions should be taken, critical departments should be looked at and they can have the two cities at their base of operations,” he said.
Also speaking, the former Commandant, Murtala Muhammed international Airport, Lagos, Capt John Ojikutu, also corroborated Ohunayo, berating the Minister for prioritising relocation against drawing a road map for the sector.
According to him, more pressing issues such as foreign airlines’ trapped funds, among other challenges bedevilling the sector are more important than relocation.
“Why not ask them to relocate to Enugu, Owerri or port Harcourt? There is a problem with our politicians for God’s sake. Which day did they move them out of Lagos to Abuja? Why did the government move them in the first place?
“What are the economic and administrative reasons for moving them? Now, these people will be moving from wherever they are back to Abuja because when they are in Lagos, the management are travelling to Abuja two to three times in a week wasting government resources now, they will come back to Lagos and start from ground zero.
“The minister, particularly since he came into office, has been finding reasons to spend money. He should have waited for the inauguration of the board of the agencies and allowed them to decide not the ministry.
So far, he hasn’t done anything to show that he has a plan for this industry. For instance, foreign airlines are collapsing, they are leaving because we are owing them and I used to say that these airlines pay the government in dollars, where is the FX? they are paying FAAN in dollars on an average of $2.5million every year, where is the money they pay to FAAN? They pay a dollar to buy fuel and so on. Is that one important, the ministry is more concerned about how to spend money than how to make money,” he stated.
Meanwhile, LEADERSHIP gathered that after FAAN, NSIB and NCAA will also be relocating to Lagos.
A usually authoritative source disclosed to LEADERSHIP that the relocation of the other agencies would be gradual and it was due to the fact that a larger chunk of their regulations are in Lagos.
However, when contacted, the spokesman of NSIB, Tunji Oketumbi said, “We are not aware of such a directive. Thanks for seeking clarification.”
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