The Sirika Spirit

This article is written in anticipation of the fact that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, will reopen to normal international passenger plane transportation before the end of the week in which case, the Hadi Sirika spirit of singe-minded approach to public service would have prevailed.

The airport was closed to traffic on Wednesday, 8th March, 2017 to allow for a 6-week repair on its only runway that was said to have been badly damaged and threatening the smooth take-off and landing of passenger aircraft. Media reports now have it that the major runway repairs have been successfully completed and the airport will open for commercial flights on Wednesday, 19th April, 2017.

Ahead of the closure, there were intense debates on whether to really shut down the airport or not. Many people were against the 6-week closure; for example, the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Mr Otis Anyaeji, argued that “it was possible to carry out the proposed reconstruction (of the damaged runway) without shutting down the airport.” However, the Managing Director of Julius Berger, the company contracted to repair the runway said it would be dangerous to work on the facility while it was in use.

One Senator Hope Uzodinma, PDP, Imo West, raised a motion against the use of Kaduna Aiport as alternate airport to Abuja during the duration of the repair of the runway. Senator Uzodinma alarmingly submitted that the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) could “trigger untold hardship on international and local air travellers and consequently dent the image of the country.” He called for the consideration of all “other options that can avert the total closure of a strategic port as NAIA for 6 weeks with all its attendant consequences, including a breach of international conventions and treaties.”

To demonstrate that they meant business, the Nigerian Senate summoned four ministers to interrogate the wisdom of shutting down the NAIA and using Kaduna airport as an alternative. The ministers summoned included those of Aviation, Hadi Sirika; Federa Capital Territory Administration, Alhaji Mohammed Bello; Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola. The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, was equally invited as were the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) and the Managing Director of Julius Berger (JB), to give expert advice on this unprecedented move.

In his spirited defence of the decision to close down NAIA and use Kaduna airport as alternative, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, told the Senate that a lot of consultation and expert study had been conducted before it was announced.

At the Aviation Roundtable Forum in Lagos on Tuesday, 28th March, 2017, Minister Hadi Sirika doubled down on his ministry’s decision: “I am confident that we will be able to meet the targeted six weeks,” before he declared the unthinkable: “We have a guarantee that it will be done. I will resign if the closure of the runway goes beyond six weeks. My reputation is at stake.”

Well, the repair of the NAIA runway has been completed on schedule and we are just a few hours to its reopening to international passenger. According to the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Engineer Saleh Dunoma: “We will be ready by Monday, 17th April, but we are leaving the remaining two days for Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), because they have to certify the airport that what we have done is in accordance with their standards. If they do that, we will bring in the traffic. But if they do not, we have the opportunity of making corrections with the two days we have saved.”

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is now expected to inspect the runway and certify it before it is re-opened for use. If all goes well by Wednesday, 19th April, 2017 and the repaired runway is put to use and civil aviation resumes at the NAIA, Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation, will have justified the optimism of many Nigerians who believed him, he will also have come across as a performing public official. Nigerians seldom hear public officials say ‘I will leave my post if I don’t achieve this.’ Doyin Okupe, the voluble “public affairs” expert came near it but he faltered.

To prepare grounds for the repair of the NAIA runway and the switch to the airport in Kaduna, the federal government expended the sum of N5.8 billion, minus the N358 million given to the Nigeria Police, N325 million for the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Federal Roads Safety Corps, the Nigeria Immigration Service and another N84 million shelled out for free transport of the passengers to and from Kaduna by rail and road.

During this period, there was increase in economic activities for transporters, food vendors and guides in Kaduna. The Abuja-Kaduna Expressway also benefitted from a comprehensive rehabilitation though there were reports of a few accidents involving loss of lives.

However, we thank God that all through the closure, there had been no breach of security that involved a large number of people. It will appear that Hadi sirika has successfully pulled off this one amid the usual scepticism of our citizens.

Sirika should now put his foot down and ensure that a second runway is erected on the grounds of NAIA so that we don’t ever have to close the airport completely again. He should also make sure that the rehabilitation works on our other airports are speedily completed so that air passengers can travel without tears. The Sirika spirit should be imbibed by other public officials, either they deliver on our expectations or they leave their posts.