How Govt Inference is Killing Nigeria’s Airports

Officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) have identified government interference as the major cause of infrastructure decay and poor management of Nigeria’s airports.

They alleged that those in positions of authority enrich themselves from the agency and force their acolytes and relations to be employed by the agency even when they are not qualified. They also accused the agency of awarding concessions and contracts to their relatives and cronies.

THISDAY investigations also revealed that corruption among top officials of FAAN encouraged by the perfidy of politicians, who demand money from the agency and other agencies of the aviation industry, might have whittled funds available for proper development of the airports.

It is to stop such interferences and alleged diversion of revenues from FAAN to private accounts that prompted government’s decision to concession the airports.

But a FAAN official who spoke to THISDAY said that every inch of the viable airport space has been given out largely to individuals recommended by top elected and appointed officials of government, noting that concession of the airport would trigger “loads” of litigation “because it would be difficult to dislodge those that now operate at the airport under different concession agreements.

The FAAN source lamented that the agency’s management operates by taking orders from officials of government, those in the National Assembly and the Ministry of Transportation.

According to the FAAN official, the average revenue generated from the airports annually is about N70 billion and these revenues come largely from Passenger Service Charge (PSC), rents, landing and parking, fuel surcharge and others.

“Lagos makes about N3 billion monthly; Abuja, about N1 billion, Port Harcourt, about N800 million and Kano about N800 million. If we are allowed to manage this money we would use it to effectively develop and manage the airports, but we do not have much say in the running of these airports. Most of the money so generated is taken by politicians, from the National Assembly to the executive. We are usually left with what we can use to pay salaries and overheads.

“This may sound funny but it is true. I can tell you that most of the concessionaires who are providing services at the airports were recommended to FAAN

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has assured potential investors in Nigeria of safety and protection of their investments.

Danbatta gave the assurance during the Nigeria Investment Forum at the ongoing ITU Telecom World in Busan, South Korea. He urged the investors to come to Nigeria and invest in an environment, which he described as “a potential platform for business growth and success.”

Danbatta said that the NCC in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), intervened in the crisis between Etisalat (now 9mobile) and a consortium of banks over the telecom firm’s failure to refund the money it borrowed from the banks in order to prevent the banks from taking over the management of the telecoms company. He said that the intervention became necessary because banks are not capable of successfully running a telecoms company that is fraught with high level of technicalities.

Danbatta who stated that investments in the telecoms sector had grown from a mere $50 million in 2001 to about $70 billion, reassured foreign investors of safety in their investments, since most of the investments were Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), that needed full protection.

Danbatta said: “The NCC is assuring the investors that our doors are open and that we will do whatever we can within the regulatory mandate assigned to us to ensure that their investment is safe and secure. “NCC will continue to build a reputation of a firm, which provides incentives to operators and potential investors in order to ensure the gains recorded over the past couple of years are sustained.”

“Banks are not competent to run telecom companies, they should concentrate their efforts in making the financial sector more robust, which I believe they are doing, and I have no doubt about it,” Danbatta said.

He explained that Nigeria attended this year’s ITU Telecom Conference to tell the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) community that with a population of about 170 million, it is a preferred investment destination in Africa.

“With over 150 million active subscribers, in the voice segment, over 102 per cent teledensity and a little over 92 million internet connections, Nigeria is indeed a place to invest”, he added.

Chairman, Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) and former Minister of Communications Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson, said Nigeria has a huge population with over 90 per cent internet penetration, which she said, would continue to attract foreign investment. She said investments in the area of broadband infrastructure, remained critical for Nigeria.