FG Pledges to Support Air Traffic Controllers

The federal government has pledged to support the manpower development of air traffic controllers and to collaborate with relevant stakeholders in the aviation industry.

This is to ensure the continuous safety and seamlessness of air navigation in the country.

The Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, made this known when he declared open the 29th International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Association (IFATCA) Africa and Middle East Regional Meeting at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja recently.

Sirika said government was prepared to partner with the international body of air traffic controllers in a bid to ensure safe skies both in Nigeria and globally “given that the job of an air traffic controller is both crucial and critical to the overall safety of air travel.”

Sirika noted that in government’s determination to ensure that air traffic controllers are proficient in their job, it has made deliberate and aggressive effort in the area of operational manpower training and retraining, stressing that a high number of air traffic controllers have been trained and employed under his watch as Minister, while some are currently undergoing training at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria.

He also disclosed that another set of air traffic controllers trained by the Kano State government have been absorbed into the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

The Aviation Minister also said as part of effort to make the job of air traffic controllers more efficient and less cumbersome, government had earlier deployed ADS-C/ CPDLC (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract/ Controller Pilot Data Link Communication) both in Kano and Lagos Area Control Centres (ACCs).

Sirika, who was accom- panied to the event by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Alh. Sabiu Zakari and heads of aviation parastatals assured the delegates that the federal government would implement the outcome of their deliberations as “IFATCA remains a critical stakeholder in the global aviation family.”

Earlier in his welcome address, the President of the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) Mr Victor Eyaru, said the gathering would “focus mainly on intensifying efforts to achieving unbroken air safety within our region and beyond and this requires the collaborative effort across the borders to ensure seamless, safe and efficient air navigation.”

He lamented however that the Africa and Middle East region which has more than 15 per cent global population contributes marginally to global air travel adding that the time had come for the region the put its act together and take up the challenge. On Monday the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) offered 49 per cent of its shares to the public and with its planned listing in the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the company would now be known as Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc (SAHCO).

The company offered for sale 406,074,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N4.65 per share.

The company, which is one of the foremost handling companies in Nigeria, is going public four years behind the stipulated time the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) indicated when the former subsidiary of Nigeria Airways, Skypower Aviation Handling Company Limited was sold to Sifax in 2009.

The Director- General of National Council of Privatisation (NCP), Alex Okoh who lauded SAHCOL’s performance nine years after privatisation, explained that the company was privatised when the government decided to do away with some of its assets.

He said since its privatisation, the ground handling company has continued to grow its assets and emerged as one of the leaders in the ground handling business in Nigeria.

He said during the period SAHCOL was privatised, the BPE had the agenda that government is not the best manager of businesses, noting that SAHCOL was previously owned 100 per cent by the federal government before the privatisation exercise in 2009.

According to the BPE boss, privatisation entailed a full 100 per cent sale to Sifax Group in 2009.

“However, rule guiding the sale at that point in time was that Sifax Group would offer to the public certain percentage of the shares through a public offering.

“This is important because we believe essentially that on the issues that what is sentimentally viewed as national patrimony should not be assumed to have been sold to friends or relations to top government officials and we believe that the most veritable channel of democratising the process of the sale of public assets is through initial public offering, which would give Nigerians the opportunity to buy into the public asset according to their capacity.

“That is why we are doing this in time and we would like to congratulate SAHCOL for creating for us one of the success stories of privatisation.

“If you look at the kind of investment that has gone into SAHCOL post- privatisation and significant market share that the business has been able to generate in the aviation ground handling sub-sector, you will realise that it was a smart decision to privatise the company at the time that we did.

“So we hope that the public will take advantage of this offer and subscribe to the shares,” he said.

During the signing ceremony, the Chairman Sifax Group of Companies, Taiwo Afolabi said acceptance list would open on November 12, 2018 while it would close on December 19, 2018.

He recalled that as at 2009, the net asset of SAHCOL was N3 billion, but has grown to N15 billion as at 2018 after privatisation.

He added that since privatisation, SAHCOL had built strong competence as one of the leading aviation ground handling service providers in Nigeria, growing its market share from 21 per cent in 2009 to over 40 per cent at present with over 100 per cent growth in revenue and total assets.

He added: “SAHCO’s future strategy is to create long term shareholder value through the profitable operation and expansion of its business beyond Nigeria and into other West African markets with a vision to become the leading provider of passenger, ramp and cargo handling services in the West Africa sub- region.

“Based on the terms of the executed Share Sale and Purchase Agreement (SSPA) in respect of the privatisation of the erstwhile Skypower, the shareholders of the company are obligated to divest 49 per cent equity stake in SAHCO to the investing Nigerian public, with 10 per cent of the shares to be divested, sold to the staff of the company.”

He said huge investment was committed in the company since its acquisition by the Sifax Group, noting that to make it competitive and to enable it wrest some market share from its rival, heavy handling equipment were acquired by the company, which built the most modern and most sophisticated storage and handling facility in the country.

This he noted took huge chunk of investment to do.

Also, the Managing Director of SAHCOL, Basil Agboarumi, said the company would have been enlisted on NSE few years back, but the level of investments in the ground handling company over the years did not encourage such idea at the time.

He noted that on privatisation in 2009, market share of SAHCOL was just 20 per cent, but had grown to about 50 per cent nine years later.

“We were building a lot of things is SAHCOL immediately we took over from the government. Within the period, we have built the best warehouse and trained and grew our manpower,” Agboarumi said.