Controversial Relocation, Stubborn Minister

At the Murtala Muhammed international airport, Ikeja, Lagos, the Minister of state for air transportation, Mr. Felix Hassan Hyat, declared that he can be as stubborn as a mule.

The minister had come to Lagos State to commission the technology of the new airport automation management system, the first of its kind in the country. The project is designed to make travel seamless for passengers as well as enhance revenue generation capacity for the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN.

According to Hyat, “once I have made up my mind, nobody and nothing can change it. The phone calls will not change anything. I have plans about this project and complaints by many people will not change it,” he said.

Despite criticisms by activists in the industry and series of advice by experts, that relocating all airport parastatals from Lagos to Abuja at the moment, is not a priority in the industry; true to his character, the minister did not change the mind.

Experts had argued that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, for example, as a regulator, must remain close to the airlines, most of which are based in Lagos State.

They argued further that, the priority of the industry at the moment is to secure the country’s airspace. They also called on the Minister to speed up the completion of the Total Radar Coverage for Nigeria, TRACON, and make other airports in the country, viable. They also drew the attention of Hyat to the completion of various runways in the country so as to end the issue of ghost workers in FAAN.

President of the Aviation Round Table, ART, Captain Dele Ore, recently told aviation correspondents in Lagos that, it is a useless move for the Minister to embark on relocation exercise at this point in time.

He called on the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority, NAMA and the National Emergency Management Authority, NEMA, to wake up and work in synergy to prevent air crashes and save lives whenever air mishap occurs.

He called on the minister to secure the Cross River State airstrip, where the Beechcraft 1900D went missing in March this year killing the three crew members on board. The same airstrip, Ore recalled, also killed 13 Generals in 2006. Ore therefore called on the Minister to address the security and safety issue in that dangerous portion of the country’s airspace rather than embarking on relocation.

Aviation Round Table warned that the ‘futile‘ exercise is doomed to fail with the aviation industry worse off. But rather than listen, Hyat went ahead to give a deadline for the relocation. He told aviation parastatals that they have until January next year to all relocate. Last week, NCAA relocated to Abuja. Among those that relocated last week, were, the Director-General, Dr. Harold Demuren and his directors. Next to move will be other top management officers whose services will be required in Abuja.

With the movement, some technical and operational staff are to remain in Lagos to keep operational works on. But many in the industry believe that the hasty relocation is to shift economic power to the north, after political power had moved there in May last year.

A source told Runway that, “Northern politicians are behind the move. They want to shift everything to the North. Next, it will be the turn of the maritime industry. But the same way they failed in the past, they will still fail this time. “Instead of being close to the airlines and monitor them, the government is asking NCAA to relocate to Abuja, to do what?” the source queried.