Senate can’t stop demolition work at Lagos Airport – Minister

The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, Wednesday, said the Senate cannot stop the ongoing demolition of offices belonging to agencies doing aviation activities at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

Senator Sirika stated this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa,Abuja.

His remark followed a motion by the Senate directing the government to halt the demolition to allow the Senate Committee on Aviation, chaired by Senator Biodun Olujimi, to intervene.

Olujimi had drawn the attention of the upper legislative chamber to the warning strike threatened by the Union of Air Transport Employees, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, and National Association of Aircrafts Pilots and Engineers.

But responding to a question on the matter, Sirika maintained that the Senate resolution is merely advisory and cannot stop the government from doing its work.

The Union of Air Transport Employees, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, and National Association of Aircrafts Pilots and Engineers, had threatened strike over the demolition.

Fielding question on the Senate stoppage of the demolition of FAAN buildings, Sirika, “First of all, let’s put it in perspective, the intent of government is to remove the structure housing the office of the managing director of FAAN and those commercial buildings.

“It’s a structure that is made of wood, it has been there for 40 years. It has caught fire twice even during our administration. To give way for better development for what Lagos has become, it is the gateway, we want to put hotels there, shopping malls, offices, cinemas and the rest of it so FAAN can make more money and the rest of it.

“And the entire people in that entire building they are like 150 or 200. Government is going to continue of course, Senate is advisory, it’s an executive function, we are not bind by any court of law and government cannot be stopped from giving development to its people.

“Just the other day, some houses were demolished by the Lagos government on our camp. We have been on that issue for sometime, we went up to Supreme Court and won and they had to give way for development. This is in national interest.

There’s no individual that can drag it out with government. If I want to pull down this hall and build a better one, who is going to stop me as a government?

“So I think it is not an issue, they are just overheating it and you know why. But we have a responsibility and mandate and we are not shy, we are very bold to do all those things that are good for our people. We are also very responsive and responsible government, where it will affect the lives of the people, of course we are going to do it.

“We have been known to do things that better civilization everywhere we go. So, this one also is going to make life very good.

I’m sure those people that are saying no to it, I’m sure they don’t want to continue to see Lagos airport the way it is.

“So, few individuals will not deny 250 million Nigerians from the joy of having something that they will go outside Nigeria to see. Common people will go outside and say “these leaders don’t they travel? See Dubai Big deal and now you want to give something like Dubai and somebody is saying no. Common!!.”

Meanwhile, the Minister reiterated the determination to see that Nigeria’s national carrier, Nigeria Air Limited, starts operation within the remaining days of the Buhari-administration.

“I think three weeks is a lot of time. Yeah. By the special grace of God, it will fly and don’t forget we didn’t start today. We started this in 2015. We drew up the road-map, we got the transaction advisors in 2016. From 2016 we’ve been planning and planning and planning.

“Many airlines came, more than 50% of the airline today in Nigeria were licensed by us, by the Buhari’s administration. One of the airlines, United that went to court today, we gave him the license, Buhari government, and he’s never been to the office of the minister. He didn’t even know it. ValueJet, we gave him the license.

“The first I saw him was at the commissioning if Ogun Airport. Rano Air, Uza Air, all of them. Even Air Peace, which is the biggest airline, when we came in 2015, how many airlines did they have? The growth and robustness of Air Peace is because we gave them the enabling environment as a Buhari government to do it.

“So, we didn’t stop anybody from doing it. We will do it by the grace of God and we will give Nigeria the airline that it deserves for market, for the population, for the centrality and for everything. We will do it Isha Allah”, he assured.

Asked if there is a sustainable plan to continue with the new government, Sirika said “well, we are committed and luckily it is APC that will be in power again. We are committed to this project this project is good for the Nigerian economy, for the traveling people.

“You will all agree with me that unfortunately from the time of Cabo, Okada, Harco, Chanchangi, Albarka, and the rest of them, about 60 of them went down the drain. We don’t want our airlines to be dying because people are putting their money in there.

“It is our own responsibility to guide them to do it right and we invited each and every one of them to come and do it the way we think it should be done. But it’s individual choice and no one has stopped any airline in Nigeria; Max Air, United, all of them, they will go and bring in competencies, but if they want to run it the way they are, it’s their choice and their business, but we will get them to do it and give Nigerians what they deserve.

But if we say we are going to set up a private sector driven airline, with the richest skills of government in it, why not? And they were all given the opportunity to come and invest in this airline and they didn’t.

“So this airline will be set up and to answer your question. Yes, the airline will be established now and the incoming government has no choice but to run with it and the reason is 95% is not government-owned, 95% is owned by entrepreneurs. So the coming of the next government which, is APC, won’t just throw the investment away because there’s change government so it will continue”, he assured