Workers and various unions in the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) have been advised to avoid negative and corrupt practices that will continue to bring down the system.
An aviation consultant, Dr Daniel Young who made this call at a breakfast meeting organised by the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship at the Blu Lodge Hotel international airport noted, that corruption in FAAN had now led to low revenue generation in the system.
Young who spoke on the topic ‘Concession and it’s implication’, noted that there was nothing wrong in concessioning airport terminal as it remained the best means of revenue generation.
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While declaring that there were many loopholes where revenues were lost as a result of workers corrupt tendencies in the organization, he added that a well-concessioned terminal with human face would generate revenue for the system when effectively applied and managed just as he stated that concession must be in line with the position of the law.
According to Young, if the concession was going to be that of Management type, it should be for five years, renewable after that period, hence; there should be no way an airport will be given to someone for 30 years when it was not a fresh airport.
The only reason an airport can be given out for 30 years he said must be when the concessionaire agreed to use his finance to build the airport infrastructure while the existing airports must not be concessioned for more than 5 years.
Young explained that FAAN staff did not understand the whole process of the concession as being implemented by the government adding that the concession was based on the non-aeronautic revenue represented 83%
He said government was only concessioning 17% of the total revenue to people that understood business and done in the interest of FAAN.
Since government lacked the capital to invest in the development of the total airport infrastructure, bringing private funds into the system will help improve the structures.
He attributed the seeming oppositions from workers and Unions in FAAN over concession to what he called the lack of communication gap in information on the concession, urging the government to bridge the gap with a perfect understanding of what was on ground to enable the workers and the unions make to make decisive decisions.
His words: “There is nothing wrong in Concession, what is wrong is that we don’t want to repeat the Babalakin episode. Babalakin has run that airport for 20 years without paying one kobo as concession fees and this is what I think FAAN staff and all the various unions are against. We don’t want a situation where somebody hijacks the airport and pays nothing to government”.
and then