Buhari commissions Lagos airport terminal building

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3 years ago

President Muhammadu Buhari has instructed the minister of aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, to at once fast-track the planned concession of the four major airports across the country.

The president also ordered the minister of finance, budget and national planning to urgently source funds for immediate construction of the second runway at Abuja airport.

According to Buhari, the concessioning of the four terminals at Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt would propel the development of the new terminals and create more jobs for qualified Nigerians.

President Buhari said this at the commissioning of the much talked about the terminal building of the Murtala Muhammed International airport.

The contract for the terminal building was initiated during the tenure of Stella Oduah with the involvement of the Chinese government which faced some hiccups that present status has yet to be made public.

The terminal building has the capacity to process 14 million passengers per annum, 66 nos of check-in counters, 5Nos of baggage collection carousels, 16Nos of Immigration Desks at Arrival, 28 Nos at Desks at Departure, 8Nos of security Screening Points and 6Nos of passenger boarding bridges with remote boarding and arrival.

Referring to the ongoing chaos created in the sector by lack of Jet-A leading to unduly flight delays and/or cancellations, the minister of aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika appealed to the President to direct NNPC to import Jet-Al in good quantities and devise means to sustain supply as well as directing CBN to allocate Forex for the major marketers to sustain supply.

Speaking at the commissioning, the minister referred to a recent Aviation sector study for Nigeria by International Air Transportation Association (IATA) in June 2020, showcasing the significant contribution of air transportation to the National economy, through providing 241,000 jobs (direct and indirect) and a contribution of $ 1.7 billion to the National economy.

“More so, the overall goal is to grow the aviation sector’s contribution from the current 0.6 per cent to 5 per cent ( approximately $ 14.166 billion ). In the same vein, IATA projects the Air transport market in Nigeria is forecast under the “current trends ” scenario to grow by 174 per cent in the next 20 years. This would result in an additional 9.4 billion passenger journeys by 2037. If met, this increased demand would support approximately US $ 4.7 billion of GDP and almost 555,700 jobs.”

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Going down the memory lane of how the project started during the coming of the present administration, Sirika declared: “Mr President, Sir, when this government came into power in 2015, the aviation industry was faced with major challenges, some of which were unemployment of professionals, scarcity of Foreign Exchange, budgetary constraint, sustainability of waiver on Aarcraft and spares, decaying/ageing infrastructure and obsolete equipment, poor and intolerable conditions of airport facilities and equipment, as well as blocked airline funds, to mention a few.

“I would like to start by stating that Aviation provides the only rapid worldwide transportation network, which makes it essential and most important infrastructure for the global logistical ecosystem. It boosts economic growth, creates jobs, and facilitates international trade, commerce and tourism ultimately raising the standards of living of the teeming population. Aviation remains the only medium to achieving continental integration and interaction, the dream of the African Union (AU) agenda 2063.

Prior to the Aviation roadmap that was developed and approved by Mr President on the 18th October 2016, which includes: National Carrier, Airport Concession, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Center ( MRO), Aviation Leasing Company, Agro-Allied Cargo terminals, as well as Aerospace University, Sirika stating how the total passenger figure processed used to be million increased with the implementation of some aspects of the roadmap, the passenger figure grew to about 18 million in 2019, making aviation the fastest growing sector of the national economy pre-COVID-19 pandemic.

“The roadmap projects are being undertaken through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and the Ministry has been working very closely with Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (CRC) to ensure we have a credible and transparent process.

“In particular, the Airport Concession project (including the newly commissioned terminals) has reached an advanced stage. The Ministry will be issuing Request for Proposal (RFP) to the shortlisted firms before the end of March. We expect to announce a partner in 2nd Quarter 2022 and handover by 4th Quarter 2022.

“His Excellency may wish to note that despite the devastating impact of the pandemic on the global aviation industry, the domestic industry has grown leaps and bounds becoming the 3rd fastest sector of our economy (according to FMFB&NP).

“It is pertinent to mention that, the stands to gain significant benefits in restoring and maintaining connectivity within, to and from the country. Analysis from IATA shows that Aviation Sector provides N341bn GDP contribution, 160,000 local jobs created and N535bn expenditure from visitors will be solely generated from restoring and maintaining this connectivity.

“Consequently, Sir, these are the numbers at risk if that connectivity is threatened by the continuous travel restrictions due to the current pandemic. Mr President, the aviation business suffers from the issue of access to foreign exchange by local and foreign airlines and the ability to repatriate blocked funds. Nigeria currently holds $283m of foreign airlines funds blocked in the country. I would like to humbly request the support of the Central Bank, through the directive of Mr President, to prioritise access to forex for all carriers both local and foreign. and to work out a mechanism to clear the existing backlog urgently and prevent subsequent build-up.

Sirika assured Nigerians that the ministry of aviation was “committed to the proper maintenance of all the terminal buildings and would integrate them with other infrastructure to ensure that passengers and other users have pleasant experiences each time they make use of them.

” I would like to extend our deepest appreciation to Mr President for ensuring adequate funding for various Aviation sector projects including Enugu, Maiduguri and Abuja Airports among many. I would also like to thank the relevant stakeholders, including, the Leadership and Aviation Committees of the National Assembly for consistent legislative support while making a particular mention of their recent passage of the amendment bills to the Acts of the agencies under the Ministry.

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Buhari commissions Lagos airport terminal building

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Buhari commissions Lagos airport terminal building