Killing workers’ morale under the guise of appointments

FOR some time now, the country’s aviation sector has been in the news ranging from the takeover of two airlines, Arik Air and OAS Helicopters  by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) over huge debts and other issues, accusations and counter accusations from the relevant aviation authorities on how things in the sector degenerated to the present situation, the impromptu visit of the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osibajo to the Lagos airport, the sack of directors  at two of the agencies to the latest appointments of new people as a replacement for those booted out.

Focus is however on the sacks and the appointments carried out by the minister of aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika which has been generating controversy across the sector.

It is no longer news that the top directors at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) were the first to be laid off about two months ago but the government last weekend announced their successors.

Not quite long, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) also carried out its own sack booting out nearly all the directors including the good and the bad in a most controversial way.

Between last week and this week, the government has made nine appointments at both the NCAA and FAAN to replace those sacked.

Though the government through the ministry of aviation may have corrected the injustice in the NCAA sack by recalling two of those it earlier sacked but the circumstances surrounding the new appointments at both the affected organisations have left people more disappointed and sad.

Prior to now, many key players had believed that for the embattled sector to be stable, a level of surgical operations was urgently needed to be carried out in view of the rot and lapses tearing down the sector.

Therefore, when the sacks were announced even though not thorough as expected, key players thought the new appointments will go a long way in spelling out what next to expect.

The high hope of stakeholders especially workers and aviation unions may have been dashed with the appointments which many believed across the sector to have negated the civil service rules regarding appointment for out of the nine appointments only one is from within while others are brought from outside.

Since the appointments, tempers have become high with the unions expressing their discomfort about it while the workers’ morale have become dampened,  the reason being that majority of those appointed have been brought from outside the sector.

The questions being asked by many within the sector include, if there are no qualified hands at the various aviation agencies; what happens to the civil service rules or what happens to the workers who are next qualified to replace those sacked?

All these and many other questions are calling for answers or else the aim of sacking and replacing under the guise of repositioning would have been defeated if workers are not treated well.

Agreed that this kind of confusion is not new to the sector for each time there is a change in government and ministers, each set in trying to ‘sanitize the sector’ often ended up doing more damage to it which has continued to be the bane.

Many of the past aviation ministers had used their positions to plunge the sector into the horrible state it is presently through questionable appointments they made with total disregard to the civil service rule of engagement.

It is on record that because the sector falls under the civil service enclave, there are workers who are next in line to take over from the sacked ones but with the manner appointments are made in the sector, the principle of merit and fairness may have been sacrificed on the altar of politics.

Therefore, the latest appointments is one of those unfavorable policies of the government which rather than help in repositioning the sector will only help in further plunging it to a deeper mess.

This attitude of ignoring qualified professionals trained with public funds in times like this will only lower the morale of the workers and when this happens government should not expect the best from them.

The irony of it all is that it is these abandoned and discouraged workers that those brought in from outside often rely on to put them through and under this condition they should not expect absolute loyalty from those whose functions they have come to usurp.

The continuous politicisation of the sector under any slightest opportunity will not bring any good to the sector but will continue to complicate issues for there is nothing as discouraging as not being recognised.