AVIATION

Why Tinubu-led government must honour business agreements

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2 years ago

Come July 29, the government of President Bola Tinubu would have been two months old, out of the four years tenure.

It is no longer news that the Tinubu government has since hit the ground running as witnessed in some of the policies it has rolled out, but as expected, many Nigerians across all divides, including those at various sectors and agencies of government, are seizing all the available opportunities to set agenda for the government.

Like other sectors, aviation is not left out as the different professional bodies therein are not only calling for the review of the inherited policies, particularly those found to be against national interest, but advocating for a more friendly business environment.

Without doubt, the image of the country is not what it should be today, in view of many unfriendly policies of the past governments which have directly or indirectly discouraged private investors, within and outside Nigeria, from bringing in their finances into the sector in particular.

The Tinubu government has continued to sing it to the ears of Nigerians and the whole world that one of its agenda is to make the business environment more friendly and conducive for investments. This may be genuine, but there is, however, the need for the government to equally re-examine its roles in ensuring the revival of the image of the country and the subsequent revival of its economy.

Ideally, Nigeria would have been atop of the ladder of countries with the strongest economies but for the hostile policies of government which have remained the bane its economic growth.

There are many foreign investors and indigenous ones who would have loved to invest heavily in the country, but decided to shift their investments to smaller countries like Ghana due to unstable government policies.

From previous experiences, particularly in the aviation sector, most foreign investors are scared of transacting businesses with the government on the premise that it lacks credibility as it can terminate existing agreements biding two parties without considering the effect on the investors.

There was once a time when investors were falling over each other to invest either directly or indirectly in the sector because of the huge potential available in the country. Sadly, this is no longer so.

Presently, most foreign and indigenous investors, including airlines, both local and foreign, aircraft manufacturers, leasing companies, insurance and financial institutions see Nigeria’s aviation as a dangerous terrain to do business due to the high lack of trust they have in the government’s policies.

Many of the foreign investors have since relocated their investments to other countries with less potential, with potential investors waiting and watching to see how the present government will restore confidence.

Among such gone-sour deals is the historic deal between Nigeria and the international business wizard, Sir Richard Branson on the Virgin Nigeria packaging, which ran into problem not quite long. Branson did not just withdraw his investment but discouraged other foreign investors from coming to Nigeria.

Many indigenous investors caught up in the unstable business policies of the government at different times included Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) whose earlier agreement with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to build the first airport private terminal at the Lagos airport under a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) and Public Private Partnership (PPP) ended in fiasco.

Others are those involving the now late Chief Harry Akande’s AIC Hotel over a portion of land earlier approved for him to build an international hotel by FAAN, which was withdrawn by the then minister, Stella Oduah, and the fracas between FAAN and another concessionaire, Maevis Limited, over the withdrawal of the contract earlier approved for the private firm to supply the Airport Operations Management System (AOMS) to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) and three other airports that was suddenly stopped by FAAN.

Whatever reasons the concerned governments may have given for terminating these deals could be contested in view of the huge investments already sunk into the projects by the investors.

Even though many of such cases are under litigations, one sad fact is that the affected investors must have regretted committing their investments into the sector and since the world is a global village, hundreds of other investors would have learnt hard lessons from the misfortune of these investors.

The aviation sector is presently not friendly for private investments as it can be attested to by the foreign airlines whose hard earned funds amounting to over $188.12 million have been trapped in the country even while domestic carriers are struggling to survive in the midst of bad government policies.

It is at this juncture that the Crucial Moment is appealing to the Tinubu-led government to restore the lost confidence of investors in the sector in particular through honouring any agreements signed with private investors as the penchant for rushing to cancel already signed agreements by government will only make investors around the world see Nigeria as a dangerous enclave inimical to investments.

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