• Workers to receive full allowances before transfer
The directive to immediately relocate headquarters of all aviation
agencies from Lagos to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, will
cost the Federal Government more of scarce resources.
Aviation stakeholders, made up of concerned workers, operators and
service providers, yesterday said contrary to the cost-saving
consideration cited in the directive, all officials of affected agencies
would have to be paid relocation allowances that are cumulatively not
cheap.
In a relative development, workers’ unions have pledged to ensure
total mobilisation and payment of full allowances to staffers prior to
the relocation.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had directed all aviation
agencies to relocate their headquarters to Abuja within 45 days. The
order, as contained in a memo from the Ministry dated May 4, 2020,
stated that the marching order was in line with the Federal Government’s
2012 plan to relocate all corporate headquarters to Abuja and in line
with the current economic realities.
Affected are the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN),
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Airspace Management
Agency (NAMA), and Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) that currently
have their Headquarters in Lagos.
The Guardian learnt that the fresh directive was the third in a row
of attempts shift operational base of the Headquarters to Abuja from
Lagos. On both occasions, some affected officials were paid relocation,
only for the superintendent ministers to revert to status quo.
This time, senior officers in the level of General Manager, may be
entitled to between N2 million to N4 million as allowances per person.
President of Sabre West Africa, Dr. Gbenga Olowo, said it was difficult
to understand the rationale of relocating the Headquarters during
COVID-19 interstate’s movement restriction and the strict timeline given
when aviation businesses would gradually start recovering probably in
the third quarter of 2020.
Olowo said, in any case, “the agencies’ physical presence and their
heads have always being in Abuja safe for their empty seats in Lagos.
The policy statement too has been there for a while. We had thought
economic judgment had prevailed on their staying behind in Lagos all
this while.
“The Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) being the highest revenue earner
for FAAN and NAMA will suffer some administrative slacks with the seat
of direct control being away from Lagos. It’s like locating the bakery
away from the production line and supply of flour.
“Direct and on-the-spot decision making by numero uno becomes
delegated resulting to unnecessary gaps with timelines. In addition,
major airlines’ headquartered in Lagos will have decisions and approvals
slowed down with increased cost of many visits to Abuja,” Olowo said.
A top official of the aviation workers’ union also described the move
as a “faulty management and administrative policy.”He said: “It is
political and you can all read in-between the lines. If the intention is
to save money, the FG knows the loopholes and wastages that abound all
over the place. Why is aviation more visible to these Abuja people?
Whose houses are being pegged for rentage to staffers of NAMA and other
agencies? What has the FG done with the 25 per cent gross earnings from
the agencies? What is happening to the outstanding balance in our
Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) fund account? What is it likely
to be expended upon? These are the questions that the minister should
answer, if he is sincere,” the worker said.
The Secretary General of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative
(ASRTI), Group Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), however, said the relocation
might not change anything in terms of progress until each airport is
treated according to its revenue contributions.
Ojikutu said the headquarters don’t make money, rather they spend it.
“Let the management of the operations that makes the money have
self-actualisation in the management of the infrastructure and
resources.
“It is bad management if MMA that makes close to N5 billion monthly
cannot spend one per cent of its earnings on the maintenance of the
infrastructure of its operations. In other climes, 10 per cent is
allowed. Let this movement be the beginning of devolution of power in
the airports management,” Ojikutu said.
The President of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of
Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Illitrus Ahmadu, however, said ATSSSAN was not
against the relocation order but the staff welfare should not be taken
for granted.
Ahmadu said: “We will not accept a situation where you ask anyone to
go without first paying the relocation allowance. And my advice is that
you cannot relocate people out of Lagos to Abuja and cripple activities
in Lagos.
“You should provide enough capital resources to continue to drive
operations in Lagos while you move few people to Abuja.”“I don’t think
the relocation will affected the running of the agencies, but we expect
the CEOs to empower the offices at the regions or various formations so
that those who are there will be able to perform their duties
effectively. We want to see some level of authorities to the people at
the regions and formations.”
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