Airport concession: Protest rocks Minna Airport, as protesters says plan is ‘satanic’

Three Industrial Unions at the Minna Airport Monday, protested the planned concession of four international airports in the country describing the plans as evil.

The three Industrial Unions are Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, National Union of Air Transport Employees and Nigeria Union of Pensioners.

They protested the concession of Aminu Kano International airport, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Murtala Mohammed International airport Lagos and Port Harcourt international Airport by the Federal government.

The protesters in their thousands took to the street within the Maikunkele airport along with their children carrying some placards with different inscriptions such as: “Save our parent’s job”, “selective concessioning ploy to destroy FAAN”; “our airports are under valued”, “job loss looms in aviation industry”, ‘Airport concession lack transparency”, “airport concession crime against Nigeria”, among other inscriptions.

The workers in their separate remarks described the federal government’s planned concession of the four major airports in the country as anti people that would not be in the interest of the common man, noting that, it would throw the workers into the already filled labour markets.

Speaking with newsmen shortly after the rally, Chairman Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) , Comrade Bako Philemons described as ungodly the plans by the Federal government of the concessioning of the four major airports in the country.

He noted that concession or privatization of critical federal government installations such as NEPA, NITEL and other installations has not yielded any meaningful result warning that the workers across airports in the country would resist the plan.

According to him, the present plan by some disgruntled elements within the goverment is aimed at throwing the entire workers in the aviation industry into labour market, stating that the aviation workers and its unions will resist the evil plan of concessioning the airports.

“What this concession is all about is nothing, but anti people policy that will only benefit those in Goverment and their cronies.

Concession here is another name for privatization. The same way NEPA and NITEL were sold out to themselves is the same way they want to sell the four major airports to themselves.

“The sales of these two facilities, has not yielded any result. The workers are now in penuries. By the grace of God they will fail. They will not succeed in their evil plans” the chairman insisted.

He urged the members to continue to remain resolute and be firm towards resisting the proposed concession of the “airports by some few individuals that never want to see this country to be great.”

He noted that the aviation industry under the Present Goverment has suffered series of anti people reforms that has negated the smooth operation of airport across the country warning that the aviation workers will continue to resist any of their antics that will not be of the interest of the workers.

Also speaking, the National President National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUETA), Comrade Benjamin Ibe, assured that the satanic move to concess the four major airports in the country will never see the light of the day.

Represented by the the Minna airport branch Chairman, Comrade Aliyu Mohammed noted that successive ministers of Aviation in the past have made several moves to privatize the Federal Airports Authority (FAAN), withoutsuccess, saying ths one will equally fail.

He stated that they will continue to raise their voice against the concessioning plan of the present administration untill their plan will fail as it used to fail.