By Abel Orukpe
It is lamentable that successive administrations have paid lip service to the problems of aviation infrastructure in Nigeria, leaving all the airports without any meaningful upgrade over 35 years of their existence.
The aims of the ongoing remodelling of our airports are to change the obsolete infrastructure at the 22 airports managed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) as well as turn around the fortunes of the aviation industry in consonance with the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.
For instance, the four international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt had hitherto suffered decades of neglect, resulting in decaying facilities and congestion.
Many Nigerians have had cause to condemn these airports, and of course their managers and the Federal Government, when they compare them with other airports they have visited around the globe, even in Africa.
The problems had adversely impacted on safety, security, passenger comfort and revenue generation. The airports were therefore in dire need of expansion and capacity development.
The Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah, is leading the remodelling effort as part of the transformation of the industry.
All the efforts of the minister and her team are geared towards ensuring that the nation never again experiences any national embarrassment through the airports, facilities and personnel.
That is why Oduah and her lieutenants on the remodelling projects are committed to ensuring that best practices are applied in terms of the ongoing work at the airports.
They accordingly sought all the required approvals from the concerned statutory bodies, including the National Assembly, for the funds drawn from the Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) Account for the projects.
The Minister should be appreciated for tackling the hydra-headed problem of infrastructure at the airports by overcoming bureaucratic red tapes that had hitherto jettison any meaningful change on the sorry state of the nation’s airports.
The Ministry of Aviation had followed the mandatory due process, as it subjected itself to the provision under the Procurement Act of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, under which the requirement for advertisement and bidding were waived to fast track the airport remodelling projects among others.
The remodelling in the Phase 1 of its implementation currently centres on refurbishment of 11 airports, among others.
Extensive construction work is ongoing simultaneously in major airports across the country in the last few months, especially in the terminal buildings.
The massive construction work is noticeable in the terminal buildings of Murtala Muhammed Airport (International Terminal), Murtala Muhammed Airport (General Aviation Terminal), Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (International Terminal), Port Harcourt International Airport, Kaduna Airport and Margaret Ekpo International Airport Calabar.
Other airports undergoing remodelling are: Benin Airport, Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri, Yola Airport, and Yakubu Gowon Airport, Jos.
The renovation and upgrade projects are basically on the redesign of the exterior facades of the building to give them a modern look; expansion of the footprint of some of the buildings to create additional capacity, circulation space and the opportunity for increased commercial offerings; redesign and construction of the interior of the buildings to give a modern look and feel and to deliver a comfortable, safe and secured ambience and pleasing environment to airport users, which includes new floors, new ceilings, new toilets, new signage, new check-in areas and counters, effective air conditioning and ease of passage (facilitation flow) for passengers.
As expected in projects of such magnitude, the remodelling effort has resulted in some inconvenience to airline operators, passengers and other airport users, because the transition from the existing infrastructure and facilities to new ones is creating considerable operational bottlenecks.
The government cannot afford to shut down the entire operations in these airports while construction is going on.
However, what the government should do is to crave the understanding and support of airport users and the public in general, as it strives to make our airports more user-friendly, safe, secure and comparable to airports in developed countries in due course.
Hitherto, work at most of the airports undergoing remodelling is at over 75 per cent completion.
All the projects are expected to be commissioned before the last quarter of 2012.
With the Minister of Aviation’s vision of creating the AEROTROPOLIS Model – the Airport City – out of the present reality, the transformed infrastructure at the airports will shape new business environment for our airports.
The Phase 1 of the airports’ remodelling further initiates emergency measures for the airports with overall upgrade in security control and cargo management equipment.
The measures are required to improve passenger comfort, safety and security in our airports, particularly the international ones, in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, to prevent any disaster.
The Phase 2 of the Transformation Agenda centres on Terminal Development.
This accommodates the upgrade of the remaining 11 airports managed by FAAN and the construction of new international terminals for the Lagos and Abuja airports.
The Phase 3 of the Transformation Agenda focuses on Infrastructure, Safety, Security (Long Term Intervention).
The Phase 4 of the project focuses on long term development of operational and financial sustainability measures.
The Ministry of Aviation and FAAN are currently creating investment opportunities for local and international investors at the airports.
The minister and the aviation agencies chiefs last week embarked on a three-nation investment road show to unfold investment opportunities and commercial offerings at the nation’s 22 airports and the entire aviation industry.
The minister, who was accompanied by heads of agencies in the industry, is currently discussing Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) issues with corresponding countries and/or airlines with a view to optimising Nigeria’s economic benefits, among others.
The delegation held an investors forum with the business communities in Beijing, China on August 9, 2012 and another one in Ottawa, Canada on August 16, 2012. It earlier held other business meetings in Shenzhen and in Washington.
The investment road show, which has the backing of the Federal Government, also aims at securing investors buy-in in the investment opportunities, and improving their confidence in the Nigerian aviation industry.
The delegation had last week discussed with major aircraft manufacturers to finalise aircraft safety and airworthiness audit for domestic airlines.
Efforts were made by the delegation to develop partnerships with foreign airlines to enhance the capacity of the Nigerian airlines, as it further held consultations with political authorities overseeing aviation sector to enhance synergy and cooperation; and inspect airport and accident investigation facilities.
For instance, China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited (CSCEC) has given its commitment and readiness to invest in the Nigeria’s aviation sector. The Overseas Operations Vice President of the corporation, Yu Zhende, made the pledge at the headquarters of the corporation in Beijing, China during a visit by the delegation from the Aviation Ministry currently on investment drive in China
He said that Nigeria is a major country in Africa hence the development of her aviation sector would establish the country as a major hub on the African continent.
Zhende said a delegation from CSCEC will soon visit Nigeria to study and deliberate more on the concept of Aerotropolis development and expressed the readiness of the company to sign an agreement and mobilise to site as soon as the Nigerian and Chinese governments come to a compromise.
“We will send a delegation to Nigeria to conceptualise this project, subsequently we will work with the Chinese government to finance this project”, Zhende The corporation vice president stressed that it will take the support of both governments to actualize the project but “we will move as fast as the Nigerian government wants us to move”.
He assured that financing the project will not pose any serious challenge for the Chinese government once an agreement is reached.
On the technical know-how of CSCEC, the Vice President, said the company has vast and extensive experience in airport construction in China, the UAE, Europe, Asia and Africa, adding that the magnificent African Union building in Ethiopia was built by CSCEC and donated to the AU.
He assured that quality and timely deliverance forms the bedrock of all its projects.
Similarly, Huawei Technologies Company of China in conjunction with their IT solutions partner, SITA has presented a Joint Proposal to the Aviation Ministry seeking to provide IT Infrastructure for the new terminals.
The proposals were made when the Nigerian delegation visited Huawei at their headquarters in Shenzhen, where discussions and meetings were held with top management of the enterprise group.
The discussions centered on the fundamentals of FAAN’s desired Information Technology (IT) infrastructure for the new terminals.
The Aviation Minister has also assured that all aviation projects in the country’s sector will henceforth be contractor-financed business model.
The Minister explained that every project contained in the investment baskets currently being marketed through the investors’ road show would not be through concession or Public Private Partnership (PPP) business model as obtained in the past.
She emphasised that the ministry was looking for investors who are interested in investing in the Nigeria Aerotropolis cities and the aviation sector in general that will partner with Nigerian indigenous investors to develop the industry.
“What the government is actually looking for is contractor-financed investors who can finance the projects while the government provides the enabling environment; we are looking for investors that can have joint ventures with our local, indigenous companies where together, they can contractor-finance the various projects”, she said.
She stressed that under the new arrangement, investors would be required to look at the investment baskets, where the various investment opportunities are domiciled and clearly documented, from which they can pull out those they have appetite for to invest in.
She assured potential investors of policy stability and consistency, adding that the government would continually encourage both foreign and local investors.
The Minister further explained that under the new arrangement, government would work out a revenue sharing formula where revenues would be shared between it and the investors in a win-win situation that would serve the best interest of both parties.
She explained that government’s share of the revenue would serve as its collateral benefit for not only creating the necessary enabling environment, but also for providing the investors a ready market.
The Minister had in May this year presented a Roadmap for the Transformation of Nigeria’s aviation sector before stakeholders.
The mission is being accomplished as most of the international investors have indicated their readiness to avail themselves of the investment opportunities at the Nigerian airports.
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