Amid the controversy over airports concession, experts have continued to express divergent views over the modalities for the concession of airports managed by the federal government.

From the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari, the issue of concession has become a thorny issue.

Former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, at the twilight of the administration, announced the concession of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano.

This achievement, according to Dr. James Odaudu, then Special Assistant on Public Affairs to the Minister of Aviation, “signifies a notable milestone in our steadfast commitment towards revitalising the nation’s aviation sector.”

But this did not go beyond the announcement as the Bola Tinubu-led succeeding government reversed the decision.

However, talks are ongoing over concession. The controversy recently emerged over the purported concession of Enugu Airport for 80 years to a certain company.

The aviation minister later debunked the claim, saying no fixed period has been agreed on concerning the concession of any airport.

“We can confirm that this review process has not been concluded. However, for the sake of transparency, the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, directed some months ago, that the aviation labour unions be included as part of the negotiating teams.

“Therefore, we must state unequivocally that the information suggesting a predetermined concession duration is false, unfounded, and intended to cause unwarranted disaffection and mistrust in this process by those with entrenched interests,” Tunde Moshood, the minister’s spokesman, said.

Chief Executive Officer of Belujane Konsult, Mr. Chris Aligbe, is one of the advocates of airport concession for efficiency and optimal performance.

However, he said he doesn’t believe in lumping smaller airports (non-viable) with bigger ones (airports) as some industry experts advocated.

Daily Trust reports that there are 31 airports under the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). Out of these, only five are international which are considered viable airports.

The revenue generated from the two airports is being deployed to maintain other 26 airports considered unviable.

The Murtala Muhammed Airport for instance in 2024 generated 65.8 per cent of the total FAAN’s revenue followed by the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja (21.6 per cent) and Kano (5.6 per cent).

Aligbe is of the view that the nation’s airports can actually perform more optimally if concessioned, but stated that there is no need looking further for the drivers of the concession.

He recalled a meeting of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with the Nigerian born UK business man, Adebayo Ogunlesi, who operates a couple of airports in the United Kingdom including the Gatwick Airport. He stated that he can be contacted for advice on the best way to carry out the concession.

Aligbe said, “I do not belong to the school of thought of bunching viable and non-viable airports when concessioning. We should be very careful about concessions. We cannot just say we want to concession these airports.

“There are so many types of concession agreements. We have to consider if it would be ‘manage and transfer’ or ‘develop, manage and transfer’. For me, I think that if these airports are concessioned, the revenue coming from those airports should be used to develop the less viable ones.”

On the controversy over the 80-year tenure of the planned concession for Enugu Airport which the minister has debunked, Aligbe pointed out that the longest concession agreement “I have ever come across was 50 or 60 years somewhere in Eastern Europe.”

He said, “As of the time the airport was concessioned, it was handling about three or four million passengers. But they said by the 10th year, they expected that this airport should be able to handle about 12 million passengers.

“And by the next 20 years, it should be able to handle a higher number. And they grew it to the point that it has the capability of handling over 50 million passengers. That is how to monitor concessions. You must put a mark. If you do not do so, you will not be able to monitor what is happening.

“That is why concessions must be carefully considered while keeping in mind transparency. We look at population development and well-being. It might be domestic or international travel. You look at the development of the population. What are we likely to have in that airport captured area? What will be the population growth? And how many? We need more standard airports. Airports across the West Africa sub regions are better than ours. Ghana is getting a lot better.”

Aligbe insisted that the concession programme must be done the right way to avoid any form of controversy.

“This is where we should tap into the knowledge of the Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku. She worked in Ernst & Young, a consultancy firm that has been consulting for airports and businesses globally. They have been in the aviation sector.

“So, she has a lot of experience on airport concessions. They should tap heavily from her knowledge. For me, it is a lot that they have there, and it is good that we need it in this country.

“We don’t need to start looking elsewhere where we have somebody that is in the agency. We need to have the best. We cannot stay in a country where we have very good hands and we leave them.

“We should also tap into Adebayo Ogunlesi’s experience. That is the best we have for now in our country.”

Daily Trust reports that Aligbe’s view differs from that of the CEO of Aero Contractors, Capt. Ado Bayero, who advocated the concession of one viable airport paired alongside unviable airports.

General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Comrade Aba Ocheme said, “The airport concession is one very slippery ground, we didn’t deal with it in the expansive manner we would have wanted. We are now going to be engaged in all the various discussion.” (Daily Trust)