Hundreds of aviation employees in Kano State staged a peaceful protest Wednesday over the concession of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA).
The protest started at 9 am at the Kano airport without disruption to flight operations.
The workers, who are members of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, say their demonstration was aimed at showing their displeasure over the concession of the airports by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
They sang solidarity songs and carried placards that read "FAAN Is Not NIGERIAN AIRWAYS”, “Why Concession Without Workers Welfare?”, and “Mr. President Call for Immediate Cancellation of The Crime Concession.”
The National Secretary of FAAN, Jumor Abdulmumin, described the concession as illegal.
He accused the federal government of failing to address pending issues before the action.
“This concession will make most of us jobless, and this will affect the working activities of other airports across the country,” he lamented.
“And to be honest, this concession is illegal because the federal government is yet to settle all our pending labor issues,” he added.
The General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Ocheme Aba, buttressedAbdulmumin’s position, insisting the government must settle all pending labor issues before handing over the airports to private managers.
“This concession is clearly on illegal grounds because the proper procedure for concessioning the facilities was not taken,” he said.
“We are demanding that they settle all pending labor issues and follow all the guidelines of concessioning of the airports.”
The chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Kano, Mubarak Yarima, threatened that the union will fight the “Illegal” concession until the decision is reversed.
“We are not in support of the concession because we believe the concession never happened in the airports. So, we would stand together and fight this concession.”
The federal government announced the successful concession of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano on 18 May.
The successful bidder, Corporacion America Airport Consortium, a New York Stock Exchange-listed company, committed to upfront payments of $7 million for the Abuja airport and $1.5 million for the Kano airport.
