President Muhammad Buhari has directed the minister of Aviation, to fast track the ongoing concession process of four major airports in the country
President Buhari who gave the directive at the commissioning of the new terminal building at the murtala Muhammad International Airport lagos on Tuesday also directed the minister of finance, Budget and National planning Zinab Ahmed, to source for funds for the immediate construction of the second Runway for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja.
The President noted that the concessioning of the four airports lagos, kano, Abuja and Porth Harcourt would further boost development to the sector and grow the country’s economy.
Buhari who commended the federal Airports Authority of Nigeria FAAN for the completion of the terminal building noted that it would create job opportunities for Nigerian youths.
He said the terminal would create additional 3,000 direct and indirect jobs, as the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product would be further strengthened
According to the President ” This event showcases our strong commitment to the growth of the Nigerian economy despite the challenges of finance facing the country. The commitment of this administration includes agriculture, aviation and other infrastructure development ”
“Our aviation road map developed in 2016 has been consistent with infrastructure development we have designated lagos, Abuja, kano and Port Harcourt airports as free trade zone, while we also remove value added Tax VAT from air transport.”
Minister of aviation Hadi Sirika, commended the president for infrastructural development in the aviation sector upon assumption of office, as this has further rated Nigeria’s aviation high in the ratings of the international aviation transport association IATA.
He said” It is pertinent to mention that we stand to gain significant benefits in restoring and maintaining connectivity within, to and from the country. Analysis from IATA shows that aviation sector provides 341 billion naira GDP contributions, 160,000 local jobs created and 535 billion naira expenditure from visitors will be solely generated from restoring and maintaining this connectivity.
” Consequently, Sir, these are the numbers at risk if that connectivity is threatened by the continuous travel restrictions due to current pandemic. Mr President, aviation business suffers from issue of access to foreign exchange by local and foreign airlines and the ability to repatriate blocked funds.”
“Nigeria currently holds $283m of foreign airlines funds blocked in the country. I would like to humbly request the support of the central bank through the directive of Mr President,,to prioritise access to forex for all carriers both local and foreign and to work out a mechanism to clear the existing backlog urgently and prevent subsequent build up”
Sirika also appealed to President Buhari to in addressing the issue of aviation fuel also known as JET A one and some other challenges airline operators are faced with.
“Mr President is aware of the recent chaos in the aviation sector caused by the lack of aviation fuel. Flights were unduly delayed or cancelled unpleasantly. While apologising to our teeming passengers even though this is global.
I wish to use this medium to humbly request Mr President to direct the NNPC to import JET A one in good quantities and device means to sustain, supply, as well as directing the central bank to allocate foreign exchange to major marketers to sustain the supply ”
The newly commissioned terminal two building of the murtala Muhammad International Airport lagos is one of the five being built through a bilateral arrangement between the federal government of Nigeria and the Peoples Republic of China
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