Lagos — As the Federal Government's moves to concession the major airports in the country continue to generate fears and controversies among workers and some analyst in the aviation industry, the Minster of Aviation Mr. Babatunde Omotoba has assured workers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) that their interest will be adequately protected.

Omotoba said in Lagos that the ministry is going to make sure that any worker affected in the concession will be properly compensated.According him, "We believe that at the end of the day, even if we are going to lose anyone, we will make sure that such a person is adequately catered for"

The minister said: "We have been meeting with the unions and what they are saying is "if you are going to concession these airports, you must put us in the picture. Make sure you take good care of us".

He explained that "As I am speaking, I cannot tell fully what is going to happen. I can suspect that there are some departments that will be strengthened. I can suspect that the fire department where we have just over 1, 000 people now will go up to over 2, 000 people. I can suspect that the aviation security which we are not going to concession to anybody may also grow to be strengthened. I can suspect that the area of operations in monitoring the concessionaires will grow".

The government has said it will concession four major airports, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Kano, this year and has set up a four-man committee to look into the process with the representative of the International Civil Aviation Organisation ICAO.