Daily Champion (Lagos)
Dele Ore
29 October 2009
analysis
If there was one more needed proof that government is a bad business manager, it is shown in the poor state of the nation's airports, which from inception, have been under the management of the Federal Government.
Often times, users of the nation's airports, local and international, go through harrowing experiences in coping with the ever dilapidated facilities. From the cooling system through the toilets to even the conveyor belts, there is evidence of decay.
For visitors and even Nigerians returning home from trips abroad, the word is the same, Nigerian airports are outdated, they fall short of global standards.
Airports could still be outdated and yet be functional, but many Nigerian airports are not. Not even the home sick Nigerian who arrives the Murtala Mohammed International Airport could ignore the substandard nature of the air-conditioning system and the long wait for his luggage to reach him on an old conveyer belt around which anxious people are crowded.
For the aviation agencies, the revenue they generate have been unable to turn around the fortunes of the nation's airports.
Government, in all honesty, will admit that apart from its inability to operate the nation's airports, it lacks the funds to modernize them.
For a start, the government has concluded plans to concession four of the airports in the country. They include the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, Mallam Aminu Kano Airport, Kano, Port Harcourt Airport, Omagwa and the Margaret Ekpo Airport, Calabar.
The scheme, if well handled, will indeed, save the airports from further rot and eventual collapse. However, we urge the adoption of best practices and transparency in the concession arrangement. Unlike the problematic concession of some government agencies, this must be made to follow all known due process, as any under-the-table deal will compromise standards and ultimately jeopardize the essence of the privatisation scheme in the first place.
It is gratifying that the Chairman, Board of Directors of FAAN, Chief Ebitimi Banigo himself has declared that with the privatisation scheme, "we are charting a new direction with renewed vigour. That new direction, we believe, should be embraced by all stakeholders the new direction engenders great opportunities and possibilities. Opportunities to invest, train and build for our today and future."
All said, the need for a measure privatization of the airports cannot be over-emphasised, just as the means of doing so is key to its overall success.
There are other concessions or partnership programme with FAAN that are commendable one of such is the Unisys/Maevis, which was almost truncated early this year. The company is providing facilities that will aid facilitation in line with IATA simplifying passenger travel (SPT) concept.
Airports are the gateways that will open major cities in Africa for the development of tourism and investments. In Europe, there are other alternate modes of transportation, but here we have no option than to develop the airports as the alternate modes which are extremely time consuming, stressful and risky for serious investors or tourists.
Globally, national and local governments worldwide are abandoning responsibility for costly airport development, while filling the treasury coffers, by either concessioning or privatizing to bring in outside operational expertise, and this is practically obligatory in all cases.
In less developed countries like ours, governments should be tilting towards building and enhancing the transport system rather than just off loading the assets, This is to avoid a situation whereby we move from ugly state-owned airports to even uglier privately owned airports.
It is noteworthy that most reputable private sector investors would not consider buying an airport with fewer than 1 million passengers. This is why airports have often been sold as a package - good and bad, small and large, domestic and International.
By setting up the Infrastructure & Regulatory Commission, the government has made it clear that it is taking a concessionary posture through PPP is about the only option open to government, considering FAAN has never made profit, publish an audited account nor invested financially or managerially beyond Nigerian shores when compared to their counterparts in South-Africa, Ethiopia e.t.c.
In achieving the objective government should as a first step invite reputable international airport management companies, who will often achieve what governments can no longer take care of improvements in capacity, and efficiency.
These private investors and internationally recognized airport operators with track records who can be sourced and verified by a click on the mouse, should bid for and act as advisors or management consultants to government within a limited time frame.
One thing is certain, airlines, regulators, agencies and other airport users need to get used to the idea that airports are shifting away from the traditional concept of public entity and moving into private ownership in whatever form this might be. Presently, there are over 20 airports in the stock exchange world over and the number is increasing.
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