NEWS
The News Magazine\
oe Obi is the Special Assistant (Media) to Princess Stella Oduah, Minister of Aviation. In this email response to questions from this magazine, he defends his boss against various allegations levelled against her and lists her achievements as minister
What would you say are the achievements of Princess Stella Oduah since she took over as the Minister of Aviation
The minister’s achievements, within this short period of a little over a year in office are extraordinary. To begin with, the minister was able to rein in British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airlines and all foreign carriers that had hitherto operated with impunity and demonstrated disdain for the Nigerian flying public. The case of price disparity and regional imbalance in the air fare regime between what Nigerian passengers pay compared with their neighbours on the West Coast to similar destinations is still very fresh in our memories. Princess Oduah stood her ground that Nigerians cannot continue to be handed the short end of the stick in this regard. Her desire to protect and advance the interest of Nigerian air travellers also came to the fore when she halted the illegal and unilateral increase of the Passenger Fuel Surcharge (PSC) by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, operators of the MM2, from N1000 to N2,500. To this day, the PSC is still N1000. These are part of the intangible, yet significant achievements of the Honourable Minister. Then you come to the resuscitation of the derelict infrastructure and facilities we inherited on assumption of office. We are all witnesses to the dilapidation, decay and rot the airports had been left to suffer for over three decades. To be sure, since most of the airports were first constructed over three decades ago, no rehabilitation works of any sort had been carried out on them. The minister on assumption of office vowed to change all that.
But there is fear that work has stagnated on the rehabilitation of Airport Terminals instituted by the Minister
As we speak, 11 airports are simultaneously undergoing reconstruction, remodelling and face-lift. Work on these projects are above 95 per cent completed. As a matter of fact, the General Aviation Terminal, GAT, in Lagos has been completed and is due for commissioning next [this] week. Across the 11 airports, we now have terminals that compare with any one anywhere in the world. This is what we deserve as a nation. It is therefore incorrect to suggest that work has slowed down at these terminals. We are right on track. Moreover, the second phase of reconstruction and remodeling of the remaining 11 airports has commenced. What this means is that in the next 12-18 months, all 22 airports in Nigeria will become brand new, wearing more modern outlook and ambience that is befitting of Nigeria as the giant of Africa. There is also the novel concept of Aerotropolis – airport cities – presenting clusters of business and leisure-related activities ranging from manufacturing, ICT, entertainment, etc. Foreign investors are presently being appraised and lined up to take up investment opportunities in this regard. Then there is the icing on the cake – the construction of five brand new International Passenger Terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu, plus six cargo terminals. Construction work on these projects is billed to commence in the first quarter of 2013 with a completion period of 18-24 months. This is unprecedented in the history of the aviation sector in Nigeria! There is also the acquisition and installation of Doppler Radars for timely, effective and efficient gathering of weather reports and information for the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NIMET, as well as the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA.
Some stakeholders in the industry said the minister lacked the necessary experience and knowledge to drive the sector and that this has been responsible for the constant wrangling with some sectors of the industry, especially the unions. What is your reaction to this?
I cannot comprehend the kind of experience anybody is talking about in view of the unprecedented transformation that has already taken place under this minister’s watch. In fact, one can confidently declare that what this minister has accomplished in a little over a year is more than what ten of her predecessors did during their time! One does not necessarily need to be a pilot or an aeronautical engineer to be able to fix the airports as experience under this minister has shown. What you describe as “wrangling” by the unions is the traditional resistance to change and nothing more.
What is your reaction to the controversies generated by the recent appointments and disengagements in the sector, especially claims by the unions that the new appointments are at the expense of some of their members who have been examined, tested and found suitable to occupy the positions and that the minister has by her action cut short the career growth of such workers
The changes or restructuring in the industry form a major part of the institutional reforms the minister is undertaking in the sector. In order to drive her vision and transformation of the sector, round pegs needed to be put in round holes. The rot we inherited in the sector is largely due to the irregular recruitment and placement of individuals in offices and responsibilities for which they were ill-equipped. The minister is correcting all that, added to the fact that many of the officers in the agencies who were amply qualified were allowed to stagnate over long periods of time. This scenario bred discontent and contributed to low motivation and lack of job satisfaction. What the minister did was to promote such officers in order to boost their morale and reposition them to deliver on her transformation agenda. Suffice to state categorically that all those who are newly appointed, whether as GM or Directors, are very qualified professionals with vast years of experience in their various fields.
There is also the question of Federal Character in the appointments. There are allegation that while those removed from their different positions are spread across the different ethnic groups, their replacements as indicated in a list of the appointments in the possession of this magazine are from the Eastern part of the country
You may need to do your fact checks again. No unqualified person was appointed in the current exercise. And as stated above, those within the agencies who merited promotion but were unduly stagnated by previous administrations have been promoted. I think the minister needs to be commended in this regard. There was no lopsidedness in terms of Federal Character in the appointments.
With the new appointments, the minister has also created new directorates in the agencies and parastatals in the sector. The workers said the minister is not empowered to do this
The minister did not act outside her powers.
No comments:
Post a Comment