Controversial national carrier, airports ' concession to set tone for Keyamo

 Controversial national carrier, airports ' concession to set tone for Keyamo 

As Mr Festus Keyamo assumes duty as Minister of Avation and Aerospace Development this week, he is expected to hit the ground running defining a clear path in the mud that littered the strategic sector in the twilight of the last administration when Senator Hadi Sirika presided over the affairs of the industry.

Significantly, experts in the sector expect optimism in the horizon in resolving the controversies that characterized the unveiling of the controversial National Carrier - Nigeria Air, which is still a  subject of litigation in the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Given Mr Keyamo's legal pedigree as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), industry experts are looking forward to him to categorically declare of the stake of the Federal Government on the vexed issues in terms of what shape the project is taking going forward.

For accountability sake, industry watchers say full disclosure on the hidden details on the controversial carrier and the extent of involvement by respective agencies of the government on the project would go a long way in creating either investor confidence or apathy for the project, which exposed the underbelly of the value chain.

Besides the National Carrier, industry experts are upbeat on what Mr Keyamo will do to many low hanging fruits- Airports' Concession Project - pursued midway by the immediate past administration. 

His periscoping into the vexed airports' concession, industry watchers say , could not have come at a better time than  now , he is taking over following concerns of illegality raised on the project by the Ninth Assembly.

Members of the Ninth Assembly had faulted the template adopted in the concession of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport , Abuja and the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport , Kano, observing that the model designed by the previous administration fell short of best international practices.

But, more importantly, Keyamo is assuming duties in the strategic sector at a time Nigeria civil aviation is undergoing safety /technical  audit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Such exercise, though routine at a time some aerodromes, including Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), has come under barrage of attacks by unauthorized persons vandalizing runway cables and other materials calls for introspection by persons who have been saddled with the task of protecting critical national infrastructure.

For Keyamo, there could be no better time than this auspicious moment to ramp up the security architecture around the airports to save the country needless embarrassment of frequent stealing of runway lighting cables , in facilities that are supposed to be subjected to regular surveillance and security patrol.

But, what could even be more worrying to the Minister other than the state of affairs of indigenous carriers - which are on the throes of collapse - propelled by mounting operational/navigational charges in an increasingly unfriendly operational environment.

Keyamo, experts are requesting must take more than a passing interest on the travails of indigenous carriers, which like the goose laying the golden egg, deserve some intervention from the government, which  could  be in the form of harmonized airport / navigational charges, tax holiday / moratorium and exemption from from levies to enable their businesses grow.

Above all, the frequent clamour for abolition of multiple entry points granted foreign carriers into Nigeria, and how government could support indigenous carriers to emerge as strong flag carriers on international routes remains key among the issues that should be the agenda of the new Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, as he taxies on the runway to take off his contributions to the sector's flight of growth.

Amid lopsidedness in the recruitment of non- technical personnel into segments of the industry especially in the regulatory agency, will Keyamo call for an audit ? How the new minister will address obvious decay in airport infrastructure, replacement of obsolete air navigation equipment, where procurement appears more exciting than installation lies in the belly of time. 

Will he relocate aviation agencies to Lagos, the hub of aviation , without bitterness, or continue in the tradition of letting sleeping dogs lie for industry progress, only time will tell, welcome on board .