The proposed concession of the four major airports in the country have been a vexed and widely debated issue in the industry, while some stakeholders believe concession is the way to go, others say No, aside from concession there are options that can best be adopted.
This concession which is part of the Federal Government Roadmap for the industry have led to series of protests by the unions across airports in the country.
To address perceived fears that the process might lead to massive job losses in FAAN, two union representatives where included in the Committee set up on the concession process for transparency. Meetings, workshops have been held to douse tension and educate staff of FAAN of what the concession is all about.
However, despite these many engagements to the extent that a Full Outline Business Case, OBC had been developed, the unions seem to be adamant that Concession is a NO, No.
Recently, at an event in Lagos, Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika said, the union’s comments, grievances etc were still being awaited after over 8 months of receiving the OBC.
Anyway, there seem to be a problem with the unions especially in the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Associationof Nigeria, ATSSSAN, as the President Comrade Illitrus Ahmadu says, the union members in the Concession Committee were frustrating all efforts to ensure the unions get the best deal on this issue.
These questions arise: Are the unions saying No to Concession after the process had gone far with their participation? Is there a crack in the leadership of ATSSSAN? Why are the union representatives in the Committee refusing to discuss the OBC as being alleged? Is there a ploy to sabotage the unions stand on concession? Etc.
Answers to these questions are answered in this interview with the ATSSSAN President, Comrade Illitrus Ahmadu.
What is your stand on Airport Concession?
Let me say for the record, we as the current union leadership, we inherited the airport concession issue from our predecessors and I recall very well, the position of the leadership of the union then was not No to concession because a lot of them had exposures, they attend trainings at home and abroad on the subject and they understand the benefit of airport concession or outsource of management businesses as it where in the light of dearth of resources and competing needs.
So, what they wanted was inclusion, the union leadership said they wanted to be part of the process, I recall, when the current administration came, series of meetings held here in Lagos and in Abuja, where the unions insisted they wanted to be part of the process so, the minister them explained that the template does not accommodate union membership in the respective ministerial committees on concession however, because of the pressure and the demand of the unions, he yielded two positions and of all the programmes at that time, I think the leadership felt that concession was the most important one that touch on the workers like FAAN most especially, so they yielded the two positions to FAAN for transparency and as I speak to the two representatives off the unions on the committees are from FAAN, Ben Nnabue, the current President of NUATE and Danjuma Ahmed the Chairman of FAAN branch ATSSSAN and our national Trustee, so they are the ones representing the unions in the committees.
So, what has been happening in the Committee?
I can tell you as a National President, I don’t get any briefing from my representative of the committee, I had directed that, they should open a file in ATSSSAN secretariat and NUATE where they would file all the records of the proceedings of the committee so that we can follow that has not been done, I have made that request severally and it has not been heeded to so, for me to be clear on this subject matter, we have had series of meetings with the Honorable minister, he has given us assurances that, the unions will not be short change in fact, in one if our meetings the minister availed us the full Outline Business Case, OBC, he said, we should do a critic and revert back to him for us to continue the discussion, we attempted to do that, it was greeted with frustration.
Frustration from whom?
From the members of the committee and our members from FAAN, it would appeared that they are not interested in discussing the matter if not why we would we shy away from such an opportunity to x-ray the full OBC, bring out our grievances, sit with the minister and discuss. I can tell you for the record, in that meeting, the unions said, the position is that, they understood what the minister was trying to do however, their members in FAAN did not have visibility and there was this apprehension about job losses and sack and or redundancy or declaration or whatever.
The minister said, if that is the case, I will come to all the formations of FAAN, have a town hall meetings with the workers, to explain to them, take their questions so I can give visibility on the subject, that effort I tell you was frustrated.
Are you saying that, as regards concession those who are actually affected talking about the staff of FAAN are in limbo as to what concession is all about and what the ministry is doing as regards the process?
That was what was presented in a meeting and the minister said, since the workers had no visibility and didn’t understand what we were doing, he would come, go round all the formations of FAAN, have meetings with them but the unions truncated it.
Are you saying that the representatives in the committee set for the concession process from FAAN or the unions have not been briefing the members as par what is going on all the while?
They have not been briefing anybody, they not been briefing the secretariat, I have no brief, I told you, I requested that files be opened, minutes of meetings be deposited so that we can follow as I speak to you none has happened, they have refused to do that and let me say for the record, if you feel that you are dissatisfied as a member of a committee that things are done behind you, have you registered your protest, have you resigned? Let me say for the record, in our secretariat, ATSSSAN National secretariat where we had a meeting with the FAAN group, I told them that, if they were dissatisfied, they should resign, why have they not resigned? They are attending trainings, workshops organized by the same transaction adviser only to come back and say something different, if you feel dissatisfied why are you going there?.
We were in the National Assembly and they were asked, the two members say, they were not carried along, a member asked them, where is your letter registering your protest or why have you not resigned? So as far as am concerned on this subject, let me say, the interest of our workers is paramount, what are we talking about? We exist to protect the welfare of our members, if there is a policy that affects our members, we should be able to speak to the policy, talk to the relevant authorities, negotiate a way out, as unions, we should not shy away from the table.
From what you have said thus far, it means there is a crack and disharmony among the union leaders as par this issue of concession and being a member of the committee?
Some of our unions are for concession provided that, I can recall NAAPE as made it known that they are pro-concession provided all union issues are resolved and I thought that is the place of the unions, our interest is the welfare of our members. All the airport assets belong to the FG, when there is an agent, there is a principal, FAAN is an agency of the FG, we can not afford to be at loggerhead with government. I think the challenge we have as unions, we have not been able to rationalize our positions and to come out with what we feel is best for us.
What I think is best for us is to go on with the government, negotiate the best way out of this situation for our members. I there say, we have had instances in several other sectors of the economy where unions came out and say No, No, No, government went ahead and commissioned and took a decision, when they saw that they were almost losing out, they came back to negotiate on a very weak pedestal, let me say, I have always said, let us not make the mistakes Nigeria Airways made.
Let me tell you what happened in Nigeria Airways then, BPE approached them with 3 options, full commercialization, privatization or outsource if management, they rejected all, BPE came to Lagos to talk to the union leaders, they rejected, BPE went ahead under the Obasanjo administration. When they saw that, they were almost finalizing, they ran back, it was too late and a decision was taken and I think as union leaders, we owe our workers the responsibility, we can agree and disagree on the table. What I do not like, I am a president of a union, I have membership in FAAN I am concerned about their welfare and that is my primary responsibility.
Government can take decisions provided the decisions are not injurious to our members and it is our place when we see that such decisions will affect our members in the negative to stand up and say No we want the best deal for our workers but to continue to say No and be disruptive I think it is crass unionism.
Do you think the two union members in the committee are footdragging and this matter seem to have slipped out of their hands and don’t know what to tell the workers?
Am privy to zonal workshop, we have made representations to National Assembly on our position on concession, yes, we have provided options to governments but we understand where you provide options and government decides to go the other way, we have the responsibility to ensure that the one thing we represent our workers that their welfare is taken care of that they are not short change.
There are massive problem in FAAN that would require government intervention and I don’t think the way we are going is the right approach. Let me say for the records, there was an interaction by the committee on the concession in which our members belong, you know National Assembly said they want inclusion so they are going around having zonal workshops, in one of the workshops in the South-West those who attended said, the committee said, the representatives never objected to whatever they were doing and that they were embarrassed that they read things in the newspapers. My position is this, we are a union and am responsible for whatever happens to our members in FAAN and am interested in seeing how unions issue would be resolved in the proposed concession.
I recall some of the efforts I made in trying to get them for us to do an exposition of the challenges, the liabilities of FAAN, what comes in monthly, how much is spent on MMIA Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt and the other airports, what is left for other things and if are able to do that analysis and we present to government, government would see, as I speak to you, FAAN has massive pension liabilities and it will take government to bail FAAN out, we talking over N120billion all unremitted because FAAN did not transit into the pension reform Act as at 2004, they are one if the defaulting agencies. How can they generate money to pay? It would take government intervention because our workers are leaving service every day and they have nothing in their retirement savings account, is that what we want? And the answer is No so, let us look inwards, let us think outside of the box.
I think antagonism at this stage is not a solution, we should work with government to see how we can overcome these challenges to the benefit of FAAN as an operator of the government airport and to our teeming workers in FAAN.
Talking about working with government, the minister recently at the Airport Business Summit said the Outline Business Case, OBC was given to members of the unions in the committee to go and study and come back with their observations that for seven months he has not heard from them, what is the problem, why have they not revert on the matter?
You can see the reason why I said to you that our approach is not the best in the circumstance.
When you say our approach, you are inclusive.
Am inclusive, I take responsibility because let me say to you, after we returned from that meeting, two things came out of that meeting, the agreement that the minister should come and have an interaction with FAAN workers at various formations which was disrupted by same unions for which I belong. Two, he obliged us the full Outline Business Case, OBC, to x-ray, identify pitfalls and return to him for further negotiations we have not been able to do that because we have to received the necessary cooperation from our FAAN group, Yes, our members before the committee.
So, if these your members are not following the process the way it ought to, can’t you take drastic action to avoid your members from being shortchange at the end of the day as regarding this matter?
FAAN is affiliated to my National union which is ATSSSAN, you have noticed that lately the Chairman has been going to press speaking on concession, you ask, are we aware as national? And the answer is No, FAAN branch is not juristic, the branch cannot go to press, what am telling you is that, we can not be divided as unions on this subject because, once we go that route, we will suffer at the end of the day, we wouldn’t be doing justice to the welfare or interest of our members. I have personally call on my representative who is the Chairman of FAAN on the committee for us to do what the minister asked us to do and avail ourselves for further discussions to no avail, I cannot, I don’t work in FAAN, am interested in progress on the matter but when I don’t get the necessary cooperation, what do I do?.
If the cooperation is not there and you don’t know what to do, then you are not showing concern for your members in FAAN?
No, No let me tell you for the records, we have taken this issue to our labour Center, the TUC, we had a robust discussions with the President of the TUC, we sought his intervention on this matter just as we have gone to National Assembly and they have asked us to do certain things, in fact in the National Assembly we were told to reduce agitations on complaints about the ongoing concession into bullet points and submit to them so that, they can engage the ministry and the Honorable Minister of aviation and the FG as it were.
What am saying essentially is this, we took our case to the TUC and the President promised in fact when we were in the course of our discussions and we said that the OBC in one of the clauses say, at the conclusion of the exercise some workers in the airports that are concessioned would be retained to work under the concessionaire as it were for a period of two years, what am saying is that the current worked there will work with the concessionaires at the respective airports for a period of two years after which the concessionaire will make a determination on the actual number of staff he needs to work with, now when that determination is made the remaining people he does not want will be returned back into the FAAN system, they will continue working in FAAN.
Now, when we raised that with the TUC president he said that is interesting, what it means is that, what we need to do, is to see that we do an actuarial valuation for all the workers who are going to work with the concessionaire so that at the end if that two years, their actuarial valuation will be done, their entitlement will be kept in an Excru account so that at the end if the two years, if the staff wants to remain with the concessionaire he would ask FAAN to pay him off, if he wants to go back to the FAAN system, he goes back to his normal work and this was what the TUC president said and you can see his perspective about the issue which is totally different from what we are talking here, No, No to concession. That is why I said, we should up our game, attack the issues.
In one of our discussions with the Honourable Minister, we are saying that if you look at the programme for the concession usually the labour issues are discussed last when decisions have been taken already so negotiations, labour issues will now be taken up, how many staff are involved, what is their entitlement etc so we told the minister that we will not wait till the last leg, et us commence the last leg now but as I tell you as a union we have not been able to go back to the minister.
Why?
Because we have not been able to agree.
That is your union and the other unions?
We are not agreeing as a group, the FAAN as I speak to you, they are not agreeing, in fact they are not even open discussing the issue of concession, their own is No to concession.
The Chairman of the union is your member who represents you in the committee, if that is the situation, can he not be removed and another person brought in to continue the process?
No, No we operate a democracy and what I have told you is vintage democracy in play, if I have an issue that involves my affiliate as a president I have my perspective and I try to bring my affiliate, my members there up to speed with me, if they do not agree I cannot thrust my opinion on them. I think the workers in FAAN have genuine agitations, they have every right to be afraid of the unknown.
Because they have been kept in the dark like you said earlier?
It has not happened before, we have not had a single case in the life of FAAN or whatever entity was there before FAAN we’re airports were commissioned it never happened so, workers have a natural right to be afraid of the unknown. However, it is our responsibilities as unions to allay the fears of workers, engaging the relevant authorities, exploring our own concerns, what will be due to out members in the event A, B, C, D happens.
The minister has said severally that this things will not lead to job losses, this thing will not be disadvantageous to FAAN that the best deal will be gotten from the government we have further instances to further consolidate on the fears of FAAN, you know our case with MM2 concession all the issues associated with that, we don’t want the same mistakes to the repeated so, we want transparency in the process, let all stakeholders be carried along including the unions and as veritable stakeholders in this issue, we should be able to avail ourselves, in fact my problem is, our reluctance in engaging the minister in further discussion.
Why this reluctance, is it that you don’t know what to say or you are afraid that, whether you present a reasonable argument or not the FG will still go ahead to concession?
No, I think it is trying to bring back from where we started, like I said ab-initio, our predecessors started and their position was never No to concession, they wanted inclusion, you be part of the process for the purpose of negotiation.
Is that the case now with the unions?
The case now is people are saying No to concession, if we said No to conversion, why are we participating in the committees, assignments we should withdraw.As I speak to you now, it is still work in progress that is the concession, like I said earlier, the people who are before the committee are in a better position to speak on this issue or to say where they stand.
Since they are not talking, what do you think is their sand?
They are not talking because they don’t want any progress or forward movement on the subject.
Then the FG will go ahead and finalize the process
That would be most unfortunate and that is my fear, that is our fear as a union.
Already the minister has said before the end of June, they would advertise for concession.
Advertisement is not the conclusion of the exercise, it is work in progress.
The Minister has said by February 2022, the report would have been concluded and sent to FEC.
You understand FEC is another layer so, it is a work in progress.
Do you think what the minister said would ginger the unions to look at the OB and get back to him.
We should have done that with a request for a meeting to continue from where we stopped, two things I told you, we agreed he come and talk to workers, the unions disrupted that, we agreed to out on paper our observations, grievances or suggestions to what has been proposed and revert back to him for further discussions we have not done that, what has been happening is, letters have been written, letters that are rather than attack the issue make conclusions that, airports are being sold to cronies and all those stuff and I think it is in bad faith, if there was an understanding that we should go this route why have we not done that?
Have the unions ever brought the workers together to educate them on concession to allay their fears?
We meet at various fora, our representatives at the branch, we hold congresses, we talk to our members, we have held several congresses in FAAN on this same subject matter my point is this, as a civilized representative of the workers we shouldn’t do things that will jeopardize the interest of workers at the end of the day.
What assurance are you giving stakeholders and particularly your members in FAAN that this issue would be resolved so that the unions can make their presentation to the minister so that further discussions would go on?
I am positive that with the way things are going, sound reasoning will set in for us to do the right thing, the workers don’t have the opportunity to speak with government, it is their representatives and I expected that since we are elected to represent these workers we should do the right thing by engaging government all along the way insisting on transparency, insisting that in whatever, wherever the pendulum swings that the interest of the workers in FAAN is taken care of, protected that such that, even if a man decides, you know there is a transactional clause in every of such agreement that workers working in the entity before concession will be transfer to the employ of a concessionaire, assuming the worker says, I don’t want to go, I want to resign, I want to go pay me my entitlement, assuming a lot of workers say that, what do we have on ground for them? This is a policy and when you are designing a policy and its implementation you are looking at a bigger picture, all the stakeholders that would be affected.
My appeal to government, is to see to it that, the Honourable minister particularly that in all these things he is doing that all stakeholders are carried along, that the process is transparent, that is interest of FAAN is represented, that the interest of workers is taken care of before government does anything. I guess a situation might arise where people may even decide because they are not sure what the future holds we want to go, are we ready, do we have resources to pay people, these are things we should be discussing not saying NO, No, only at the end of the day who knows we may suffer the fate others have suffered in past and that is not best for our workers.
