Staff members of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria that today embarked on a peaceful walk around the major roads at the Muritala Muhammed Airport, Lagos had carried on the march against the manner the current Aviation Minister, Senator Hadi Sirika is carrying out the concessioning of some of the country’s major airports without carrying the aviation workers unions along and that some of their colleagues who were disengaged from service have not been paid their retirement and pension.

The body consisted of Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, National Union of Air Transport Employee, NUATE, Association of Aviation Professionals, ANAP, and Nigerian Union of Pensioners, NUP, airport branch, had embarked on the action, which is a directive from the national headquarters of the various unions, programmed to take place simultaneously at all the country’s airport.

Members of the unions commenced the peaceful walk from the “Freedom Square” at Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, headquarters and moved round the Lagos airport carrying banners with various inscriptions like “Concession of Airports lack Transparency,” with others having the inscription “Pay our Pension now“, “Resolve MMA2 Concession Problem now” etc.

One of the union leaders, Comrade Saidu, General Secretary, ANAP, who addressed the union members before commencing the march around the airport, said to the crowd, “We shall never rest until the government and Aviation Minister listen to our demands. We have written series of letters to the minister expressing our reservation about the way he is going about the planned Concession.”

“You cannot be talking about Concession when the one earlier concessioned is still a subject of dispute in court.”

It would be recall the aviation unions have recently been engaged in several dialogue with the federal government and Aviation Minister over the planned concessioning of some of the airports in the country and they have obviously expressed fears that some of their colleagues will lose their jobs in the process.