NIGERIA: NLC Disruption Of Aviation Activities Illegal — FAAN MD, Babalakin

The last week’s disruption of aviation activities by some of­ficials of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has re­ceived strong condemnation from major aviation industry stakeholders in Nigeria.

While Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), described the action as illegal and a “massage of ego,” Dr. Wale Babalakin, the Chairman of Resort Group, said that the organised labour should learn to follow the laws whenever they want to embark on picketing action.

Speaking with aviation cor­respondents over the weekend at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, when the House Committee on Aviation visited the agency for on-the-spot assess­ment of some of the demolished buildings at the Ajao Estate area of Lagos by the state government in conjunction with FAAN, Yadu­du said the agency had sought the protection from the Federal Gov­ernment to ensure security and safety at all the Nigerian airports and prevent them from illegal disruption by NLC in the future.

Yadudu, who expressed sad­ness over the action of NLC and TUC that disrupted flying and some other aviation activities, Wednesday last week, warned that such a dastardly act would no longer be tolerated in the sector.

Yadudu, who described the act of the organised labour as “mob action and display of lawless­ness,” said that the sector needed utmost protection from such ac­tivities in the future.

The NLC officials had stormed the Lagos airport, last week, and stopped airlines from airlifting air travellers out of the airport to Imo airport following misunderstand­ing they had with the Imo State government.

Mostly affected was the Air Peace Airlines, which claimed the action of the labour would lead to the cancellation of about 110 flights, while no fewer than N400 million was lost to the mob action.

Yadudu emphasised that the action of the NLC undermined the aviation industry and exposed it to ridicule in the international community, stressing that the avi­ation industry was categorised as an essential service and so such disruption was unacceptable to the government.

He advised the NLC and its officials to make use of the sev­eral other avenues created by the government to address their chal­lenges in the future, insisting that the era of picketing organisations to press home one’s demands was since over and no longer in vogue.

He said: “It is very disap­pointing, especially given the fact that the NLC acted in clear disregard with impunity. They wrote to us that their people in aviation should come and picket the Lagos airport and they should not allow flights to go to Owerri airport because their members were harassed by the Imo State government.

“They deliberately planned that action just to massage their ego. It has nothing to do with staff, workers or even the avia­tion industry and Nigeria. For any organisation that is licensed by the government to behave in personal interest and not nation­al interest, it is unfortunate. It has nothing to do with labour or workers in Nigeria. In fact, they undermined aviation and other workers because people lost their flights. I pray no one dies. The more you distress aviation, the more you are creating vulnera­bility for uncertainty.

“Second reason, why it is ille­gal is because the Nigeria Civil Aviation Act has put aviation as an essential service and in essen­tial services, there is no room for picketing or blocking of opera­tions because all Nigerians need it. The NLC themselves, I don’t think they are up to 200 million and Nigeria has a population of 200 million. So, they should not come and massage their ego at the airport where it is already prohibited by law.”

In a bid to prevent recurrence in the future, Yadudu said the FAAN management had written a strongly worded letter to the Min­istry of Aviation, asking for direct protection of the entire industry from NLC.

He advised NLC and its of­ficials to steer clear of aviation activities, maintaining that the sector required stakeholders’ confidence to blossom and com­mended the aviation unions for distancing themselves from the action.

Also, Dr. Wale Babalakin, the Chairman of Resort Group, oper­ators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Lagos, de­scribed the action of the unions as lawless and illegal.

Babalakin, who spoke to journalists at the launch of its Art Gallery at the weekend at MMA2, said it was wrong for the protesting unions to block other people’s businesses because of a misunderstanding with another person that had nothing to do with aviation.

He, however, said that the unions had the right to protest, but he insisted they must operate within the ambit of the law.

He said: “Unions have the right to protest, but they must also follow the law. There are some principles of law that you must follow when you want to protest. As a student years ago, one of the things that was prohibited is sec­ond picketing. You don’t come and block me here because you have a dispute with somebody else.

“If you have a dispute with me, then you can do whatever is right. You have a dispute with another state and you come and block me here, I think we should find time to explain to the unions that they should know that it is necessary for them to follow the rules, the laws and be compliant. Unions have the right to protest, but they should just follow the law.”

On the demolition of 13 houses at Runview Estate at Ajao area, re­cently by FAAN, Yadudu insisted that the structures were illegally constructed, while several notices had been issued to the illegal occu­piers since 2015.

He maintained that the ac­tion of FAAN was for safety and security of lives and equipment, adding that the structures were constructed on pipelines that could explode at any time.

He explained that FAAN would continue to carry out over­sight, monitor and survey the lands through manual and tech­nical patrols of the area.

“We have procured a radar sur­veillance patrol system, which is automatic and zooms around 360 degrees with a radius of about 8km, which means it goes be­yond the airport itself. It can spot anything beyond the airport. We spent about three years to process it and right now, it is on the high sea for Lagos and Abuja. If it de­tects any image, even a rabbit it will focus on it.

“We also bought a mobile rationale video for that purpose. We have the automatic and the manual patrols. They are very ef­fective for the people residing in the area. What went on is not for lack of patrol, but for clear willful disregard to the laws. It has always been protected,” he said.

In his comment, Hon. If­eanyi Momah, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the Investiga­tion of the demolished buildings, said the committee would revert to the House of Representatives its findings.

“We came for on the spot as­sessment after the session that we had with the management team of FAAN. The committee will make their position known offi­cially to the public in due course. The committee will address the media on some of the lingering issues,” he said.

Also present at the meeting was Chief Asusu Okoro, the Chairman of Runway View Estate, who confirmed that the FAAN management had issued the residents notices since 2015.

The last week’s disruption of aviation activities by some of­ficials of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has re­ceived strong condemnation from major aviation industry stakeholders in Nigeria.

While Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), described the action as illegal and a “massage of ego,” Dr. Wale Babalakin, the Chairman of Resort Group, said that the organised labour should learn to follow the laws whenever they want to embark on picketing action.

Speaking with aviation cor­respondents over the weekend at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, when the House Committee on Aviation visited the agency for on-the-spot assess­ment of some of the demolished buildings at the Ajao Estate area of Lagos by the state government in conjunction with FAAN, Yadu­du said the agency had sought the protection from the Federal Gov­ernment to ensure security and safety at all the Nigerian airports and prevent them from illegal disruption by NLC in the future.

Yadudu, who expressed sad­ness over the action of NLC and TUC that disrupted flying and some other aviation activities, Wednesday last week, warned that such a dastardly act would no longer be tolerated in the sector.

Yadudu, who described the act of the organised labour as “mob action and display of lawless­ness,” said that the sector needed utmost protection from such ac­tivities in the future.

The NLC officials had stormed the Lagos airport, last week, and stopped airlines from airlifting air travellers out of the airport to Imo airport following misunderstand­ing they had with the Imo State government.

Mostly affected was the Air Peace Airlines, which claimed the action of the labour would lead to the cancellation of about 110 flights, while no fewer than N400 million was lost to the mob action.

Yadudu emphasised that the action of the NLC undermined the aviation industry and exposed it to ridicule in the international community, stressing that the avi­ation industry was categorised as an essential service and so such disruption was unacceptable to the government.

He advised the NLC and its officials to make use of the sev­eral other avenues created by the government to address their chal­lenges in the future, insisting that the era of picketing organisations to press home one’s demands was since over and no longer in vogue.

He said: “It is very disap­pointing, especially given the fact that the NLC acted in clear disregard with impunity. They wrote to us that their people in aviation should come and picket the Lagos airport and they should not allow flights to go to Owerri airport because their members were harassed by the Imo State government.

“They deliberately planned that action just to massage their ego. It has nothing to do with staff, workers or even the avia­tion industry and Nigeria. For any organisation that is licensed by the government to behave in personal interest and not nation­al interest, it is unfortunate. It has nothing to do with labour or workers in Nigeria. In fact, they undermined aviation and other workers because people lost their flights. I pray no one dies. The more you distress aviation, the more you are creating vulnera­bility for uncertainty.

“Second reason, why it is ille­gal is because the Nigeria Civil Aviation Act has put aviation as an essential service and in essen­tial services, there is no room for picketing or blocking of opera­tions because all Nigerians need it. The NLC themselves, I don’t think they are up to 200 million and Nigeria has a population of 200 million. So, they should not come and massage their ego at the airport where it is already prohibited by law.”

In a bid to prevent recurrence in the future, Yadudu said the FAAN management had written a strongly worded letter to the Min­istry of Aviation, asking for direct protection of the entire industry from NLC.

He advised NLC and its of­ficials to steer clear of aviation activities, maintaining that the sector required stakeholders’ confidence to blossom and com­mended the aviation unions for distancing themselves from the action.

Also, Dr. Wale Babalakin, the Chairman of Resort Group, oper­ators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Lagos, de­scribed the action of the unions as lawless and illegal.

Babalakin, who spoke to journalists at the launch of its Art Gallery at the weekend at MMA2, said it was wrong for the protesting unions to block other people’s businesses because of a misunderstanding with another person that had nothing to do with aviation.

He, however, said that the unions had the right to protest, but he insisted they must operate within the ambit of the law.

He said: “Unions have the right to protest, but they must also follow the law. There are some principles of law that you must follow when you want to protest. As a student years ago, one of the things that was prohibited is sec­ond picketing. You don’t come and block me here because you have a dispute with somebody else.

“If you have a dispute with me, then you can do whatever is right. You have a dispute with another state and you come and block me here, I think we should find time to explain to the unions that they should know that it is necessary for them to follow the rules, the laws and be compliant. Unions have the right to protest, but they should just follow the law.”

On the demolition of 13 houses at Runview Estate at Ajao area, re­cently by FAAN, Yadudu insisted that the structures were illegally constructed, while several notices had been issued to the illegal occu­piers since 2015.

He maintained that the ac­tion of FAAN was for safety and security of lives and equipment, adding that the structures were constructed on pipelines that could explode at any time.

He explained that FAAN would continue to carry out over­sight, monitor and survey the lands through manual and tech­nical patrols of the area.

“We have procured a radar sur­veillance patrol system, which is automatic and zooms around 360 degrees with a radius of about 8km, which means it goes be­yond the airport itself. It can spot anything beyond the airport. We spent about three years to process it and right now, it is on the high sea for Lagos and Abuja. If it de­tects any image, even a rabbit it will focus on it.

“We also bought a mobile rationale video for that purpose. We have the automatic and the manual patrols. They are very ef­fective for the people residing in the area. What went on is not for lack of patrol, but for clear willful disregard to the laws. It has always been protected,” he said.

In his comment, Hon. If­eanyi Momah, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the Investiga­tion of the demolished buildings, said the committee would revert to the House of Representatives its findings.

“We came for on the spot as­sessment after the session that we had with the management team of FAAN. The committee will make their position known offi­cially to the public in due course. The committee will address the media on some of the lingering issues,” he said.

Also present at the meeting was Chief Asusu Okoro, the Chairman of Runway View Estate, who confirmed that the FAAN management had issued the residents notices since 2015.

 

 

 

Source: independent.ng