Sirika Directed to Halt Demolition of Aviation Agencies’ Offices

Chinedu Eze

The National Assembly joint committee on Aviation, headed by Senator Christine Olujumi and Honourable Nnolim Nnaji has directed the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika to halt the planned demolition of the offices of the aviation agencies in Lagos.

The directive followed the two-day warning strike embarked by aviation workers’ unions, which crippled flight operations across the country on Monday and Tuesday this week.

In a letter jointly signed by the clerks of the committee and dated April 18, 2023, the two chairmen of the aviation committees expressed concerns over the frequency of industrial actions and the attendant disruption of flight operations in the country.

The joint committee noted that most of the issues causing the agitations were not new and wondered why they had continued to linger, stressing that some of them have been in contention for years.

The letter also directed the Minister to furnish the committees with all the documents pertaining to the sundry issues raised by the workers, which include: non implementation of the consequential adjustment to national minimum wage by some of the agencies as agreed in February 2022; non release of reviewed condition of service by the relevant government agencies for about a decade and continuous threats of outright demolition of the aviation agencies, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria,  (FAAN), Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority,  (NCAA) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency,  (NAMA) headquarters without alternative provisions for their regional offices.

According to the letter, “In order to prevent further escalation of the crisis as envisaged by the failure of the federal Ministry of Aviation to address the issues within this warning strike  period , we are directed to request that you furnish the committees with the following information: comprehensive details of all issues under contention; actions taken by the Ministry and its agencies to address the grievances of the workers; challenges in implementing the various agreements reached with unions and any other documents that are germane to the subject matter.”

Meanwhile, the chairmen of the committees of both Chambers have also implored the unions to shelve any more actions that would further prevent smooth running of the sector, promising that their grievances will be duly addressed soonest.