The Federal Government reiterated its resolve to concession major international airports in the country to ensure they are run efficiently and profitably.

However, this does not imply ceding its assets entirely to the private sector as the designated airports would be handed to the concessionaire for a maximum of 30 years.

Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika disclosed this on Friday during the Grand opening of the Legend Hotel Lagos Airport Curio Collection by Hilton where he disclosed that the new terminals in Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and Port Harcourt International Airport would be opened by the end of October this year.

The opening of the state of the art Hotel which had the President of Hilton Worldwide, Christopher Nasette in attendance also attracted the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Managing Director of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, Chairman of Oando, Mr. Wale Tinubu, among others.

Dangote who hailed the aesthetics and the architectural masterpiece of the new Hotel located within the premises of private terminal facility of Quits Aviation challenged the Federal Government to replicate such structures at all the nation’s international airports.

But the Minister in his response said the Federal Government would spend huge sum of money in improving infrastructures at the airports especially the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, adding that two of the newly constructed terminals (Abuja and Port Harcourt funded by the China Exim Bank would be opened for operations by the end of October, adding that the two others in Lagos and Kano would follow suit.

Sirika said while many Nigerians have taken to the social media celebrating the new terminal in Kotoka International Airport, Ghana, the facility is a child’s play compared to the new terminals to be commissioned in Nigeria soon.

The Minister, however, disclosed that the terminals would be concessioned for a period of 25-30 years to enable the private sector run them profitably while providing first-class services to Nigerian air travellers and foreigners.

The Minister lauded the CEO of Quits Aviation, Mr. Sam Iwuajoku for bringing the Hilton brand to Nigeria and assured him and potential investors of government’s support, saying Nigeria is the best place to be for investments as the rate of return has been discovered to be 24 per cent.

He said, “This (The Hotel) is unique not only because it is 10 steps to aircraft but because there is nothing like this in the continent of Africa and I believe this is the beginning of the journey of the investments of private sector into aviation to achieve the kind of aviation that we need in this country.

http://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/10/fg-approves-concession-of-lagos-abuja.html

The hotel is 10 steps from the aircraft? Now that's impressive.

show, dont tell...pictures please

Hmmm another one...we the best .....

Reiterating the need to conceed national property to private sector for efficiency and profitability.
. .
Which implies the fact that all government officials in the aviation sector are dumb heads.

If dey cannot manage the aviation profitably, how can dey manage the country.

Rubbish

Tumubu

Port Harcourt airport need this more. But I hope it won't be given to their partners in crime. If that happens then there won't be much difference.

adedayourt:
Rubbish

How you live in bitterness baffles me...

Well done, pls done forget Nigeria roads, they need urgent attention. Only few of us make use of air but majority of us make us of roads.

Isn't this forward march to
DEREGULATION

Hope they are not going to give this project for the benefit of their cronies.

Another waste of money

And they have to.involve Ghana? A federal Government minister?

What makes it more pathetic is that he's talking of a phantom project yet to be commissioned, and we all know how projects go in Nigeria.

Distasteful.

BlackAfrican:


How you live in bitterness baffles me...

And how does someone else's bitterness become ur sickness or which kind rubbish b dis.

U woke up early morning uv not washed ur dirty mouth it's another man's bitterness u minding.
Do u know Dats another kind of sickness dat kills faster than u know.

Mind ur business man

minister of aviation , hadi sikari from kano

everything is surrounded by Hausa cap in Nigeria now

I hope they wont sell them to Tinubu.

Good move.

18Ebiscoo:
[sup]Sirika said while many Nigerians have taken to the social media celebrating the new terminal in Kotoka International Airport, Ghana, the facility is a child’s play compared to the new terminals [b]TO BE [/b]commissioned in Nigeria soon.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE
I am sure it is a white elephant project. Just like Nigeria Air and every thing else

This man and his ministry must have wasted a lot of public funds branding and selling the Air Nigeria idea to the world, only to announce again that it cannot be implemented.

In a sane country, someone should be held responsible and made to refund the wasted funds on projects they knew they could not finance.

The ministry is as good as useless. Nothing stops them from running local carriers first. You don’t walk on the same day you are born. A sane country should have at least one national carrier.

The Legend Hotel Lagos Airport Curio Collection by Hilton is just too cool. The hotel is actually like a terminal building for private jet owners with customs and immigration at the tarmac entrance. More details of the first Curio collection hotel in Africa :https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article101972.html

Stylishly selling off our national heritages right in front of our eyes...

Very good idea!... The government should NEVER be allowed to run/operate anything in this country if it must work efficiently and profitably.

This is the pix of the hotel

Why now?

I read this and I remember the clueless yar'adua...who overturned the first concessions. naija most un ambitious leader!!!!

While this announcement is still better than the status quo of woeful mismanagement under incompetent and venal government officials, it is still no more than a half-measure. Nigeria's airports need billions of dollars in capital investment if they're going to ever approach world-class levels, but which private operators in their right minds will put such sums into property they don't own and are only temporarily managing? They need to sell off the damned airports to credible international investors (not local "friends of the government in power" ) who can put real money into them, and who know what good airports ought to look like.

It says something about this sh*thole of a country that the only sorts of people who tend to make it into power are either clever crooks like Saraki, who devote all their brainpower to defrauding the commonwealth, or incompetents like Buhari, who has never met an ill-advised statist policy he didn't like, from a "strong" Naira that has driven away FDI, to a stubborn refusal to sell off refineries that never work despite endless "turn around maintenance", to the ill-fated, absurd attempt at repeating the mistake that was Nigeria Airways, and now to this half-hearted nonsense. Honestly, I am utterly fed up of this failure of a country and its useless "leaders".

Hope this is not another airnaija in the making