By G9ija.com

The federal government has disclosed that before the end of the year Nigeria will have a national carrier.

Just as the federal executive council approved the completion of Kaduna airport terminal building at the cost of N1 billion.

Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika disclosed this to State House Correspondents after the federal executive council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa.

According to him, the national airline will be private sector driven project with the federal government having no hand in it noting that with the exception of Ethiopian airline it has been proven that government doesn’t do well with this kind of venture.

He said: When we came in we were very clear on our targets and goals and what we set out to achieve and we did say that Nigeria does not a national airline. The national airline will be one that the government will have no hand in, normally it can have three percent. It will be private sector led, private sector driven.

“We are going to have a national carrier, it is on course and because it is a PPP thing it has to go through IC and C, and also has to follow all the due process. So it is time consuming but I hope very soon before the end of the year we will have a very strong viable national airline.

“For me if any airline  will have the capacity to deploy several aircrafts with seamless operation, non disruptive, provide the service, go the long haul, take advantage and give other international airlines a run for their money, we don’t need to get involved, it is because there is none.

The Minister recalled that the Nigerian airways used to do all of this but in the wisdom of the then government they liberalised the sector, because of the absence of Nigeria’s capacity most of these airlines will come and leave as fast as they came in.

He, however assured that the government is addressing all of this concerns saying “We are going to establish this national carrier and it will give good service.

“This is the solution because Nigeria has the market, we are 180 million, we are sitting in West Africa and in the West African market we are 450 million and Nigeria is the major player.

“If you add the Central Africa which is the Central belt we are 600million people which is equivalent to the US market and also equal to the European market, He added.

He also said FEC has approved the completion of Kaduna terminal building adding that it was awarded in 2011 and commenced in 2012.

According to him, during the rehabilitation of the terminal building a contractor noticed some structural damages to the building itself and then increased the scope of what to be done to put it to use and that necessitated the variation of contract sum.

He explained that: The cost of variation is in excess of 15 percent, it had to go to the then President Goodluck Jonathan for approval anticipation, that was approved and they went to BPP. So we brought it to council today to ratify and of course taking into cognisance the exchange rate and inflation that has increased the cost of completion of the terminal building.

“Council has approved the completion of that terminal building and it will be completed in six months. The contractor has accepted to work within that six months.

“The cost is up from N500 million plus to N1.1 billion plus. This is just for the terminal buildings and not the run way.

On how to manage the closure of Abuja airport and construction of Kaduna terminal, he added that there is another elaborate terminal robust enough to take the passengers for the operation of six weeks.

“It will not hinder it, it will not stop them also from working. It may be also a bonus likely if the contractor is able to run through and finish before March but whether it finishes or not it will not affect the operations because there are enough buildings to carry out the operations of the airport.

On whether VIP will be landing in Abuja, he said: The airport will be totally closed for six weeks, the construction and rehabilitation works is for six months. Within that six months there is a window of six weeks that the airport will be closed.

He added that the runway designed for 20 years to cater for not more than 100,000 people per annum, today it is doing over 5million persons per annum and has been there for 34 years.

“So it is going for 14 years in excess of design. It is not a joke, we are a government and a very sensitive one for that matter. We would not just cause hardship or distortions to the economy for the heck of it. It is a very serious matter and for a very good reason.

Sirika asserted that the federal government is very serious about aviation security as just last week the President approved that aviation security should bear arms.

“So we are trying to make them take the form and shape of TSA of the US with K-9 dogs, handcuffs, the guards, the batons, light weapons, etc. The minister of interiors helping us in that regard with the directive of Mr. President. They are partnering with us and other stakeholders to keep our airports secure. All these will be unveiled at the next stake holders meeting” He stated.

Culled from Leadership