HADI ABUBAKAR SIRIKA: PMB’s Regime Valedictorian is Accused of Stoking Anarchy

L-R: Capt Rabiu Hamisu Yadudu, former MD, FAAN, Sen. Hadi Sirika, Aerospace & Aviation Minister, President Muhammadu Buhari, and Gov. Babajide O. Sanwo-Olu, at the commissioning of 2nd international terminal at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos

*** President-elect, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, cautioned about the banana peel laid all around the aviation industry by the outgoing minister.

*** Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, demands a reason for the rush to complete in 72 hours, which the aviation minister could not accomplish in 71/2 years (Seven and a half years).

*** Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, urged not to compromise ICAO’s standards due to political interference.

*** AON encourages Sen. Hadi Sirika to respect pronouncements from the temple of Justice.

*** Hadi Sirika assured that the planned demolition he could not do due to time constraints would be accomplished by his successor since the government is a continuum.

*** The Aerospace and Aviation Minister claimed to have made aviation better than he met the industry seven and half years ago.

The President-elect, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has been cautioned along with the government soon to constitute, not to step on the banana peel the outgoing Minister of Aerospace and Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika, has carefully laid all around the industry for the in-coming government and which is capable of causing hemorrhage in the national economy.

According to a statement by the Spokesperson for the Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, who is also the proprietor of United Nigeria Airline, accepting the contraption called Nigeria Air Ltd, “would definitely and ultimately hurt the Nigerian economy and destroy millions of existing jobs in favour of one or two individuals and a foreign country”.

Prof. Okonkwo said what irked the airline operators most was the flagrant disdain Mr. Hadi Sirika exhibited despite the unambiguous pronouncement by the court to the contrary.

The statement said, “The Aviation Minister is aware of the different court orders against him and Nigeria Air. He should be aware that he is courting a charge of contempt of court as he is not above the law and cannot freely disregard the courts”.

Nigerian airline operators expressed amazement at the neck-breaking speed of the minister to accomplish within 72 hours, what his office had failed to achieve in over seven years yet, with humungous resources.

The statement noted that stakeholders and the general public had been worried as to why the minister was displaying contempt for the courts and as such, the signal fell short of a government that laid claim to democracy and regard for the rule of law, while Mr. Hadi Sirika actions were at variance to the claims by the outgoing regime.

To the outgoing government and the leadership of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, AON offered advice that the “government should understand that the actions and pronouncements of this Minister are not only impugning on the independence and integrity of the NCAA but also capable of bringing the entire industry into disrepute thereby adversely affecting the ratings of Nigeria’s airlines on the global stage”.

The AON, in the statement dubbed all the minister, had embarked upon and his utterances in the last 48 hours as “contemptuous action and an invitation to anarchy”.

However, when the leadership of any society gives no regard to the judiciary, an invitation to the rule of the jungle becomes inevitable hence, the call for the intervention of the incoming President to forestall impending doom for the highly cherished air transport industry.

AEROSPACE & AVIATION MINISTER: PMB’S REGIME VALEDICTORIAN
According to Mr. Hadi Sirika, while doing a self-appraisal of his performance in office, he announced that he had achieved all the tasks put forward to perform at the outset of the regime seven and half years ago, and as captured in the aviation minister’s roadmap.

On the aerospace and aviation university, he ticked it as achieved. He said not only would students resume studies next session at the Nile Turkish Nigerian University, Abuja, but also an Aerospace and Aviation Ministry to wit, is in place.

About the aviation leasing company, he said a foreign organization had been awarded that task at the last week’s FEC meeting. The aspect also ticked. For the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility promised seven years ago, he said last October, a Public Private Partnership, PPP, was struck with the same foreign company, which is the lead partner in the leasing arrangement. That item was also ticked.

Sirika also said all the international airports have been designated free trade zones. The item also ticked.

He mentioned the Chinese terminal at the Murtala Muhammed airport as another credit in the airport improvement program just as Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, MAKIA, experienced a remodeling. It was also ticked.

On the much talked about startup, Nigeria Air, he said the aircraft would land on Friday 26th May 2023, and later leave the shores of Nigeria for certain retrofitting in the diaspora. But the livery he assured would be adorned with the national colours. Sirika quickly added the item should also be ticked as accomplished.

Succinctly put, as much as an aircraft with the national colour touches Nigerian soil today, the national carrier promised and of which generous annual budgetary allocation was made to date, would give the minister a great deal of accomplishment that the national airline is delivered.

He enthused, “We will proceed to go and do the retrofitting and bring back those airplanes. So we have achieved a hundred percent (100%) of the roadmap”

He said the airport concession had been done notwithstanding obstacles as Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, and the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport had after a meticulous bidding process awarded to eminently qualified local and international firms that followed through the very rigorous and thorough process.

Reminded of the much-vaunted airport city, he’s wont to call aerotropolis, which was to cause the demolition of the office buildings housing staff of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, in Lagos. A similar fate awaited the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA’s office in Lagos, the same fate for the Lagos office of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA.

On the planned demolition of offices for the aerotropolis at the Lagos airport, Sirika said, “The only one item remaining on my table, and is in the handing over note, and in the roadmap is the aerotropolis. Even that one the groundwork had been done” Sirika affirmed.

The aerospace minister further pronounced thus, “And finally in Lagos, FAAN headquarters will be demolished and make way for hotels, cinemas, though I couldn’t do it but my successor will see the record and the blueprint and take appropriate action towards achieving the aerotropolis in Lagos”.

How else can a valedictorian be distinguished?

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