Unions Push to Protect Workers in On-going Airport Concession

Chinedu Eze

Unions in aviation industry seem to be in a dilemma about the on-going airport concession programme being executed by the federal government.

On one side, the unions, like other Nigerians want significant improvement in airport infrastructure; so, they want the private sector to inject funds into the facilities and modernise them. On the other hand, they do not want to leave the workers they are representing in the lurch, they want to make sure their welfare is taken care of.

Since the President Ahmed Bola Tinubu administration, the unions have toned down their combativeness about this issue because they seem to believe in the way the federal government is going about the whole process.

But on Friday last week, some aviation workers at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu embarked on industrial action, protesting the concession of the airport to Aero Alliance without explicit clauses on the future of the workers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). Their suspension of work led to disruption of flight operations, which left passengers stranded.

Social Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) Enyili Ezekwesili, said issues concerning workers must be addressed before Aero Alliance would take full management of the airport or the workers would be forced to protest again.

“What happened this morning was a carry-over from what transpired on Wednesday. Last week, our national presidents gathered in Enugu to inform the government that the signing of the concession agreement in Abuja did not go down well with FAAN workers, particularly the labour unions.

“We were part of the committee because the Minister of Aviation requested that we be included. We attended one or two meetings, during which we raised the issue with the Minister, stressing the need for the national leadership to tour the airports and hold congresses with the workers. The Minister agreed that the idea was a good one.

“However, before we knew what was happening, the agreement was signed, even though labour-related issues concerning the workers had not been properly addressed. We objected, stating that it was not the best approach and that we needed to raise our voices to let the Minister know that the issues had not been fully discussed or finalised. For that reason, we believed there was no justification for the signing to take place at that time.

“The assurance we have received is that by next week, the minister will convene a meeting to identify where the errors can be corrected. As long as there is no handover, we have no issues until our 21-day notice expires. However, if any meeting is held or any action is taken regarding the concession agreement, including the concessionaire coming into the airport to carry out activities, we will return to the point where we stopped.”

The Minister had already agreed to meet with the unions on the concession of the Enugu airport. The meeting was initially slated for February 17, but was later shifted to 21.

On January 22, 2026, the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, disclosed that it had formally signed the concession agreement for the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, with Aero Alliance as the concessionaire.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, emphasised the transparent approach the Ministry adopted in the concession programme, describing the handover as the conclusion of a painstaking and transparent process that began some time ago.

“Today is the end of a very long and tedious process regarding the concession of the Enugu Airport. The process culminated on the 31st of July, 2025, when the Federal Executive Council approved the proposal to concession the Enugu Airport, subject of course to contract.

“We did these agreements with the rights and privileges of workers uppermost in our minds. Let me say today that we have fully respected and preserved the rights of aviation workers. They have not been retrenched, their terms and conditions of employment have not changed in any way, and they remain workers of the federal government and FAAN.”

After reviewing the activities and processes of his predecessors in the concession programme, Keyamo rejigged the process to make it more transparent and more open, thus throwing away the opaque process that made former efforts to concession the airports very unpopular.

The objective is that five international airports, including Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu would be given out in concession.

The Minister stated, however, that no fixed duration has been established for the concessions, but assured that the process would be transparent, and no jobs would be lost.

That assurance that no job would be lost is the major challenge the unions are facing now. In the concession agreement that gave Aero Alliance Enugu airport, the welfare of the workers was not explicitly stated; what condition that must be met before they are disengaged and what the severance package will be.

Industry stakeholders are of the view that this would have been the focus of the unions.

Staunch member of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Comrade Shola Idowu, told THISDAY that the unions will not allow any airport to be released to concessionaires until the welfare of the workers under the new arrangement is concretised.

He said that whatever is agreed on would be the term that would be used in future concession of Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano airports.

“The unions still stand their ground that the concession must include the welfare of the workers, what will be the fate of the workers under the concessionaire. We are not defiant this time because the Minister is a responsible man and knows what he is doing. I know that he will resolve the problem. Discussions are already on the dialogue table. The fate of the workers must be defined before any airport is given out to private investor. This is paramount. If there is no agreement, you cannot force the workers out. I am hopeful that the unions will sit down with the Minister and resolve this problem,” he said.

THISDAY also spoke with the Secretary General of the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), Comrade Abdulrasaq Saidu, who said that the unions are still insisting that workers welfare must be put into consideration before concession agreement is signed between the federal government and the concessionaire.

“Labour issues must be discussed before the concessionaire will take over Enugu airport,” he said.

He also frowned at the piecemeal concession arrangement embarked by the federal government, saying that this raises eyebrows, suggesting that government should face the programme and finish it in one fell swoop by concessioning the five major airports at the same time.

“The concession is piecemeal. They are supposed to be done together. They know what they are doing. They are after government money (revenue). After the huge amount of money spent on airport renovation, you said you want to concession them,” Comrade Saidu said.

He threatened that labour may escalate issues if amicable resolution is not reached in the meeting slated for February 21, 2026.

Saidu said what the unions really wanted is a situation where government concessions the airports by grouping viable and unviable airports together so that the viable airport will buoy the unviable ones, like concessioning Lagos airport with Ibadan and Akure, Abuja airport with Jos and Yola and so on.

But from indications, that choice may not be revisited because government has already moved on and was not stopped at the infancy of the arrangement.