FOR THE RECORD

OPENING REMARKS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF AVIATION, PRINCESS STELLA ADAEZE ODUAH, OON ON THE OCASSION OF THE AVIATION MASTERPLAN ‘’WORKERS’ BUY-IN’’ HELD AT THE GRAND BALLROOM HALL, LAGOS ORIENTAL HOTEL ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 26, 2014

 

My Dear Colleagues,

 

I want to very specially welcome you to today’s event, which is critical to the continuous and successful implementation of the Aviation Sector Master Plan. Some of you would wonder why such an event is coming up so early in the New Year after the Christmas and New Year celebrations. Well, it is just to remind us that in a sector where safety is the watch-word, we do not need to carry-over too much of the merriments, else we lose sight of where we are headed. But more fundamentally is the fact that after all the successes of last year, we do not need to lose any momentum.

When I came on board in July of 2011, I promised that together, we must work to reposition the sector ‘’ to become a world class provider of safe, secure and comfortable air Transport sector that is self-sustaining and pivotal to the socio-economic growth’’ of our great country, Nigeria. To achieve this dream we needed to do something different, something fundamental, and something that had not been tried before in the history of the sector. We needed a compass that will direct our path, something that will enable us keep our focus and something that will live beyond you and I in the aviation sector. But beyond everything else, we needed something that is practical and workable.

My Dear Colleagues, that was why and how the Aviation Sector Master Plan and Implementation Road Map were born. But putting together this document was never an easy task. I did not just assemble a group of individuals to produce this document for the sector. After going round all the 22 airports across the country to have first-hand knowledge of the Status of the industry, I knew it was right and proper to have a second, third and even; fourth opinion on the State of the industry. To achieve this, I invited IOS Partners, International Aviation Consultants from the United States who had carried out a World Bank Study of the Nigeria’s Aviation Sectorin 2006 to brief me comprehensively on their findings.

I also invited an International Consultant to carry out a Study on the Financial Status of the Agencies under the Ministry to determine their true financial state of health. I did not just stop there. I went ahead to invite a Human Resources Consultancy firm to do a Study on the Human Resources Status and Practices and requirements at the parastatals under the Ministry.

Gentlemen and Ladies, the three different Consultants turned in their findings and there were a sad commentary on the Nigerian Aviation industry. All three reports spoke of the rot, decay and dilapidation of the sector, the result of decades of neglect. Gentlemen and Ladies, you and I know the true state of the sector at the time I came on board so I am not going to regale or bore you with all the sordid details. But we were not going to dwell on that gloomy picture.

So, armed with the findings of the three reports, and coupled with my private sector experience, I assembled a crack team made up of the MD’s/CEO’s of the Agencies and other technical experts to fashion out the way forward. To cut a rather long story short; after two long, gruelling months, the Aviation Sector Master Plan and Implementation Road Map were born.

I went to this length explaining the genesis of the Document for two principal reasons. One, to re-assure you all that that Document is a product of a well-thought-out process. Secondly, and perhaps most fundamentally, to remind us all that this Document is our brain-child, it is our baby. My Dear Colleagues, the Aviation Master Plan is our collective document.It is not President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan or Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah’s document alone. We therefore have to step forward and take full ownership of it and take responsibility for its successful implementation.

Now, what is this Master Plan all about? What is in it for the sector, for Nigeria as a nation and also very importantly, what is in it for the Aviation sector worker? Quite a lot, I daresay. In a general sense, the Master Plan, as stated earlier is the compass that guides our path to the true, real and sustainable development of the sector. It makes adequate provision for a programmed development of critical infrastructure in the industry, caters to the safety and security needs of the sector as well as the welfare/capacity building requirements of staff. It has the potential to attract the much-needed Foreign Direct Investment into the sector and help grow the economy. And above all, the Master Plan provides the surest path to the self-sustainability of the sector, leading ultimately to better condition and standard of living of the sector workforce.

As is already evident, it is through the guided implementation of the Master Plan that we have been able to rehabilitate and remodel all 22 airports across the country and commence the construction of five new International Terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano. We have also been able to, using the Master Plan of course; greatly improve the safety and security of our airspace through the deployment of modern, state-of-the-art safety-critical infrastructure and equipment. Today, our airspace is safer than it has ever been, courtesy of the implementation of the Master Plan.

The aerotropolis and perishable cargo initiatives of our Transformation Agenda are also products of the aviation sector Master Plan. Through the aerotropoli, we will be able to create millions of jobs, boost the sector and grow the national economy. The perishable cargo initiative will also empower our rural farmers through exposure to local and international markets, transform rural communities into industrial clusters, provide jobs for our teeming unemployed youth population, serve as a disincentive to the growing trend of rural-urban migration, and ultimately put food on the table of many more Nigerian families.

The net effect of the faithful and vigorous implementation of the Master Plan is an evolution of an aviation sector that is safe, secure, self-sustaining, a major contributor to the GDP (our projection is 6 per cent by 2015) and one that guarantees passenger comfort and satisfaction.

Now, what does all this mean for the aviation sector worker? The answer is simple. We shall be able to have more revenues to contribute to the federal coffers and retain a reasonable percentage for our welfare and well-being. With more investment in the sector and more monies in the coffers of the Agencies, we would be able to initiate welfare schemes that possibly take care of staff holidays, improve access to Medicare, enhanced salaries and allowances, create greater access to local and international capacity building programmes and a general improvement in the condition of service of the average aviation sector worker.

My Dear Colleagues, the foregoing is a snippet of the huge promise which the Aviation Master Plan holds for the sector, for the nation and for our individual and collective interests as aviation sector workers. There is no reason why an aviation sector worker cannot have the same standard of living as his counterparts in the CBN, the NNPC, the FIRS or other more ‘glamorous’ federal government parastatals! The difference lies in the choice or choices we make, starting from this very moment. Our destiny is in our own hands as our fortunes are, like Siamese twins, intrinsically tied to the fortunes of the sector. So why don’t we take a decision today to improve the fortunes of the sector in order to guarantee a higher standard of living for ourselves?

I have made a personal decision; taken an oath before God, Man and Country to contribute my best in order to leave the Aviation sector better than I met it. This is a personal commitment for which I will give my all. I urge all of us here, and our subordinate staff to step up today and make this commitment too for the good of our sector and our nation.

Needless to say that in the course of our intervention efforts to reposition the sector, we may have stepped on some toes considered sacred in the past. Obviously our modest effort to have a paradigm shift in the way the sector was managed in past has unsettled these categories of persons who have ever since, vowed to fight dirty and distract us from our set objectives. But we have a message for them- we refuse to be intimidated, distracted or derailed. Let me take this opportunity to reassure you that as co-drivers on the Transformation train, we would not lose sight of our destination. With you on our side we are convinced that those whose desire is to drag us back to the sordid past will not have their way.

This brings us to the reasons why we are here today. In simple terms, we are here today to have another opportunity to take a more critical look at this beautiful document thatwe collectively produced with a view to gaining greater understanding and insight of its contents and how well or otherwise we have kept faith with its implementation; knowing, as it were that it holds the key to our future and the future of the industry we love so much.

In a way, the Theme of today’s event, ‘’Aviation Master Plan: Workers’ Buy-In’’ could be misleading. It tends to give the wrong impression that Aviation Sector Workers are yet to ‘buy into’ the Master Plan but we all know that this is not the case. The Buy-In we are therefore talking about is the need for greater individual and collective interest in not only understanding the document, but also its implementation. Our objectives for today’s event can be summarised thus:

-         To sensitise aviation sector workforce on the Master Plan for the Sector

-         To sensitise the workforce on the implementation strategies for the Master Plan

-         To deliberate on the short, medium and long term initiatives of the Master Plan, and;

-         To establish the Master Plan as a ‘’Social Contract’’ between the Leadership of the Sector and the industry workforce

Today’s forum is therefore a platform for us to talk frankly to ourselves as family, discuss the document, ask questions and seek clarifications where necessary and above all, appraise the challenges of its implementation with a view to making useful suggestions on how we can get the best from this wonderful document.

This session is therefore, deliberately intended to be highly interactive. I urge you all to feel free to speak up your minds on what you think we need to do better or differently in order to take our sector to the next level. As I told you in my Christmas/New Year Message, this sector belongs to all of us; we must therefore give our all towards its transformation. Our job has been made easier through the overwhelming support (budgetary, moral and otherwise) which Mr President and the Federal Executive Council has extended to the sector. With such high level of support and commitment, we cannot afford to fail. In fact, we have no reason to fail and we cannot afford to betray this trust reposed in us.

On my part as Supervising Minister, I will continue to confer with you from time to time on how best; together we can move the sector forward. Your welfare and well-being also remains a top priority to me and I will continue to do my best to enhance your career growth and development. As the saying goes, we are all in this together.

My Dear Colleagues, it is now your turn to join the conversation. But I must first crave your indulgence to invite the DG’s/CEO’s of the Parastatals to take us briefly through, if only to refresh our memory and set the tone for the interaction; on aspects of the Master Plan that are relevant to their individual Agencies.

 

Thank you very much and God Bless.