Airports Concession: Organised labour condemns handing over national assets to companies

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC has condemned plans by the Federal Government to concession the three major airports in the country.

They are the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and the Port Harcourt International Airport.

NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, in a statement on Tuesday, vowed that labour would resist the move.

He said it would be a grand insult to Nigerians if the Federal Government, after spending a lot of public funds on airports, handed them over to private sector players.

Wabba further condemned the plot for profit maximisation at the expense of the tax-paying public.

NLC recalled that the current concession drive of the federal government did not just start.

He called the Buhari government planned action reactionary, predatory and self-serving.

The labour leader noted that giving away the country’s prized national property to private companies was unjust and immoral.

He stated that this violates Chapter 2, Section 16 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy.

Looking at the consequences, NLC warned that very few workers would be engaged to do the work that many would ordinarily be required to do.

“We will not give up or surrender our public assets to a few well-connected Nigerians, regardless of how powerful they think they are,” Wabba added.