After many years of the failure of the successive governments to inaugurate the governing boards for the different aviation agencies, all the lost hopes became rekindled last week when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the appointment of the present Chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, as the board chairman of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
For close to fifteen years, the running of the agencies were left in the hands of the different ministers who had served under the different governments.
The failure to inaugurate the governing boards was mainly responsible for the lethargy of shenanigans that had affected governance and the overbearing attitudes of the ministers who became uncontrollable without any opportunity for checks and balances.
Due to lack of the boards, the ministers ran the agencies like their personal enterprises without recourse to the acts that established them, implementing retrogressive and unfriendly policies.
As years rolled by, the different governments through the ministers frustrated the constitution of the boards and thus making the ministers too powerful and influential at the detriment of the Chief Executive Officers of the agencies.
Despite the sincere calls from key players in the sector for the constitution of the boards, the governments failed to harken to their yearnings while things continued to go astray.
With the coming of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government, stakeholders were confident that the missing critical part of governance will urgently be brought back.
While the first year of the government ended still without the boards in place, the agitation continued in the new year until the last week appointment of the chairman of the board of FAAN.
The appointment of Ganduje as the FAAN board Chairman, though has been greet with mixed feelings following the uncertainty over his choice and that of other boards yet to be announced, many key players have called for the announcement of the full members of the FAAN board and those of other agencies.
Some of the key players who have called for the immediate announcement of the FAAN board members premised their positions on what they called the controversy that surrounded Ganduje while he was the governor of Kano State.
The full composition of the FAAN board, the key players argued will give room for other members to checkmate Ganduje against any misdemeanor.
Speaking on the announcement of only the chairman of board while other members were yet to be named, the managing director of Centurion Aviation Security, Group. Captain John Ojikutu, retired, described the appointment of the APC leader as an attempt to cause distraction to the controversy trailing the outrageous inflation of the Abuja airport second runway.
According to him: “I hope it is not an attempt to cover up the issues on the second Runway for the Abuja Airport, except if the FAAN Management Board is to investigate the contract. I expect the NASS too to investigate.
In the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer of Selective Security International, Mr. Ayo Obilana who said he did not believe in the appointment declared: “Until they are sworn into office, I won’t believe in such appointment. Of course It’s news to me.”
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For a member of the Aviation Round Table, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, President Tinubu should be commended for commencing the constitution of the boards.
His words: “It’s commendable that the president has started. Yes the FAAN board chairman has been named but we have not seen other members of the board. I just hope they follow through by using the act to see the qualifications and the numbers to be appointed.
“I want to keep fingers crossed to see the full appointments. Looking at the man named as the chairman of FAAN board, there has been an uproar with people raising concerns about issues that occurred when he was the governor of Kano State. But we need to wait for the composition of the members of the board, hoping it I’ll be a mixture of professionals and experienced people who can at least support him and also keep him in check. These are the things that will make the FAAN board effective, so for now it’s a little bit hasty to comment on the quality of the appointment. But we must commend Mr President for listening to the yearnings of the people and hoping the full membership of the FAAN board and boards of other agencies. The composition must not be too much of politicians but technocrats who can assist in the governance of these agencies.”
