‘How many times?’ As stakeholders baffled over Tinubu’s renaming of airports

Confusion has taken over the country’s aviation sector following Monday’s announcement of the renaming of 15 local and international airports across the country by President Bola Tinubu.

It would be recalled that former president, Muhammadu Buhari, through his ex-Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had also announced renaming same airports in the last minutes of his administration on May 27, the last weekend in the same month before the May 29 handover ceremony.

The renaming of airports then announced by Buhari was also undertaken along with the reconstitution of Boards of agencies in the Aviation ministry, hours before the Monday, May 29 change of government.

However, to the surprise of operators in the industry, the Aviation ministry announced that President Tinubu had renamed the same set of airports earlier ‘renamed’ by ex-President Buhari and announced by Sirika.

Interestingly, the Aviation Ministry referred to a memo dated June 1, 2023, and signed by Mrs Joke Olatunji for the Director of Airport Operations as grounds for the latest action. This is even as the memo itself carried a date of June 23, 2023.

All the activities suggest no reference to May, the month of handover of government.

“I am directed to refer to a memo with reference number, FMA/T4464/7090/T78/647 dated 1^st June, 2023 from the Federal Ministry of Aviation on the renaming of some federal airports after notable Nigerians.

“Please kindly be informed that the under-listed have been renamed by the President as part of reforms of the Aviation sector as shown:

Please take note and reflect in your memos and letters,” the statement read, Monday.

In the May memo, which was signed by Head of Press and Public Affairs in the Ministry, Odutayo Oluseyi, the Buhari government had announced that the Akure International Airport has been renamed to the Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu; the Benin Airport – now Oba Akenzua II International Airport Benin; Dutse International Airport – now Muhammed Nuhu Sanusi.

Ebonyi International Airport – now Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo Airport; Gombe International Airport – Brigadier Zakari Maimalari; Ibadan International Airport – Samuel Ladoke Akintola; Ilorin International Airport – General Tunde Abdullahi Idiagbon; Kaduna International Airport – Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina; and the Maiduguri International Airport – President Muhammadu Buhari.

Others are: Makurdi International Airport – Joseph Sarwuan Tarka; Minna International Airport – Mall. Abubakar Imam; Nasarawa International Airport – Sheikh Usman Danfodio; Osubi International Airport – Alfred Diete Spiff; Port Harcourt International Airport – Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo; and the Yola International Airport – Lamido Aliyu Mustapha Airport.

The renaming of the 15 airports was one of last minute decision carried by the embattled Sirika tenure, which also saw the reconstitution of the long-serving Aviation Boards, after many years of clamour by stakeholders for change.

The boards of agencies constituted include; the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the recently created Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).

A statement by the Head of Press and Public Affairs in the Ministry, Odutayo Oluseyi showed that the NCAA is to be chaired by Mr. Lai Are; FAAN to be chaired by Capt. Fola Akinkuotu; NAMA’s board according to the statement is to be chaired by Capt. Bashir Sodangi; NSIB to be chaired by Engr. Ezekiel Danboyi Zang; NiMet board, the statement informed to be chaired by Dr. Imoro Kubor;  the NCAT Board  will be headed by Capt. Jonathan Ibrahim.

 “It should be noted that, in line with the recently promulgated and gazetted Acts of the Agencies, membership of the Boards are mostly institutional representations. The President therefore considered the requirements in approving the memberships and hopes that they will play the necessary roles in furthering the development of the sector as a new administration takes over,” the statement read.

Ironically, the same Boards have again been dissolved barely a month in office following the decision by Tinubu earlier this month announcing dissolution of all Governing Boards of all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government with immediate effect.

Last Monday, June 26, the same set of 15 airports in the country was renamed in the statement signed by Mrs Joke Olatunji for the Director of Airport Operations, which listed them in the same order.

However, with the earlier decision taken to rename airports in May, 2023 and its announcement effected same month, aviation stakeholders are left asking how come the statement released, Monday, June 26 claimed the decision was made by the sitting President Tinubu.

This is also they wondered if the initial renaming was one the controversial policy decisions announced by ex-Minister Sirika, along with the Nigeria Air saga.

“Are we renaming the airports twice? Because I don’t understand; I remember Sirika announcing that the government had renamed the airports, and now this government is renaming the same airports. Is this another one of those Sirika magics,” an Ebonyi-based air freight operator, Mr. Chudi Nwali told Oracle Today newspaper.

Interestingly, the letter conveying the renaming of the latter and its reference date did not state the month of May as when the decision was taken, as it indicated that the decision was embarked upon from the start of the present administration on May 29.