By Ochereome Nnanna
FIRST, I will give you a concise summary of the story. Then, I will discuss the significance of it to you, as an air traveller or patriot concerned for the rapid development of our infrastructure.

In those days when the Nigeria Airways, Okada Air, Kabo Air, Triax Airlines and the others were the main domestic operators, the domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, stood where the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two, MMA2, currently stands. But it was no more than a makeshift shack, where ticket touts and currency Mallams ruled the roost and air travel was hellish.

When in 2000 the place went up in flames, some of us, though pained at the loss of public and private property, were not so sad to see it go. In line with the new fad of public/private partnership model of infrastructural development, the President Olusegun Obasanjo regime in April 2003 gave the rebuilding of the terminal out to a concessionaire.

We later heard a Nigerian company known as Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, BASL, had won the concession. I must confess I do not know whether actual competitive bidding was involved.

We were told the company would build, operate and transfer, BOT, the terminal back to government over 12 years. We also read in the papers that the company was being supported with funds from some of the successfully consolidated banks.

In February 2007, five months before the Obasanjo regime handed over to a new regime, the project was almost ready. Apart from the Terminal building which meets international standards, a gigantic three-floor parking lot was constructed. Perhaps due to the unexpected huge cost, the period of concession was extended from 12 to 36 years.

I expected concerned industry stakeholders to raise a ruckus about it. Though the original 12 years was rather short and could not allow the investors to recoup their money and make profits, adding 24 extra years seemed way too much.

Nobody blew the whistle to alert the general public of any insider abuse or corrupt self-service by public officers packaging the deal.

It was not until the facility was commissioned and put to use that some groups, such as Arik Air, National Union of Air Transport Services Employees, NUATE, industry regulators, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, kicked.

They challenged the matter  in the courts. They lost the case there and at the Court of Appeal. The groups now opposed to Bi-Courtney’s windfall are composed of professionals and workers within the aviation sector. Where were they when the extension was being packaged?

Why did they not raise the alarm then? Why did they not take the matter before the Senate and House of Reps Committees on Aviation for a proper public hearing to be held to determine an appropriate concession tenure that would yield returns to the investors and yet protect public interests?

Why have they chosen to close the stable gate long after the horse had escaped? It is very likely that the same people who are complaining aloud played roles in the variation, but due to fear or corruption they kept mute and allowed the deal to be sealed only to start a noise when a new regime came into position.

We must find a way to punish public officers who, either due to negligence or corrupt self-preservation, allow public property and interests under their care to be abused. That is the only honourable thing we can do in this mess.

The failed search for a reversal in court is well deserved. I congratulate the courts for forcing our public institutions to stay true to a pact legally and duly entered into. If people we employ to look after the interests of the general public are foolish enough to allow the nation to be cheated while they watch they should also be kind enough to endure with us the pain of their folly.

I am saying this because Nigeria as a nation has suffered untold damage to the system as a result of going into pacts and backing out unilaterally. It has become a habit with our government, especially the Federal Government. Public officers do not pay quality attention to the deals they are letting Nigeria into, perhaps because they feel they can always go back on their words of honour. It was this poor attitude that led the Federal Military Government under General Yakubu Gowon to sign a peace pact with the Military Government of the Eastern Region under Lt Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

When the federal delegation returned to Lagos they conspired with civil servants and foreign agents and not only backed out of the pact but also started putting in place inflammatory policies. This forced the East to announce the birth of the Republic of Biafra. The rest of the story is history and we are all still reeling from its effects.

This singular national display of lack of honour and character has continued to rule the mentality of the elite and its bureaucrats. Often times, government signs agreements with Labour groups and abandons the effort as soon as strikes are called off. Government is now seen as the greatest liar. Nobody wants to believe government anymore.

If we are serious about developing our infrastructure through private capital investors we must be ready to adhere strictly to the terms of agreement once mutually reached. The main task is to ensure we protect our interests at the point of negotiation. Bi-Courtney must also improve its poor maintenance of MMA2. Industry regulators must check its pricing excesses.