By Aliyu Ibrahim

What happens within the confines of a well-structured unit of socialisation, known as the family in a civilised society, is also, by extension, re-enacted within the workplace.

The re-enactment of any well-defined behaviour outside of the family boundaries, such as the workplace, is, therefore, anchored on the solid foundation of both primary and secondary socialisation processes, that define human behaviour in early, middle and late adulthood.

Similarly, having a good team within a workplace like the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, is like a man who has raised a team of well-behaved children, who are instinctually attuned to their individual and collective trained conditioned-behavioural processes, which define their reaction-processes within and outside their immediate physical environments as well as their responses to ethical, moral and professional stimuli.

The above scenario aptly offers a vivid picture of the newly rebranded management and board of FAAN headed by Mrs Olubunmi Kuku as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer as well as Dr Abdullahi Ganduje as Chairman, Governing Board of FAAN.

For almost 14 years, before the present administration, FAAN had no Governing Board. A new Board emerged when President Bola Tinubu corrected the 14-year anomaly by appointing the Ganduje-led Governing Board as well as emplacing a management tact-team led by Mrs Kuku.

Only recently, on November 17, 2025, FAAN brought together aviation stakeholders, which included industry experts, investors and financiers at the Eko Hotel & Suites Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, for the 3rd FAAN National Aviation Conference.

Ganduje started the opening lines of his speech thus, “This two-day gathering is initiated by the FAAN as the 2025 3rd FAAN National Aviation Conference. It was designed to provide a forum where critical stakeholders would discuss vital issues, values, norms, policy directions, challenges as well as investment opportunities, as they affect the nation’s aviation ecosystem.”

The well-researched address delivered by Ganduje, a 1976 PhD holder was as informative as it was educationally enthralling.

The topic, ‘Elevating the Nigerian Aviation Industry Through Investment Partnerships and Global Engagements’, Ganduje explained, is not only apt but timely, considering Nigeria’s dire need for regional and international collaboration, development and global standards.

Impressed by the array of national, regional and international aviation experts, key players and allied stakeholders who showed promise with their robust knowledge base, expertise, competences and professionalism at the two-day action-packed conference, Ganduje used the instance of the outing to present a positively reinforcing democratic scorecard of the Tinubu-led administration in the aviation sub-sector of the Nigerian economy in the last 30 months.

He remarked, “President Tinubu has, within a brief 30-month period of being in power, been able to set the tone for Nigeria’s aviation development. So far, through the robust professional guidance of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN) as well as the Managing Director of FAAN, no fewer than three international airports in Nigeria had been given some facelift.”

Ganduje stated, “Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano; Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, as well as the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, had undergone tremendous rehabilitation work, bringing them to acceptable international best standards, even as the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, is to have a second runway.”

He informed the international audience that the new Governing Board of FAAN had already commenced nationwide oversight functions across the airports in the six geopolitical zones.

These official fact-finding visits, Ganduje stated, would enable us to see for ourselves the ongoing reforms by the management of FAAN and offer insights into the level of progress so far recorded and the challenges being faced by the FAAN management.

Explaining why the FAAN Governing Board had to first undergo a fact-finding inspection tour of existing facilities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport before the start of the conference, Ganduje said the move became necessary because the Tinubu government is one that believes in establishing exactitude in terms of problem-solving in the area of development administration.

The former governor of Kano State said having physically visited the MAKIA and MMIA, “the first-hand experience garnered during such visits helped us in shaping the discussions, as issues, values and norms affecting the aviation industry in Nigeria were deliberated frankly and without any bias in a no-holds-barred manner.

According to Ganduje, ensuring the strict implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda policy directives as they relate to aviation standards, safety, best practices, infrastructural development, positive customer service attitude, customer service relations and revenue generation across all the country’s airports are key in Nigeria, having a vibrant and rebranded aviation ecosystem that would be the pride of all Nigerians, Africans and the world at large.

He said, “Let me reiterate the commitment of the board and management of FAAN towards delivering world-class airport infrastructure, boosting operational efficiency, improving security architecture and safety in addition to enhancing passenger experience.”

In Ganduje’s wisdom, these human-driven experiences can only be achieved through the needed collaboration and close relationship with investors, regulators, operators, development partners and even innovators in the aviation sub-sector of the Nigerian economy.

The two-day conference, which provided very good lasting impressions, did not come to a close without useful discussions on the concept of airport commercialisation, aviation safety, light and bulk cargo development, revenue optimisation, connectivity, public-private partnership, as well as modern transport systems, which are all issues critical to Nigeria’s economy.

Commending Tinubu for providing the policy directives upon which the Nigerian aviation sector is finding a new direction, Ganduje revealed that between now and the third anniversary of the Tinubu-led administration, all the airports in the six geopolitical zones would wear new looks.

There were no doubts about the fact that all conference participants contributed actively by re-examining all the existing programmes and policies within the aviation sector, as these intellectual property input resonated in the quality of the conference outcome, via its communiqué.

As Ganduje wrapped up his thoughts, conference participants wholeheartedly agreed with him on strong determination demonstrated by President Tinubu, in seeing the urgent revival of the aviation industry in Nigeria. For instance, Ganduje’s thoughts to the effect that Tinubu has, within 30 months of assuming office, been able to turn in some milestone achievements is encouraging.

Creating an enabling business environment for private airline operators to thrive and excel is not only commendable but a big plus for the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government.

Ganduje noted that Keyamo and Kuku had professionally and aggressively been driving the aviation reforms designed and announced by Tinubu.

Like Ganduje, Kuku welcomed the two-day conference by calling for renowned world investors in the aviation industry to plough in their strategic clout, experience and experience-filled fiscal instruments to invest in Nigeria’s aviation sector.

She stated, “Strategic partnerships and renewed stakeholder collaboration are urgently needed to elevate Nigeria’s aviation industry into a new era of growth.”

Describing the conference as historic and timely, Kuku explained that global aviation was experiencing unprecedented rebound and expansion.

“The International Air Transport Association forecasts global passenger traffic to hit a record 4.99 billion in 2025, while Airports Council International projects a surge of 9.7 billion passengers by 2040 – with Africa poised to drive much of the growth.”

Africa, Kuku emphasised, is the next frontier, and at the heart of this opportunity lies Nigeria.

She continued, “These numbers are not just statistics; they are signals of billions of journeys, connections and opportunities waiting to be unlocked.”

Kuku highlighted ongoing Federal Government investments, noting that six airports and many runways are undergoing government-funded facelift.

She used the instance of the conference to thank Tinubu for what she described as a “decisive commitment” to the sector’s growth, adding that in the past two years alone, FAAN’s accredited school trained 7,320 aviation personnel, reflecting a major boost in technical capacity and workforce readiness.

Further, she informed the audience that the agency had also strengthened its international collaborations, including a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding with ATOM Aviation Training Services in Dubai, designed to enhance global best practices across Nigeria’s airport operations.

These, she explained, resulted in the improvement of service quality, which had been scaled up further, through the Culture Change programme, which is a psycho-social tool that ushered behavioural modification within the FAAN workplace, reshaping the work ethic of no fewer than 4,000 employees, fostering a more professional and customer-focused workforce.

As FAAN concluded the conference, stakeholders, showed optimism that based on the positive reforms so far introduced by the Presidential Renewed Hope Agenda Policy Directives on aviation, Nigeria will, in the very near future, become the leading aviation hub in the West and Central sub-Saharan Africa.

*Dr Ibrahim (MFR), a political scientist, media executive and public affairs commentator, is the National Convener, National Agenda For Tinubu 2027