FG: Airports Security Agents to Bear Arms, National Carrier to Start This Year

FG: Airports Security Agents to Bear Arms, National Carrier to Start This Year

As parts of plans by the federal government to ensure security at the nation's airports, President Muhammadu Buhari has granted approval for airport security to bear arms.

Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed this today while briefing journalists after the first Federal Executive Council meeting which President Buhari presided.

Also, at the briefing, the Minister for Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, and the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, were also in attendance.

Sirika said the president gave his approval last week.

According to him, "We are very serious about aviation security. Just last week, the p‎resident approved that aviation security should bear arms.

"So we are ‎trying to make them take the form and shape of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the United States with K-9 ‎dogs, handcuffs, guards, batons, light weapons among others.

"The ‎minister of interior is helping us in that regard with the directive of the president. They are partnering us and other stakeholders to ‎keep our airports secure. All these will be unveiled at the next stakeholders’ meeting."

The minister said the position of the present administration was that the country needs a national carrier.

He said: "When we came in, we were very clear on our targets, goals and what we set out to achieve and we did say that Nigeria needs a national airline.

"The national airline will be one that the government will have no hand in, and normally, it can have three percent. It will be private sector led and private sector driven.

"Except with the Ethiopian airline, it has been proven that the government doesn't do well with this kind of venture.

"We are going to have a national carrier; it is on course and because it is a Public Private Participation (PPP) thing, it has to go through all the due process.

"So, it is time consuming but I hope very soon, before the end of the year, we will have a very strong viable national airline."

He said if any airline in Nigeria has the capacity to deploy several aircraft with seamless operation; non-disruptive; provide the service effectively; go the long haul; take advantage and give other international airlines a run for their money, the government would allow it run as a national carrier.

However, the minister noted that Nigeria did not have such a private airline.

He said: "We don't need to get involved because there is none yet. The Nigerian airways used to do this but in the wisdom of the then government, it liberalised the sector, and because of the absence of Nigeria’s capacity most of these airlines will come and leave as fast as they came in.

"But we are addressing all of these. We are going to establish this national carrier and it will give good service. This is the solution because Nigeria has the market, we are 180 million people; we are in West Africa and in the region has 450 million people and Nigeria is the major player.

"If you add the Central Africa which is in the central belt, we are 600million people which is equivalent to the US market and also equal to the European market."

‎The minister also said FEC had approved the completion of Kaduna terminal building and the variation of the project cost.