Nigeria’s aviation sector has recorded another history with the recent announcement by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, that the hitherto exemption of some people categorised as the VIPs from paying airport access toll and parking fees at the airports across the country has come to an end.
The fees are paid before being allowed to drive into any of the airports including the international airports.
Prior to the pronouncement by the minister, the officials and the concessionaires of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) put in charge of the fees collections at the toll gates across the airports had been exposed to inhuman treatments in the hands of the aides of these VIPs who often unleashed havoc on the officials for failing to give their master’s immediate free access into the airports.
For daring to challenge the so-called ‘VIPs,’ some of the officials had been subjected to thorough beating and, at times, detained for doing their jobs.
These so-called VIPs consisting of different characters for years have defrauded the government through their exemptions from paying so little to the purse of FAAN and at the end of the day still rush to condemn FAAN over poor infrastructures at the same airports.
Quoting from the Minister of Aviation’s position after the last week Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, “the government was losing over 82 percent of the revenue it should have earned from the e-tags that provide access to the airport” through their exemption from paying such fees.
Though the minister’s submission to the presidency had exempted the President and his Vice President from paying such fees, the good news is that the President overruled the submission saying he and his Vice must comply with the directive.
The minister deserves to be commended for being able to push through this memoranda as it will definitely save billions of naira that the government through the airports authorities have been losing to this group of so-called ‘Very Important Persons’ and government officials who due to their ‹above the law’ treatment they have been using the airports facilities free of charge and ripping off other Nigerias while they should have shown good leadership examples.
The development has gone to confirm the notion that there are different laws for different category of Nigerians such as the law for the’sacred cows’ who belong to the class of the VIPs, Corpirate groups, the wealthy and the uniform personnel. Belonging to this class of people automatically gives you the temerity to have access to anything you want even at the expense of the others who are in the majority but lack the financial muscle and connection to belong to the inner caucus.
The other group is where you will find the ordinary masses who unfortunately fall into the category where draconian laws are applied with a sledge hammer as against the lawlessness of the VIPs who get away with their illegalities since there is money and power.
Therefore, Keyamo having the audacity to stop this irresponsible and daylight robbery by this privileged few, not only as he made history but has shown that he means business to pursue the revenue generation drive of the President Bola Tinubu’s agenda, which has hitherto been targeted at the masses.
As cheering as the news about the scrapping of toll exemptions from the VIPs and the government officials is meant to be, many key players are still nursing the doubt about its implementation for so many reasons ranging from the lack of the enabling law that will make it binding on the identified groups, the inability to clearly spell out the category of those who can no longer access the airports toll free.
Due to the lack of clarity on those who actually belong to the VIP and the government officials, there is bound to be a clash of interest particularly between the aviation authorities and the uniform personnel who may not want to succumb to the directives on the excuse that they are serving the country as if they are not being paid.
It, therefore, becomes pertinent for the minister to clearly back the directive with law and come out categorically with the detailed list of those who can no longer use their positions to defraud the airport authorities.
Failure to clarify this may create problems for the officials and the concessionaires manning those airports’ toll gates as there are some uniform personnel who are known for flouting rules.
No official will dare challenge such uniform personnels whose aides have in their possessions arms which they are ready to fire in the course of protecting or shielding their superiors from paying such airport access fees.
The attitudes of some of the uniform personnels have become one of the problems many agencies of government are grappling which can be attested to by even commuter bus drivers on the road where uniform personnel of all shades board buses without paying their fares on the excuse that they are service men who work for their fatherland.
As the uniform personnel have been continuing with this illegality with reckless abandon without any law backing their actions, this same scenario may play out at the airports with the scrapping of toll exemptions for all VIPs and other government officials.
Other group that may make the directive difficult to implement may likely include the governors who have been used to blasting their sirens to announce their presence at the airports’ toll gates to clear the way for them to access the airports free of charge.
Thank God the minister is a legal icon who is conversant with the manner these people use their positions and powers to break the laws of the land, it is therefore expected that he will do all the needful to ensure this free access to the airports is fully backed by the law that will make its implementation seamless for the FAAN workers and their concessionaires.
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