Alvin M. Keeling 
By Gabriel Agbeja/Abuja
Aviation Minister Senator Hadi Sirika led a team on an inspection tour of two successfully conceded airports in Brasilia and Istanbul.
The team included officials from the ministry, agencies and aviation industry unions, according to ministry spokesman James Odaudu.
Sirika said the tour is part of efforts to ensure the airport’s concession program is transparent, inclusive and candor in choosing the right model.
Sirika said the essence of the visit was to dispel all doubts and suspicions regarding the federal government’s sincerity regarding the concession program and to reassure the workers about the inherent benefits of the program.
The minister said the choice of the two airports was based on their popularity, size and concession success.
Sirika further said that the realization of the two airports visited would serve as a guide on the concession model and contribute to the success of the program in Nigeria.
He maintained that the government is determined to maintain the principles of transparency and accountability that have been the hallmark of the process from the beginning until the final delivery of the project in the country.
According to him, the two airports presented his team with visual accounts of their transition and the positive impact of their concessions.
The team that visited Istanbul Airport in Turkey and Brasilia Airport in Brazil with the Minister included the Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, Captain Alkali Modibbo, the Acting Director General of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Matthew Pwajok, Airport Concessions Transaction Advisor, Dr. Abba Ibrahim, and Chief Executive Officer, Infrastructure Concessions Regulatory Commission, Michael Ohiani.
Also in the entourage were the Minister’s Chief Technical Assistant, Yusuf Anas, the Minister’s Special Assistant for Administration, Ahmed Sanusi, the Secretary General of the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) , Saidu Abdulrazak, the General Secretary of NUATE, Ocheme Abah, and Adenike Adesola (Cabin Service Supervisor)
