*As Minister Keyamo To Meet Unions Next Week, Operations Resume After Promise Of Monday Meeting
Following growing discontent over the recently signed Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, concession agreement, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, is set to meet with labour unions in the air transport sector over claims that issues affecting workers were ignored.
This was revealed after some aviation workers embarked on an industrial action at the airport in the early hours of Friday, leading to flight disruptions that left many passengers stranded.
Social Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, Enyili Ezekwesili, who spoke on TVC, also warned that if Aero Alliance, the concessionaire, enters the airport to carry out activities without the issues being resolved, the workers would be forced to protest again.
His words: “What happened this morning was a carryover from what transpired on Wednesday. Last week, our national presidents gathered in Enugu to inform the government that the signing of the concession agreement in Abuja did not go down well with FAAN workers, particularly the labour unions.
“We were part of the committee because the Minister of Aviation requested that we be included. We attended one or two meetings, during which we raised the issue with the minister, stressing the need for the national leadership to tour the airports and hold congresses with the workers. The minister agreed that the idea was a good one.”
“However, before we knew what was happening, the agreement was signed, even though labour-related issues concerning the workers had not been properly addressed. We objected, stating that it was not the best approach and that we needed to raise our voices to let the minister know that the issues had not been fully discussed or finalised. For that reason, we believed there was no justification for the signing to take place at that time.”
“The assurance we have received is that by next week, the minister will convene a meeting to identify where the errors can be corrected. As long as there is no handover, we have no issues until our 21 days notice expires. However, if any meeting is held or any action is taken regarding the concession agreement, including the concessionaire coming into the airport to carry out activities, we will return to the point where we stopped.”
On January 22, 2026, the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development disclosed that it had formally signed the concession agreement for the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, with Aero Alliance as the concessionaire.
Speaking during the signing, Keyamo described the event as the conclusion of a painstaking and transparent process that began several years ago.
He said: “Today is the end of a very long and tedious process regarding the concession of the Enugu Airport. The process culminated on the 31st of July, 2025, when the Federal Executive Council approved the proposal to concession the Enugu Airport, subject of course to contract.
“We did these agreements with the rights and privileges of workers uppermost in our minds. Let me say today that we have fully respected and preserved the rights of aviation workers. They have not been retrenched, their terms and conditions of employment have not changed in any way, and they remain workers of the federal government and FAAN.”
Flight operations at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, were disrupted on Friday by aviation workers protesting the Federal Government’s plan to concession the airport.
A coalition of aviation staff shut down the airport over the decision by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, to concession the facility, allegedly without adequately engaging aviation unions.
The protest left many passengers stranded, as access to the airport was restricted and flights were disrupted.
The unions involved include the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals.
In mid-January, the unions, in a joint letter to the minister signed by their general secretaries—Frances Akinjole, Sikiru Waheed and Abdul Rasaq Saidu—described the concession process as insensitive, opaque and exclusionary, warning that industrial action could follow if the decision was not reversed.
The Chairperson of ATSSSAN, Ejike Ike, told reporters at the airport on Friday that the workers shut down the airport because the Nigerian government went ahead and signed a concession agreement with a company despite the workers’ appeal that their demands be resolved before the concession.
“Yesterday, we were told that they (government officials) are coming today to take over the airport. Then the aviation staff and the union members said that they would not be here. And they decided to shut down the airport against any operations,” Mr Ike said.
The chairperson claimed, without evidence, that the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, signed the concession agreement with Aero Consortium Alliance, which he alleged is owned by a governor in the South-east.