Following a motion by the Senate directing the government to halt the demolition of offices belonging to agencies doing aviation activities at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, the Federal Government has announced that it cannot be stopped from giving development to the people.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed this on Wednesday during a briefing after the Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja.
Sirika who believes the Senate is simply an advisory council and cannot drag issues with the government, says they have a reason for overheating the issue.
Senator Biodun Olujimi who chairs the senate committee on Aviation had hours ago drawn the attention of the upper legislative chamber to the warning strike threatened by the Union of Air Transport Employees, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, and National Association of Aircrafts Pilots and Engineers.
“Just the other day, some houses were demolished by the Lagos government in our camp. We have been on that issue for some time, we went up to Supreme Court and won and they had to give way for development. This is in the national interest,” Sirika said.
“There’s no individual that can drag it out with the government. If I want to pull down this hall and build a better one, who is going to stop me as a government?
“So I think it is not an issue, they are just overheating it and you know why. But we have a responsibility and mandate, and we are not shy, we are very bold to do all those things that are good for our people. We are also a very responsive and responsible government, where it will affect the lives of the people, of course, we are going to do it.
“We have been known to do things that better civilization everywhere we go. So, this one also is going to make life very good.”
The Aviation Minister further maintained that those who are contesting the demolition should not deny millions of Nigerians the gratification of witnessing a revolutionized Lagos airport as tenable in other countries.
