Following the Federal Government’s decision to close the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja on March 8, the airport’s taxi and Uber drivers have lamented what they described as total loss of revenue for them.
The Chairman, 3 Jays Hotel Carriers (Drivers) Association, Mr. Yusuf Abduljelil, told The Point that closing the airport for six weeks, is like denying them their source of livelihood for a quarter, as the job remains their only source of income.
“I make an average of N25,000 on peak periods, while I take home about N15,000 on ordinary days. So you can imagine how much I stand to lose if the airport is closed. If closed, it would heap a lot of inconveniences, not only on drivers but also on the public,” he lamented.
According to the father of five, the idea of traveling to Kaduna to board a flight to Lagos is very unreason able, as government has the capacity to put in place, a temporary runway while the primary runway was being renovated.
An airport shuttle driver with Uber, an online transport platform, Mr. Adeniyi Ajayi, said, “Depending on the number of drivers at the airport, an Uber driver can make as much as three airport trips in a day at N3,300 each; and that is about N9,900 on a daily basis, while we make an average of N6,000 from other trips. If N10,000 is deducted daily for three months from our take home, it would affect our families.
“Already, cost of living in the Federal Capital Territory is expensive, and asking us to sit at home for weeks will worsen our living conditions. We stand to lose fortunes, if the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport is shut down for any reason.”
Meanwhile, the Aviation Round Table, a body of industry professionals and stakeholders, said that the Federal Government must compel the contractor, Julius Berger Plc, to issue a performance guarantee that it will deliver the project on schedule, to avoid prolonging the hardship the closure would bring on air travelers and workers.
In their appraisal of the safety, security and economic implications of the Abuja airport closure, the experts stated that the condition given by Julius Berger was highly uncomfortable.
The ART said, “Judging from the proviso given by the Managing Director of Julius Berger to the Senate that the project will be completed on schedule, ‘all things being equal,’ the ART is highly uncomfortable with such conditional statement, and seriously doubts that the project will be completed on schedule, to once again allow for flight operations within the stated time frame.
“We submit that it is of utmost importance and highly desirable for Julius Berger to be compelled to issue a performance guarantee, rather than hide under a blanket condition.”
