Aviation workers in Nigeria have announced plans to embark on a nationwide strike scheduled for August 21, 2024, in response to the Federal Government’s ongoing practice of deducting 50% from the internally generated revenue (IGR) of key aviation agencies.
This move is expected to cause significant disruptions to flight operations across the country.
The unions representing these workers issued a letter on August 14, 2024, titled “Save Aviation From Collapse,” which was made public on August 15. The affected agencies include the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Nigerian Meteorological Services Agency (NiMet), the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
In the letter, the unions stated:
“All workers of the NCAA, FAAN, NAMA, NiMet, NCAT, and NSIB, joined by the solidarity of all aviation workers, are hereby directed to embark on peaceful protests at all airports nationwide on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, to demand the discontinuation of deduction of 50% from the internally generated revenue of the agencies mentioned above through exemption.”
The unions argued that the continuous deduction is financially crippling the aviation agencies, which are not profit-oriented but rather cost-recovery organizations. They emphasized that these agencies cannot function effectively under the current financial strain and warned that the situation is already leading to a compromise of critical safety operations.
“Information available to us indicates that some important safety-critical activities of the agencies are grinding to a halt under the yoke of the deductions,” the unions noted.
“It has therefore become incumbent on us as trade unions and workers in aviation to let the public and the government be aware that we shall bear no responsibility in the certain event that the industry becomes dysfunctional as a result of financial incapacity due to the deductions at source.”
The unions have also instructed all state councils, women’s commissions, youth councils, and branches of their unions nationwide to mobilize their members for full compliance with the strike action.
