Is Katsina the next target of the relocation wind blowing across the country?

Along with the poor state of the economy and its harsh effects on the lives of Nigerians, perhaps the next most trending news in the public space now is the relocation of public institutions from Abuja, the federal capital, to Lagos.

The first of such institutions to come to notice was the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In a memo released to the public, the CBN listed the departments as Banking Supervision, Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Consumer Protection, Payment System Management and Financial Policy Regulations. Essentially these departments constitute the key operational arms of the bank which, for all practical purposes, means that what is left of CBN in Abuja will function as a mere branch. Expectedly this has raised quite a lot of hiatus, especially from the northern part of the country where it is seen as a surreptitious move to relocate important federal institutions to Lagos or other locations in the southern part of the country.

While the dust of the CBN move is yet to settle, last week, it was announced that the Federal Airports Authority (FAAN) will be relocating from Abuja back to Lagos. Again this has raised the level of disquiet to the point of alarm that the northern region of Nigeria is being premeditatedly targeted by the President Tinubu administration for economic emasculation and marginalisation.

If there are sceptics who are inclined to dismiss these as mere allegations based on sentiments, the ongoing efforts to relocate an aviation project from Katsina state in the north to an unnamed location in the south will likely change their minds.

The project in question has to do with the refurbishment of airport rescue and fire fighting vehicles in Katsina, Katsina state. The scope of the project which was awarded on December 7, 2022, to a company named Avsatel Communications Ltd was to supply machinery and tools and to provide training of personnel for the facility based in Katsina.

But in a curious move, the chief executive of AVSATEL, Georg Eder who is an Austrian and former managing director of Steyr Nigeria Limited based in Bauchi, wrote a memo dated December 4, 2023, to the ministry of aviation stating why he thought the project should be moved from Katsina to an undisclosed location in the southern part of the country. This project to be sure has been paid 70% upfront and awaiting groundbreaking is expected to be done very soon.

The reasons given by Herr Eder among others are; transportation of the vehicles and equipment which he said will be very difficult and at prohibitive costs; lack of skilled personnel in Katsina for which he recommended Enugu (ANNAMCO), Ibadan (Leyland) and Lagos (Volkswagen) where such skilled personnel can be easier to be recruited and trained.

He thus concluded that “such project located in the South or in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has a future which just cannot be underestimated”. Herr Georg suggested to the Ministry of Aviation that the site earmarked for the project should not be abandoned but”utilized to manufacture agricultural implements’’.

Two things stand out about this issue.

First, unlike the relocation of CBN and FAAN which are institutions of government, the ARFF is a transactional project for which all the due diligence was done in terms of feasibility and cost before award. And already 70% of the cost of the project has been paid to the contractor. Were the issues raised by the contractor not captured in the feasibility report of the project?

Secondly and more importantly, does a contractor, have the right to suggest to our government where to locate a project in the first place? And does he even have the right after collecting 70% of the cost to deliver the project at a particular site, to turn around to recommend to our government that the same project for which he is the contractor be relocated to another part of the country?

The pertinent question to ask here is whether the contractor is trying to squeeze another tranche of money from our country using the classic divide-and-rule tactic. Or are some people within the Ministry of Aviation trying to use him to achieve the two aims simultaneously?

It will not help calm anxieties that the memo written by the contractor is receiving attention at the highest levels of the Ministry of Aviation. From early December when the memo got to the ministry, it had travelled rapidly to the intray of Minister Festus Keyamo SAN who minuted “Pls Deal” to the permanent secretary meaning that very soon action may be effected per the recommendations of the contractor.

Certainly, all the suggestions he made do not justify why the project was to be relocated. And those who are inclined to believe that there is a plan to marginalise the north will be left wondering whether Katsina has been targeted as the next step in all overarching agenda to relegate the north to the fringes of political and economic relevance by the Tinubu administration.

Gadu can be reached via [email protected] or 08035355706 (texts only).