Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has insisted that there is no going back on the cashless policy by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) across the major airports in the country.
The minister made the comment while speaking at the on-the-spot assessment at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja on Friday, March 13. He explained that the implementation of the hybrid system that was adopted by the country, following President Bola Tinubu’s directive to suspend the strict application of the cashless policy system, was a result of its challenges.
Keyamo also explained that he will ensure that the policy is well implemented to save his job, and that he would also sack many people before the president relieves him from his job. He maintained that he had left the implementation to FAAN and would take responsibility for any shortcomings in the implementation.
His statement reads in part: “Before Mr President sacks me, I will sack other people too. Before now, I left the implementation fully to FAAN. The nitty-gritty was worked out by FAAN, but as minister, I take full responsibility. I will not leave my fate in the hands of another person. That’s why I am here today to see how they’re implementing the hybrid system. But this will not last because it breeds corruption.”
The minister’s comment about the sacking threat has started generating reactions from some Nigerians. Below are some of their comments:
Onyeani Kalu criticised the civil servants: “Nigeria’s civil servants are the problem of Nigeria; they do not implement laws given to them to move the country forward.”
Abu made a demand of the minister: “@fkeyamo people should be able to get these access cards elsewhere, not just at the airport entrance. Also, having a mobile app that can be funded would have been nice. The users can generate a QR code, which they can print or display directly on their phones.”
JJK lamented the situation between the minister and FAAN: “It appears there may be some friction between the minister and FAAN regarding responsibility for the implementation. Shouldn’t this have been resolved internally?”
Joseph Ambakederimo criticised the appointments in the government agency: “There was corruption in selecting the service providers, hence the company selected couldn’t get it right. The company lacks competence.”
Olagunju Adeshina called for the full implementation: “Omo, you’re very sound on this point…Cashless policy must be brought back in full.”
