The Anambra Airport scandal has taken a new turn. After media reports exposed the poor working conditions and casualization of workers
By AIF Media
In an obvious panic mode, the management of Anambra State Airport, also known as Chinua Achebe International Airport, Umueri, has increased the salary of workers by N30,000 across board but threatened to deal with anyone found to have leaked official information to ‘outsiders.’
Media reports have last week, exposed the rot at the airport, including the inhuman conditions meted on workers by the Airport’s management led by Managing Director, Martins Emeka Nwafor.
The reports included a reminder letter dated Thursday, March 13, 2025 and addressed to the State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, in which the workers drew the attention of the Governor to the inhuman conditions they are facing, especially casualization for nearly the nearly four years of its takeoff, dangers associated with poor safety and lack of maintenance of facilities. They also informed Soludo that they have forwarded the complaint letter to the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, for intervention.
Titled- “Letter of Urgent Help,” the petitioners also accused the management of other anti-workers policies including, non-payment of statutory allowances, no training whatsoever, non-implementation of minimum wage, poor salary structure and no safety measures, among others.
“Three months into the fourth year of the commencement of operations in our airport, there is a serious cause for concern, because results seen so far are nothing to write home about. Staff of the airport have been subjected to the most ridiculous work conditions, leaving staff very frustrated and unable to give their best at work,” they wrote and went ahead to list the terrible conditions and denial of welfare they work under, worst being that they have not been given employment letters since they started work nearly four years ago.
A few days after the report, sources said the management on Monday announced an increase of workers salaries by N30,000 across board. The management also promised to ‘seek approval from Governor Soludo’ in order to issue the workers employment letter ‘In two-month time.”
According to the sources, the management handed each worker at the meeting one meat-pie and soft drink, which they said had never happened since they started working with the airport.
While addressing the workers, the Managing Director, Martins Emeka Nwafor, frowned at what he described as leakage of official information to outsiders by some staff and warned them that tough disciplinary actions would be meted on anyone found to be involved in the act.
Reacting, one of the workers who didn’t want to be mentioned because of the fear of victimization, said what the management did was less than half-measure to silence the workers, adding that most of their grievances have not been addressed.
“In our letter, we told the Governor that the management has not issued offer letters to workers for nearly four years that we started working here. We do not think there is any other place in the country where all workers of a government-owned company or even in the private sector work as casual hands for four years. By saying he would get approval from the governor in two months, the management is indirectly saying that the casualization was sanctioned by the state government.
“We also complained about Zero statutory allowances. Airport staff across Nigeria and globally are entitled to mandatory Hazard allowance, Shift allowance, Health insurance and housing Allowance. These are compulsory allowances airport staff are entitled to but we get none here.
“Also on our list was lack of training. The only thing they take you through is induction training when you first resume. No staff has been sent on training either in Nigeria or any other part of the world to learn about new developments in the Aviation sector as well as to interact with other aviation players.
“The N30,000 salary increase across board which we are not even sure when it would commence, does not answer our demand for salary that conforms with national minimum wage as is being paid by the Anambra State government. We need to repeat that we at Anambra Airport are the lowest paid airport workers in Nigeria. Our findings show that we are the least at the bottom of the ladder. The morale of staff is at their lowest, staff now resort to cooperate begging to survive, we receive almost twice less than what our nearest neighbour pays her staff. Staff salaries are deducted at the slightest provocation to make an already bad situation worse.
“In addition, we complained of poor safety measures. The management is supposed to know the importance of safety in the aviation industry both for passengers and for workers but here, the idea of best industry standards is thrown to the winds. That is why, occasionally fires ignite at different parts of the airport, including bushfires which threaten expensive airport installations. We also recalled in the letter that a facility fire at the CITA fuel dump at the Airport on the 1st of December 2024 led to the death of the CITA staff stationed there,” the source said, adding that workers at Anambra State Airport, Umueri are in pain.
“We lack the most basic tools to work with, basic spare parts to carry out maintenance are always not available, making electrical, plumbing and other maintenance very difficult. No one is allowed to say what they feel like, no matter how helpful these contributions are, intimidation and threats of sack are the order of the day.”
He therefore called on Governor Soludo and the Nigeria Labour Congress to, as a matter of urgency, intervene to address the various issues they have tabled before them in their petitions.
