Interestingly, about a week before Dr. Wale Babalakin turned 57 on July 1, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) grabbed the headlines once again as the National Assembly responded to an allegation by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, that the federal lawmakers had unlawfully redesigned the proposed 2017 budget.
The Senate, in a statement by its Chairman, Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, said: “It was agreed that we should give the Private Finance Initiative a chance to complement government’s resources in the delivery of critical infrastructure assets across the country.” The Senate further said: “We are looking for private funds for some of these roads, particularly those with high potential of attracting private investors. These include the Enugu-Onitsha road, Kano-Abuja road and Abuja-Lokoja road. It has been our hope that the Lagos -Ibadan road would be a model for private sector funding of infrastructure in the country.”
It is noteworthy that the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has been a road of controversy, especially following the Goodluck Jonathan administration’s 2012 termination of a concession agreement with Bi-Courtney Highways Services Limited (BCHSL), which was supposed to reconstruct and manage the toll road. The past government alleged that the company failed to make progress on actualising the objective of the concession four years after the agreement signed with a preceding administration.
According to the company, “BCHSL won the concession to reconstruct and manage the toll road for 25 years. It’s a Design, Build, Operate and Transfer (DBOT) arrangement.” The company proudly declared that it rebuilt the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA2) in Lagos “against all odds,” adding, ”It is the first airport in Africa to be owned by a private company on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis, the first of its kind in Nigeria, and it was delivered far ahead of schedule.” MMA2 reportedly handled 20 million passengers and 400, 000 flights in 10 years.
It is also noteworthy that in the same week airport terminal operator Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) celebrated the 10th anniversary of MMA 2 in May, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo declared that public-private partnership was important and inevitable for the country’s economic growth. Osinbajo said at the Third Presidential Quarterly Business Forum at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja: “The real challenge is how to efficiently and faithfully implement these great ideas. I think for effective delivery, this partnership with the private sector is undoubtedly the way to go.”
The MMA2 anniversary was a fitting time to highlight the minuses that dampened the celebration. The company’s chairman, Babalakin, shed light on the negatives when he spoke to reporters about the government’s contractual infidelity. Babalakin stated: “We got approval since 2007 to operate regional flights from MMA2, but the relevant authorities are frustrating our efforts. We could trace it to both the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). It is the airlines that are affected, because they burn aviation fuel moving their aircraft from MMA2 to the international terminal. This would not arise if they had allowed us to operate regional flights from MMA2.”
A report said Babalakin “urged the Federal Government to pay over N200 billion” to BASL “for failing to hand over the old domestic terminal, otherwise known as General Aviation Terminal (GAT), Lagos.” According to the report, “Babalakin said the payment was necessary after BASL was awarded damages by the Federal High Court to the tune of over N132 billion in 2012. He said the amount increased to N200 billion, owing to the revenue the terminal operator would have collected as revenue for flights and other commercial activities at the old domestic terminal.”
Babalakin explained: “As far back as 2012, the Federal High Court awarded damages of N132 billion to Bi-Courtney Airways Limited. Six appeals against the judgment in the Court of Appeal have been dismissed. Even the appeal to the Supreme Court was also dismissed. No nation can truly achieve its potential, if it treats its dynamic citizens this way.”
There is no doubt about Babalakin’s dynamism. Equipped with a doctorate in Law, Babalakin, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is also a big player in the business world. Further evidence of his dynamism: “On 7th April 2017, Dr. Babalakin, SAN was appointed as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos (UNILAG); On 6 January 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Dr. Babalakin as Chairman of the Federal Government Committee to Re-negotiate the 2009 Agreement between FG and the University Unions.”
It is worth mentioning that Babalakin is also a striking philanthropist. Among his philanthropic projects: “Donated an 80-bed hostel to the University of Ilorin in the name of his father, Justice Bolarinwa Oyegoke Babalakin; Donated a 500-seater auditorium to the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic in memory of his late mother, Mrs. Ramotu Ibironke Babalakin; Treated 4000 patients with various eye diseases in Owo Local Government under the Foundation set up in memory of his late mother.”
Babalakin was a qualified speaker on the problematisation of public-private partnership in the country at last year’s Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, where he shared some of his company’s experiences in connection with the Murtala Mohammed Airport Domestic Terminal 2, Federal Secretariat, Ikoyi, and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. His group is controversially enmeshed in disagreements connected with concession agreements with the Federal Government on these particular subjects. Guided by personal experience, Babalakin listed the enemies of progress when it comes to public-private partnership in Nigeria: the attitude of the government, lack of respect for sanctity of contracts and the rule of law, lack of investor security, corruption and malice.
It will take much more than words to achieve public-private partnerships that work; and it is only when such collaborations work that the country can enjoy the benefits. The PPP model has worked in the development of sectors such as energy, mining, transportation and telecommunications in other countries. In Western Europe and U.S.A., for example, private investors are involved in infrastructure development based on concession agreements.
It is interesting that the Federal Government announced plans to concession 22 airports. “We are grateful to Allah that our eye-opening effort had led to the upgrading of some airports in Nigeria and the decision of the Federal Government to concession airports,” Babalakin said. It remains to be seen whether the process and the outcome of the agreements would advance public-private partnership.
Babalakin’s promotion of public-private partnership prompts reflections as he celebrates his 57th birthday.
