Back in October, two weeks after the picketing of the terminal for five days, seven senior management staff were forced to resign from their various positions for allowing the unions have their way. Some of the senior management staff aere Captain Jari Williams, the CEO; Head of Corporate Communications, Chief Stephen Omolale; Head of Internal Audit, Mr. Olakunle Tiamiyu; Head of Human Resources and Procurement, Mrs. Ikeoluwa Erinoluwa and Head of Space, Ms. Alake Macaulay. Also, it was learnt that Ade-Solanke, who succeeded Omolale as the Head, Corporate Communications, in December, “voluntarily threw in the towel last Friday over harsh working environment”.
Barely six months after seven management staff of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Lagos, including its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Capt. Jari Williams, were compelled to resign from their various positions, its Chief Security Officer (CSO), Mr. Olayinka Olatunji, has also been laid off.
This is as a source close to the terminal operator confided in our correspondent that the newly employed Head of Corporate Communications, Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Lagos, Mrs. Eniola Ade-Solanke, resigned last Friday following the “harsh working environment".
SaharaReporters gathered that Olatunji was set to retire from the company later this year when he clocks 60, but he was forced to resign by Mr. Wale Babalakin who was still smarting from the October 2018 picketing of the terminal by industry unions.
Back in October, two weeks after the picketing of the terminal for five days, seven senior management staff were forced to resign from their various positions for allowing the unions have their way.
Some of the senior management staff aere Captain Jari Williams, the CEO; Head of Corporate Communications, Chief Stephen Omolale; Head of Internal Audit, Mr. Olakunle Tiamiyu; Head of Human Resources and Procurement, Mrs. Ikeoluwa Erinoluwa and Head of Space, Ms. Alake Macaulay.
Also, it was learnt that Ade-Solanke, who succeeded Omolale as the Head, Corporate Communications, in December, “voluntarily threw in the towel last Friday over harsh working environment”.
It was gathered that since Ade-Solanke took over the management of the communication department of the company, she had not given the freedom to operate, as all press statements must go through Babalakin.
Besides, apart from those who resigned from their different positions in recent times, there are indications that two more management staff of BASL are to be exited as soon as Babalakin secures replacements for them.
The source said: "As it is, there is no one that is sure of his or her future in Bi-Courtney. Some of us who are still in the system are only waiting for us to get the signal to tender our resignation letters. There is no future for us in this company, again.
“There have been sustained attempts to exit all the old hands and experienced management staff of BASL and replace them with some favoured outsiders. So, the picketing of MMA2 by labour unions was just being used as a facade.”
Mr. Tunde Osowe of the media unit of BASL declined to comment on the issue when contacted by our correspondent.
It would be recalled that the industry unions had kicked against the management of Bi-Courtney in October for sacking 29 staff for joining the unions.
The sack of the workers led to the picketing of the terminal for almost a week. The terminal operator claimed to have lost about a billion naira to the closure, as some of the operating airlines relocated to General Aviation Terminal.
After management reached an agreement with the unions, Babalakin, the Chairman of Bi-Courtney, was said to have been peeved by the closure and took a drastic action against some top management staff.
After the sack, the company also recalled some of the staff, but it declared them redundant and issued them exit cheques.