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Nigeria’s Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has said the federal government plans to concession the country’s four busiest international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano in order to reposition the country’s aviation sector.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Sirika said the move to concession the international airports will be part of the first phase of the government’s airport concession programme.

“The thinking is that just like every other place in the world, we will concession our airports and we are beginning with the big four, Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano,” said Sirika during the 2016 Aviation Stakeholders Forum in Abuja on Monday.

The minister said current facilities at the international airports did not meet international standards, which requires private sector involvement to move them forward.

“It would have been ideal to take them to some level of acceptance for them to attract more investors to come and put in their money and build these airports, concession them, run them and make money out of them,” said Sirika.

After the successful concession of the major international airports, Sirika said the government plans to focus on providing infrastructure and developing domestic airports for optimal performance.

The minister further stated that the Aviation Ministry had conducted a comprehensive security check and vulnerability assessment of all airports to ensure adequate security.

“We are developing a new security strategy in partnership with international security organizations and procurement of modern equipment,” Sirika said.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos handled 772,734 international passengers; the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja handled 223,211 international passengers; the Mallam Aminu Kano Airport, Kano handled 35,908 international passengers; while the Port Harcourt International Airport  handled 28,333 international passengers.