Wale Babalakin’s Sacrifice: The Price of Ending a Two-Decade Airport War

Winning at the Supreme Court is one thing; collecting is another. On October 20, 2026, Dr Wale Babalakin, SAN, chairman of Bi-Courtney Group, signed away a N132 billion award, about $96.7 million, ending a dispute with the federal government over Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2). What kind of man walks away from that much money? Look at the money first. The government never paid it or its interest, and Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo says he told Babalakin that “nobody is going to pay you that”. A judgment nobody honours is a number on paper. Against it, Babalakin gained things that earn. Bi-Courtney won clearance to expand the apron and fly regional routes across Africa, and regained the hotel and conference centre opposite the terminal, with 24 months to finish it. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) dropped its claims for unpaid concession fees. He paid too. Babalakin surrendered his exclusive control over Lagos domestic flights, and FAAN, Keyamo says, had earned nothing from MMA2 in 20 years because of the disputes. In other words, peace cost both sides something. MMA2 was Nigeria’s first major build-operate-transfer airport project, in which a private firm builds and runs a facility for a set period before handing it over. Babalakin, on the other hand, is a litigator: law at the University of Lagos, a Cambridge doctorate at 26, his own firm from 1987, Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2002. His father sat on the Supreme Court, so he knows better than most what a judgment is worth when the debtor will not pay. A commentary cautioned that the N132 billion should not be read as the government’s net saving, since Bi-Courtney received concessions in return. On paper, Babalakin gave up N132 billion. In practice, he swapped a claim nobody would honour for an airport that can earn. Thus, one now needs to peel their eyes open for the first regional flight from MMA2.