Flying Nigerian Airways either on domestic or international route in the early seventies to early eighties was always with a sense of national pride. We paid in our in local currency, the crews were all Nigerian and so were the food and the music.
Having a national carrier for those who have faith in their country is something of national pride. For those who understand President Buhari’s commitment to our nation, his endeavour to bequeath a befitting national carrier on the nation before he left office did not come as a surprise. And this perhaps explains why at the close of the Ministers Retreat on October 2022, he confidently directed relevant officials to ensure the proposed national carrier starts operating by December 2022. This was after two earlier derailed take-off dates viz December 19, 2018 and November 2021.
But the forces of retired Generals and their new breed politicians that killed and replaced Nigerian Airways with their domestic airlines, represented today by Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) was prepared to derail and scuttle his efforts. The secretary general, Aviation Round Table Initiative (ARTI), Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), had declared “the national carrier is a still-born project that won’t see the light of the day, to talk less of being profitable”.
And while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation on in October 2022, part of their self-serving criticism were as follows: the decision of the government to allow Ethiopian Airlines to own 49 per cent of the stake in the company would hurt the local airlines; for Roland Iyayi of AON, “Ethiopian Airlines would do a fare-cutting strategy for market penetration”; For AON vice chairman , Allen Onyema, “Ethiopian Airlines poses existential threats to the local airline operators.” For Kashim Shettima of Skyjet Aviation: “Nigeria Air will poach the human capital of the domestic airlines”.
It was all about them and not about us, Nigerians. They refused to be persuaded by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika’s explanation that the Nigerian government ‘has no funds to invest in the establishment of the airline hence the decision to go into Public Private Partnership’; that five per cent stake is in kind while local investors are going to take the 46 per cent stake and that “We have also given every single Nigerian the opportunity especially those in the sector to participate in this airline so that we create an airline that is proper, well set up and stands the test of time and dynamics.”
Their blackmail: government should give them same opportunity as was being given to Ethiopian Airlines.
But what are the facts of history?
We remember President Obasanjo sold 51% of the carcass of what was left of Nigerian Airways to Richard Branson and his Virgin Atlantic and 49% to institutional investors to form Nigeria Air. We remember billionaire Jimoh Ibrahim bought Nigeria Air.
We remember the N300 billion intervention fund which was sequel to the Amos Akpan, then MD of Capital Airline’s 2013 testimony before Senate Committee on Aviation on behalf of 16 domestic airlines to the effect that “the money made by Nigerian airlines was not enough to take care of their operations and service their debts to Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCCA), Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)”.
We remember Jimoh Ibrahim’s Nigeria Air received N35.5 billion out of the N300b intervention fund. We also remember the amount like those of other beneficiaries was allegedly diverted. And because “Air Nigeria did not have the funds for normal maintenance, routine checks and servicing of its fleet of 11 planes, with 10 operational, the airline frequently flew those mass coffins as airworthy aircraft”, according to an estranged former executive of Nigeria Air. But what became apparent was that government later suspended Air Nigeria’s domestic operations on bankruptcy allegation while Ibrahim later shut down operations of Nigeria Air sacking all the staff.
We also remember that Nigerian airspace became littered with crashes. Under Babalola Aborisade, there were five crashes with about 413 deaths. On June 22, 2012, Kabo Air crashed in Kotoka International Airport Ghana killing many motorists after overrunning the runway. On June 3, 2012 DANA air crashed killing 163 people. On October 3, 2013, there was also the Associated Airlines crash which killed 13. On October 4, 2013, Saudi Arabia bound airline with 400 passengers crashed in Lagos after losing two tyres
Instead of addressing corruption, greed and internal mismanagement or come together like some international airlines for economy of scale, the domestic airlines found a scapegoat in foreign airlines. For instance, the Bilateral Air Services Agreement is based on reciprocity. But Nigerian carriers blamed others for their failure to exercise their privileges according to the BASA. Their stakeholders report accused foreign airlines of swindling Nigeria of about N3.7b annually in addition to violation of Nigeria Nigeria’s aviation laws. They similarly ignored market forces and blamed foreign airlines for astronomical prices of tickets.
Instead of clamping down on ministers, governors and lawmakers who scrambled for few available first class seats in foreign airlines, they specifically accused British Airways of non-competitive fair of $10,070 for first class return ticket to Abuja to London while the same facility cost $4,943 from Accra. Stella Oduah, then minister, wanted parity and gave ultimatum to the foreign airlines. When she was ignored, she undertook a foreign tour in search of foreign investors.
The outcome was the Chinese N500b loan. Both the CBN and the Bank of Industry said the money was not to re-fleet but the minister through Yakubu Dati, FAAN spokesperson insisted “government had concluded arrangement to purchase 30 brand new aircraft for airlines to boost their operations”. Not much was heard of the N500b Chinese loan or the brand new aircraft beyond recent declaration by an expert that the new terminal building that came out of the loan was dysfunctional because of its location.
Oduah, before departing office in controversial circumstances however started the quest for a new national carrier ostensibly to be supervised by the same NCAA, NAMA and FAAN that traded Nigeria Airways for domestic airlines.
But Nigerians love travelling. Punch newspaper in its special report on aviation, only last Monday reported that travellers spent about $4.66bn on foreign air travels in 15 months. This was in spite of the fact they are often short-changed by foreign airlines. Lagos-London fares are for instance 49% higher than Accra-London and 162% higher than Cotonou-London. It is the same experience with other international airlines. But Nigerians are not deterred.
Those who therefore derailed Buhari’s eight year heroic efforts to give us a national carrier using their mainstream media and social media terrorists as weapons are not fighting President Buhari or former aviation minister they freely slander but Nigerians. The irony is that evil forces that have by their chequered antecedent demonstrated their lack of abiding faith in our nation today swear by their patriotism.