This ‘Nigeria Air’ garbage must be discarded, By Yemi Adebowale

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika has become an embarrassment to forward-looking Nigerians over his Nigeria Air project. This guy has been flushing public funds down the drain on the proposed airline. I can’t forget how he wasted huge public funds during the Farnborough air show in London in June 2018, just to announce the birth of the airline that has so far refused to take off. It was a show of shame by Sirika because no foreign investor participated at that fraudulent launch in London.

If the amount so far expended on Nigeria Air is revealed, many will be dazed. In countries where public officers are held accountable for failures, Sirika would have been severely punished for wasting public funds on this drivel. Unfortunately, the man that should call Sirika to order, President Muhammadu Buhari is playing along with him because of ignorance and incompetence.

Sirika was at the National Assembly three weeks back to, as usual, make noise about his hopeless Nigeria Air venture. He declared: “The national carrier is in the works and we have advanced significantly. Just yesterday, Mr. President in concluding our retreat, directed that this airline must work between now and December. We have so far, from all the submissions, identified the partners and the investors and we are currently negotiating and processing the AOC. We are tweaking the business case in such a way that will give us an advantage and set in, in the most efficient manner. So, I want to commit here, by the grace of God, between now and the end of the year, the airline will work.”

Nigeria Air is dead on arrival. First, Sirika pretends to be unaware that it is no longer trendy for countries to set up national airlines. The world has gone beyond this. I’m shocked that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) gave approval for this garbage. How did this happen? What will the national carrier do that existing flag carriers can’t do? The revival of a national carrier can’t be of any economic benefit to the suffering masses of this country. So, why waste public funds on it? I am not sorry to say that Sirika is more concerned about personal gains from this adventure.

A good government will support current flag carriers to utilise Nigeria’s slots in existing Bilateral Air Services Agreements, instead of wasting public funds to set up a national carrier. Besides, a national carrier cannot be the priority of an inept government swimming in debt. It cannot be the priority of a country in which the security and welfare of the people are in shambles. The focus of a good government should be on critical sectors like security, health and education. Airline businesses are better left to the private sector. This is the standard in lucid climes.

Sirika stresses that this government is giving every Nigerian, especially those in the aviation sector, an opportunity to participate in the airline. He wants us to believe that with the proposed national carrier, every Nigerian will become a stakeholder in the aviation sector. Haba! This is preposterous. Besides, how can Sirika call the proposed airline that would be owned 49 per cent by Ethiopian Airlines a Nigerian carrier?

The Chairman of United Airlines Nigeria, Obiora Okonkwo captures this misnomer rightly: “We have not seen anything Nigerian in this Nigeria Air. It is a camouflage of interest. The decision to set up a national carrier in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines is a policy somersault. The people in government have continued to demonise the local operators. What the aviation sector needs is support. The private sector will collapse with this national carrier arrangement. Nigeria will be losing much. It must not be allowed to happen. There is nothing ‘Nigeria’ in this Nigeria Air.”

The Chief Executive Officer, West Link Airlines, Captain Ibrahim Mshelia adds: “This proposed national carrier should be stopped. The entity called national carrier is just a game to get what is touted as a national carrier owned by individuals. We have the capacity to establish our airlines. We should not allow Ethiopian Airlines to do it. The deal should be cancelled. It is an insult to our sensibility. We can develop our aviation sector. Some people just want to form a private carrier under the name of a national carrier.”

Again, Nigerians are regularly assaulted by Sirika with all sorts of preposterous funding plans for the Nigeria Air. We were first told in 2018 that the airline would be private sector-led. Later, Sirika said public funds would be used to start it, and later, bring investors to buy equity in the company. He added that the federal government would commit $308.8 million to the project, and when the airline is established, its shares would be sold to investors.

Sometime last year, the story changed to another plan that would have 51 per cent of its equity owned by the Nigerian government and people, with foreign partners holding the remaining 49 per cent.

Few weeks back, the funding plan was rejigged once more. Nigeria Air, according to Sirika, will now have Ethiopian Airlines owning 49 per cent. Local investors will own 46 per cent while the federal government retains five per cent. Sirika is obviously a confused man. Ethiopian Airlines, owned by the government of another country, is being offered controlling stake of 49 per cent in Nigeria Air. So, how can this be safely described as the Nigerian national carrier? Why give a wrong impression of a state-owned airline, when the federal government will only have five per cent equity in the proposed airline? With Ethiopian Airlines owning 49 per cent, it means 49 per cent of the profit will be taken out of Nigeria. The federal government will have to provide forex for this.

On the flip side, Sirika is on a mission to kill Nigerian flag carriers like Air Peace and Max Air for selfish reasons. This is why he has been pushing his Nigeria Air rubbish. He has deliberately refused to give the likes of Air Peace, Ibom Air and Max Air, that have shown capabilities, access to Nigeria’s lucrative Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) slots with the United Kingdom and the United States, because of this stupid Nigeria Air dream.

I need to remind this minister that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, the two airlines using the slots arising from Nigeria’s BASA with the United Kingdom, are not owned by the British government. They are British private companies. The American airlines utilising that country’s BASA slots with Nigeria – Delta Airline and United airline – are also privately owned.

BASA (also known as air transport agreement) is a treaty which allows international commercial air transport services between two countries. It contains provisions such as the routes the airline can fly, the number of flights they can operate, as well as the number of airlines that can operate such routes. Nigeria has signed and updated BASA with scores of countries. Unfortunately, Nigeria is not currently benefitting from the lucrative routes – Lagos to London, Abuja to London and Lagos to New York. These routes are only beneficial to the United States and UK (with their carriers) without any reciprocal benefits to Nigerian flag carriers.

Nigeria does not need to set up a national airline to benefit from all BASA slots. This country does not need Ethiopian Airlines to utilise our two most lucrative BASA slots. Sirika has simply made it impossible for our flag carriers to utilise our lucrative BASA openings. Sirika is reserving the slots for his imaginary Air Nigeria. His moves towards the establishment of a national carrier must be stopped by the National Assembly. Existing flag carriers have the capacity to utilise Nigeria’s BASA slots. Air Peace has proved this on the Johannesburg, Guangzhou and Dubai routes.

First published in Thisday Newspaper on Saturday