It is shameful that the so called '' Giant of Africa '' can not boast of any national carrier after the collapse of Nigeria airways.
Across Africa continent we have many countries that own and run attractive and decent and international standard airline business that their citizens are proud of. Among these are Egypt Air, Kenya airways, Tunis Air. South Africa Airways, Ethiopian Airlines even Ghana out West Africa neighbor is not left out of these proud countries.
Nigeria Airways collapsed as a result of corruption that has eaten deep into the fabric of our country outside this, some other problems that contributed to the steady decline of this proud airline from 1980s included the following; IMF draconian policy, bad leadership, excess staffs and mismanagement.
On the top of Nigeria Airways problems, it is very glaring that all our aviation assets and infrastructure needs total overhaul starting from the car park to the toilets, you will feel disturb and disgust when you make use of these facilities.
Any international airport is the first point of contact to visitors and tourists to a country. And the first impression from here is what the visitors will use to determine the hospitality and decency of the country and it will last for a very long time. But Nigeria has failed in all fronts in this area. The impression we showcase here is very disgusting, embarrassing and humiliating.
No exception, all our airports across the country are terrible, and they are eyesore. We can do better than this going by the volume of money pumped into aviation sector under Obasanjo and Jonathan governments. But what did we get in return..... we ended up having shackles and ghettos as airports because the budgeted monies for uplifting these airports have gone down the drain through Femi fani kayoed and Stella Oduah. Looted away !!!
For more details on these scandals open the links below;
http://www.nigerianmonitor.com/how-fani-kayode-stole-aviation-funds-witness/
http://saharareporters.com/2007/06/29/how-fani-kayode-uses-women-launder-money-abroad
http://saharareporters.com/2016/07/03/efcc-finds-n25b-former-aviation-minister-stella-oduah%E2%80%99s-housemaid%E2%80%99s-account
For those Nigerians who have travelled to some Africa countries like South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Botswana, Egypt and the rest they have offered us an insight and personal experience to the beautiful and lovely and decent airports abound in those countries and how Nigeria airports are nowhere near them in terms of atmosphere, beauty, decency and maintenance.
Fortunately, Buhari Government deem it fit and necessary to offer Nigerians something to be proud of again.
And this is where Nigeria Air was unveiled as the new national carrier in far away UK. The minister of state for aviation was quoted to have said the following at the ongoing Farnborough International Airshow that;
“This is an important day for Nigeria. The largest economy in Africa, the largest population, GDP of around half a billion dollars, and the only true aviation player in West and Central Africa,” “Nigeria has unfortunately not been a serious player in Aviation for a long time. We used to be a dominant player, through Nigeria Airways, but sadly not anymore.
“This will be a national carrier that is private sector led and driven. It is a business, not a social service. The government will not be involved in running it or deciding who runs it. The investors will have full responsibility for this.“The Nigerian government will not own more than 5% (maximum) of the new national carrier. The government will not be involved in running it or deciding who runs it. “New terminals in Lagos and Abuja Airports will add 11 million passenger capacity in each of the two airports.” he said.
In Fact, I agreed with the Minister in certain aspect of his summation especially on our population dominance, but we can all see that being branded the largest economy in Africa does not add up because the unemployment rate is over the ceiling and infrastructures on ground is nothing to write home about. Workers salaries are not being paid and so many other problems. So what is the essence of the largest economy in Africa and GDP when majority of our people are suffering and living below poverty level.
Even this new investors are coming to battle with lot of prevailing business problems ranging from power failure, corruption, indiscipline, nonchalant attitude among Nigerians, bureaucratic problems and so on. In fact some of these problems drove away Richard branson's Virgin Nigeria despite having over 50 percent investment in the business then. His verdict on doing business in Nigeria was nasty and brutal... and that is the fact till date.
If you look at the Telecom industry and some other sectors you will notice that some of the these investors are still struggling because of the highlighted problems above and due to infrastructure decay.
The unveiling of this laudable and proudly project is a welcome development especially as it going to be driven by foreign private investors and not by the corrupt riddled local investors like Arik airline and others.
But for us to maximize the benefits of this new initiative all country's aviation architecture needs to be totally outsourced to tested and proven foreign investors especially our airports. This action will minimize the risks exposure that will be facing the new investors and dampen the relationship between Nigerian government and foreign investors. And it will also facilitate the development and maintenance of all our airports. This will equally attract additional foreign direct investments to the country and not from crook investors mostly from India and China and other few countries. It will also creates new opportunities for Nigerians in terms of employment
Over the years, experience has shown that Nigerians face difficulty handling aviation operations and businesses therefore it is morally right for the Nigerian government to patronize tested and proven foreign investors. The overview of all the local airlines shown that they are not in good standing in all aspect of operations.
The core of aviation operations especially the entire architecture of the industry ( our airports ) are better handled by foreign investors so that Nigeria aviation sector will get better and improved until we get our ass together and the country's reputation for corruption is minimized which is our central problem. It will definitely make all corrupt and ill- bred government agencies (custom, immigration, NDLEA, ) at the airport to sit tight. - Irunmole-nla news
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