Rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has urged President Bola
Tinubu to disengage Ethiopian Airlines as Nigeria’s national carrier.
Adeyanju urged Tinubu to engage local airlines like Air
Peace and others as the nation’s national carrier.
He explained that engaging Air Peace would bring about
economic progress to Nigeria.
In an open letter, the Abuja-based lawyer said disengaging Ethiopian Air would lead to the growth of Nigeria’s aviation sector.
The letter dated July 7, and addressed to Tinubu reads
below…
“As you may be aware, a few weeks before former President
Muhammadu Buhari exited office, Nigerians were serenaded by news of the bogus
establishment of Nigeria Air, a scheme conceived and implemented by the
Muhammadu Bauhari-led government.
“However, recent events have shown that not only was the establishment
of the airline dubiously packaged by the Buhari administration, but also the
shareholding structure has the likelihood of impacting negatively on the
country’s national economy, with very grave consequences for our country’s
well-being.
“Before going into the economic implications, I would like
to draw your attention, sir, to the choice of Ethiopian Airlines as the
majority shareholder of Nigeria Air. In an unprecedented manner and against all
known norms across major national airlines in the world, the immediate past
administration sanctioned a shareholding structure that saw Ethiopian Air,
another nation’s national airline taking over 50% of what purports to be a
Nigerian national carrier. An aberration! All over the world, National Carriers
are either fully owned or majorly owned by the host countries.
“The Buhari government sanctioned this arrangement despite
being aware that there exist domestic airlines, such as Air Peace, that not
only has the capacity but equally the experience and international clout to
transform into a National Airline. Air Peace had at various times in our
nation’s history, come to the aid of the country by airlifting countrymen and
women from disaster or war-torn countries like Libya, Ukraine, Sudan, South
Africa, etc. Yet, the Buhari government found the airline unworthy of being
transformed into a National Airline.
“The past government’s action has not only cast the nation’s
domestic airlines in bad light before international communities but also made
the country vulnerable to foreign espionage as a result of this ill-fated and
badly packed Nigeria Air which has turned out to be a complete fraud, while
denying the Country huge income that would have accrued from tourism had a
local airline has been partnered with in the drive to create Nigeria Air. Even
more worrisome is the fact that several notable persons, including industry
experts, raised objections on very technical and professional grounds, to the
proposed arrangement, But the Buhari government proceeded like a bull in a
China shop.
“Away from the previous government’s misadventures and waste
of taxpayers’ money on a fraudulent partnership with Ethiopian Air, it is
germane to stress the importance of Nigeria having a National Carrier being the
most populous black Nation on earth, as this will attract Foreign direct
investments, improve tourism, diversify our economy away from oil, grow our
GDP, and even help our economy with the inflow of much needed foreign currency.
It is noteworthy that Ethiopian Air which is currently Africa’s leading
airline, recorded a jump of 90% in net profit to 937,000,000 USD during the
2021/2022 financial year, while its total revenue surged by 79% to
5,000,000,000 USD. This is a 90% profit growth despite the worsening global
economic crisis, rising fuel costs, and even the effect of the COVID-19
pandemic. The Emirate group announced recently in its 2022/2023 financial
reports that it made an annual profit of over 3,000,000,000 USD with revenue of
over 32,000,000,000 USD which is an 81% increment. In 2022, British Airways
generated over 11,000,000,000 Pounds in revenue which was below its 2019
revenue, pre-COVID era. China Eastern Airlines made 8,000,000,000 USD in 2022
while its close rival Air China made 8,362,000,000 USD, a 31.36% decline in its
revenue of 2021 which was 12,183,000,000 USD.”
Adeyanju added that a national carrier is crucial for
Nigeria’s development and the country’s growth, as Nigerians are highly
travelled and seek affordable airlines for various purposes.
“From your policies so far, except the hurried removal of
fuel subsidy, you have shown the requisite political will to turn around the
fortunes of our country, and I do not doubt in my mind that you can
revolutionise our aviation sector, thereby making it compete positively with
other global aviation giants mentioned herein above.
“The first step in restructuring our aviation sector is to
appoint an aviation technocrat and not a politician as minister of aviation for
our republic. Thereafter, call a meeting of critical stakeholders in the sector
with a view of creating a roadmap on how the key players can partner with the
government in making the sector a job-creating hub, an economic recovery
mechanism, and a foreign exchange earning window for the economy.
“One of the fastest ways to diversify our economy is by
urgently floating a national carrier as mentioned earlier above that will be
partially owned by the Nigerian people but administered and run by major
players like Air Peace that already has the capacity. Imagine for a moment, Mr.
President, the possibility of having a National Carrier with hundred planes in
its fleet fully run by Nigeria and Nigerians flying to every corner of the
world and the dignifying pride that comes with it for our Nation and its people
coupled with numerous economic and social benefits that such an initiative
would do to our GDP.
“It is in the light of the foregoing sir, I have decided to
write you this open letter, to request that you show special interest in the
country’s aviation sector which is capable of turning around our fortunes as a
nation, helping diversify our economy, create numerous jobs, place us on the
pedestrian as the big brother in the continent and make the country a tourism
destination considering all our numerous topographical sites, friendly weather,
and historical culture and heritage. I also implore you, your excellency, to
immediately reverse the dubious partnership initiated with the Ethiopian
Airline.”
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