The Minister of Aviation and
Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has assumed office with no plans to
re-invent the wheels in the aviation sector, thereby sticking to the aviation
roadmap started by Hadi Sirka.
But, some aviation experts who
spoke in separate interviews with our correspondent in Abuja, advised
otherwise, particularly on issues bothering acquiring a national carrier,
concessioning of airports, among others.
Prior to Keyamo’s appointment as
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace development by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,
the aviation sector under the leadership of Hadi Sirika, experienced a litany
of challenges that spawned internal wrangling of sorts, safety concerns, high
operation costs, including aviation fuel, inadequate funding, lack of skilled
manpower.
Others are: Union strike,
Sustainability of Waiver on Aircrafts and Spares, Budgetary Constraints,
Unemployment, Decaying/ageing infrastructure and obsolete equipment, poor and
Intolerable condition of airport facilities and equipment, among others.
Of all these challenges besetting
the Aviation sector, the national carrier, Nigeria Air, was one of the biggest
controversial topics that raised the eyebrows of not just Nigerians, but the
international community.
One major controversy surrounding
Nigeria Air is the lack of transparency and clarity surrounding its operation.
The government initially announced plans to partner with private investors, but
there has been limited information provided on the identities of these
investors and the specific financial arrangements. Critics argue that this lack
of transparency raises questions about the airline’s viability and
accountability.
On several occasions, Mr Sirika
assured Nigerians that the national airline would commence operation before the
inauguration of a new administration on 29 May.
The former minister further said
negotiations between the Ethiopian Airlines Group Consortium — which emerged as
the highest bidders for Nigeria Air, and the Nigerian government were in
progress and that the next step would be the Federal Executive Council approval
of the “Full Business Case.”
In September last year, Mr Sirika
announced at a press briefing in Abuja that Ethiopian Airlines emerged as a
core investor in Nigeria Air with a 49 per cent shareholding. Many Nigerians
were suspicious of the plan and opposed the use of limited public funds for the
national carrier.
The decision to settle for Ethiopia
Airlines was challenged in a suit filed by local airline operators who claimed
they could manage Nigerian Air better than a foreign airline would. The
operators asked the court to stop the deal with Ethiopian Airlines.
However, three days before
leaving office, the former minister unveiled the airline at the ceremony, with
a single aircraft belonging to Ethiopian Airlines which was repainted in
Nigeria’s national colours. FEC had approved the acquisition of three aircraft.
The development further
heightened concerns among Nigerians, as many took to social media to question
the move and Mr Sirika’s handling of the airline’s proposed operation.
But, setting an agenda for the
new Minister of Aviation and Aerospace development, the former military
Commandant at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Group Capt.
John Ojikutu, recommended that efforts be directed towards strengthening
existing flag carriers, rather than pursuing the previously proposed plan for launching
a national airline.
He argued that such a shift in
focus will be more beneficial for the overall growth and development of the
aviation industry.
“There should no longer be any
consideration for National Carrier but Flag Carriers at least two for a start
to operate on the neglected BASA Routes. One for Regional and Continental and
the other Intercontinental. But each of the Flag Carriers must sell at least
30% of its shares to the public at the stock market or Nigeria Stock Exchange
because the market in BASA for commercial exploitation is a Nigerian
Commonwealth”, he said.
He also called on the new
minister to urgently concession Airports
so as to get the government off the yearly financing of maintenance, among
others.
“Airports Concessions should go
on urgently so as to get the government off the yearly budgeting for financing
their periodic maintenance and developmental projects.
“However, each international
airport should go for concessions with at least four domestic airports.
Secondly, only the non Aeronautical services for concessions and the
Aeronautical services like the runways and Taxiways could be excised to NAMA
and FAAN be made a Holding Company.
“Thirdly, the Airport Security
and it’s Defence Layers should remain our obligations to ICAO and the
responsibility of the government.
Government must set up a National Air Traffic Services to include the
NAF in the management of the Airspace to be routinely monitoring the Airspace
violence and to avoid the type of disconnection between the two in the multiple
attacks in the US during September 9, 2001”, he added.
Similarly, Aviation Round-Table
Secretary-General, Olumide Ohunayo, said that the aviation industry is trying
to recover from the previous administration, urging Keyamo not to hit the
ground running but to be careful of possible landmines and booby traps in the
aviation roadmap.
He said: “He is coming at a time
when the industry is trying to recover from the post traumatic experience we
had with the previous Minister and we are trying to build a clean mind towards
the new Minister but I pray that affliction don’t arise the second time in the
industry.
“I will not join them using the
word hit the ground running because he can not hit the ground running. He
should hit the ground, and look back and look at the different booby traps from
the roadmap ground that affects public interest and public investment.
“As a lawyer, he should ask for
all the documents, he should be able to look at it. From his background, being
an activist in the past and being a lawyer and his SAN, he needs to look at
almost all agreements that were signed in the last eight years on behalf of the
federal government.
“He needs to set up a legal team
to look at it critically. He also needs to look at those that are there before
them and also look at all the contentious concession agreements, they need to
resolve that. It is when you do that that genuine investors will come on board,
not those that will come based on the Minister’s friendship.”
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