Barring any last minute hitch, Nigeria One, which is being touted as the new national carrier, will come on stream with the government and other interested parties working round the clock to make the plan materialise. But there are fears by concerned stakeholders that things may go awry judging by past futile efforts, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf
TO parody the words of Victor Hugo, the famous French poet, you can’t stop an idea whose time has come. This is what the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, seems to be saying when she recently announced plans by the Federal Government to float a new national carrier.
Oduah, who dropped this hint in Abuja, at the interactive meeting with owners/operators of foreign and Nigeria registered business aircraft, stated that the proposed national carrier will soon take off as the template was at the final approval stage with the Presidency.
She said: “The national carrier is currently at the final approval stage. There are many stages but we have eventually come to the final one. As soon as we get this final approval, we are on our way to owning a new national carrier. So, very soon, the new national carrier will be on stream.”
Oduah said the proposed national carrier and the new airport terminals being built across the country would help shore up Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)by generating more employment through both the pubic and private sectors of the economy.
Framework for new national carrier
Speaking with The Nation over the weekend, top aviation sources said the idea of the new national carrier is already a fait accompli.
Confirming this development, Mr. Joyce Daniel Nkemakolam, Acting Director-General, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), who spoke exclusively with The Nation on his way to Monrovia, said plans were in top gear to get the national carrier ready for the pleasure of the Nigerian air travelling public.
Echoing similar sentiments, the General Manager, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Yakubu Dati, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, gave more insight.
Justifying the need for the national carrier, Dati said the country was not only ripe for it but stands to gain a lot once it comes on stream.
According to him, it is the way to go. “Unlike what obtained in the past, all that government will do is to create a company where individuals can get involved. It will be driven by the private sector; it will not be a government-owned facility.
“It creates room for manpower improvement and training, improve their capacity. The BASA agreement will create that opportunity. Nigerians will also be able to dictate the pace as it is with foreign airlines, whose schedules most times are dictated by the citizens of those countries. The foreign airlines make flight convenient for their citizens. The national carrier will address the issue of convenience of our citizens.”
Speaking further, Dati said as part of the big picture for the sector, a lot was being done to set things right in the nation’s aviation sub-sector.
From remodelling, to safety measures, among other things, these are some of the measures being put in place to make the aviation in the best footing.
“Some 13 airports have been designated as cargo airports because of their proximity to food baskets, including Abuja, Akure, Calabar, Ilorin, Jalingo, Jos, Kano, Lagos, Makurdi, Minna, Owerri, Port Harcourt and Uyo have been prioritised as perishable terminals.”
This, he stressed, would enable them key into the over N250 billion annual airfreight export market out of Africa.
“Countries like Kenya, South Africa, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Egypt, he noted, are participating in the trading in commodities such as fruits, fresh fish, vegetables and flowers while Nigeria, which produces these commodities in abundance, records zero participation,” he stressed.
Dati noted that in recent times, the more dynamic destinations for African products are China, with 27.5 per cent yearly average growth registered over a decade-long period and India, growing by 19.5 per cent during the same period.
The development of Economic Free Trade and Export Processing Zones will be targeted alongside cargo airports and afro-allied industrial clusters, based on local opportunities and the state’s competitive and comparative advantage in agriculture production.”The Nigerian aviation sector is establishing closer co-operation with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and state governments for concerted and strategic focus to this efforts,” he added.
Asked specifically on when the new national carrier will become fully operational, Datii said it has to go through a lot of processes. “Approvals by relevant organs are still being sorted out. So, hopefully before the end of the second quarter we should see something concrete.”
Proposed investment
According to analysts, a quantum of investment in the neighbourhood of $100million is being touted as the projected capital outlay required to bring the new national carrier on board.
But as at press time, this could not be confirmed as Dati was not specific.
“It is open to all comers. Economy has no barrier. In a capital intensive business as aviation, you can’t do it alone, so we welcome as many interested investors as possible to make it work.”
Asked to state the proposed number of aircraft fleet to run the new national carrier, Dati was noncommittal.
However, Director of Airport Operations of FAAN, Henry Omeogu, at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa in Rivers State, in an interactive session with newsmen recently, said the proposed national carrier was going to be driven by the private sector, adding that some 30 brand new aircraft would be acquired to run the national carrier.
Omeogu was accompanied by the Regional General Manager, Southsouth/Southeast of FAAN, Mrs. Ebele Okoye, and the authority’s Director of Maintenance and Engineering, Mr. Femi Ogunode.
The FAAN’s director of airport operations also stated that only brand new aircraft would be allowed in the national carrier, and would offer world-class services.
Support for national carrier
One of those upbeat about the new national carrier is Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu. He spoke at the commissioning of the General Aviation Terminal in Abuja.
Nigeria, he said, deserved a national carrier. The lawmaker who spoke in Abuja recently said Nigerian travellers should be given airport facilities that were at par with those obtainable in overseas countries.
He said, “The new GAT terminal in Abuja and other remodelling exercises are positive developments in the aviation industry that had long been identified with decaying infrastructure. The terminal will help airlines operators, passengers and private investors.
“I want to appeal to all users of this facility and others that are being remodelled to make proper use of them. It is important that managers of the new terminals should ensure that the facilities are properly and adequately maintained at all times. That is the only way to justify the huge amount spent by government in providing them, apart from encouraging the government to do more for the aviation industry.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Macaulay Timothy, a frequent air traveller, said, “It is disheartening to note that a massive 95% of international traffic to and from Nigeria is controlled by foreign carriers. So, if we have a national carrier, we can maximise the gains.”
Mrs. Ifie Ezenwa-Ugwoke, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Treavens Travels Limited and Tours, Lagos, is also on the same page with Timothy.
“It is something that we have been yearning for years. When Air Nigeria came I know the gains we benefitted as local tour operators. All the favours you get like group bookings, a situation where you can unbend the rules, is only possible with the local airlines. It is something that will do Nigerians a lot of good,” she stressed.
She, however, added a caveat: “National carrier or not, the question is whether Nigeria will be willing to support it because there are many elites who don’t want to hear anything about local content and they forget that those foreign airlines they are rooting for didn’t get there in one day. The only way the national carrier can last the test of time is if Nigerians support it 100 per cent. Nigerians must be willing to give it the needful patronage.
“As a stakeholder, I know the kind of humiliation we face anytime we travel outside the shores of this country. Those outside don’t have respect for local tour operators and this more or less has created a crisis of identity for us because to the people out there all what we know how to do is outbound tours, not in-bond tours. For a country that has many beautiful and alluring tourist sites, it is only good that we organise tours within our country but because we don’t have a national carrier, this is sometimes difficult to do. So, the new national carrier is indeed a good idea.”
Chris Aligbe, former manager, corporate affairs of the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL), who is upbeat about the national carrier, also gave a word of caution: “The failure of the first national carrier was not due to corruption but due to government interference with the management and the running of the airline.”
Aligbe, who is also the chief executive officer of Belujane Konzult, however, noted, that as much as he would support the formation of another national carrier, it is advisable that government owns between 5 and 10 percent in the airline, while the remaining percentage should go to the private sector.
According to him, “in NAL, the managers only took instruction from the government. For instance, the Tony Momoh board was sacked for increasing fares, the airline was remotely managed by people in government and that way, there was no way it would last.
“We must avoid what led to the failure of the defunct national carrier and the plan to form several other ones since then if we must have a new national carrier this time around. I am optimistic that a new national carrier will go a long way in saving the industry a lot of money and assist travellers. I think the minister is passionate about it too.
“But government only needs to own a little share to give it a sovereign coverage. That is the difference between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways. Kenya is also proud of Kenya Airways. Today, Ethiopia is proud of Ethiopian airlines because they are successful,” he said.
“Unless Nigeria has a national carrier, it will never turn Nigeria into a hub. For instance, KLM turned Schipol airport into a hub, Emirates turned Dubai to a hub and so on. We even need more than one national carrier, but as soon as government owns more that 10 percent in the new carrier, there may be a problem,” he added.
Arguments against national carrier
Captain Dele Ore, renowned aviation expert, has come down hard on the proposed plan for a new national carrier. As far as he is concerned, government is trying to push the horse before the cart.
The idea will flop, he stressed.
“The question to ask is what led to the liquidation of the former national carrier? A lot of factors, including political interference, were responsible for the demise of the Nigeria Airways,” he stressed.
Pressed further, he said, Nigeria Airways was notorious for pulling aircraft off scheduled routes with passengers left in the lurch to embark on a Federal Government sanctioned charter.
“High ranking government officials had the power to delay flights or even in extreme cases force diversion, just as government agencies employees were known to fly on the carrier without paying; the idea was that the money owed by their individual agency to Nigeria Airways for their travel was all to be settled at the end of the day as the carrier also belonged to the government.”
He is, however, peeved and said, “There is a lot that needs to be done before you start talking about another carrier. Massive debts were racked up in the name of the Nigerian people on behalf of Nigeria Airways. Today, many retrenched staff are still being owed their entitlements. There is no way people like us who are aggrieved cannot give our goodwill to that kind of venture. So, it won’t work.”
Going down memory lane, he recalled that this is second venture into the airline industry following the collapse of Nigeria Airways in 2003 under debts of more than $60million.
According to him, last year, both Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt Int’l) and Air France (AF, Paris CDG) were approached over a planned possible partnership in the new airline, a proposal both subsequently turned down.
To analysts, if experience is anything to go by, there is no reason for another foray in to airline ownership by the Federal Government. But pray, is someone listening?
