Hire Air Peace as the flag carrier of Nigeria, not Ethiopian Air – Adeyanju writes Tinubu
Rights activist, Deji Adeyanju has urged President Bola Tinubu to divest from Ethiopian Airlines as Nigeria's flag carrier.
Adeyanju urged Tinubu to engage local airlines like Air Peace and others as the country's flag carrier.
He explained that the Air Peace engagement would bring economic progress to Nigeria.
In an open letter, the Abuja-based lawyer said the divestiture of Ethiopian Air will lead to the growth of the aviation sector in Nigeria.
The letter dated July 7 and addressed to Tinubu reads below…
"As you may know, weeks before former President Muhammadu Buhari left office, Nigerians were rocked by the news of the bogus establishment of Nigeria Air, a scheme devised and implemented by the government led by Muhammadu Bauhari.
"However, recent events have shown that not only the creation of the airline was conditioned in a dubious way by the Buhari administration, but also that the shareholding structure is likely to have a negative impact on the national economy of the country, with very serious consequences for our country. well-being.
"Before getting into the economic implications, I would like to draw your attention, Sir, to the selection of Ethiopian Airlines as the majority shareholder of Nigeria Air. In an unprecedented manner and against all known standards of major airlines national airlines in the world, the previous administration sanctioned a shareholding structure that saw Ethiopian Air, another country's flag carrier, take over 50% of what claims to be a Nigerian flag carrier. All over the world, national carriers are either wholly owned or majority owned by host nations.
“The Buhari government sanctioned this deal despite being aware that there are national airlines, such as Air Peace, that not only have the capacity, but also the experience and international clout to transforming itself into a national airline.Air Peace had, at various times in our nation's history, come to the aid of the country by airlifting compatriots from disaster-stricken or war-torn countries such as Libya, Ukraine , Sudan, South Africa, etc. Yet the Buhari government found the airline unworthy of being transformed into a National Airline.
"Past government action has not only cast the country's national airlines in a bad light before international communities, but has also left the country vulnerable to foreign espionage as a result of this unfortunate and ill-fated Nigeria Air which turned out to be a complete fraud, while depriving the country of the huge revenues that would have been generated from tourism if a local airline had been associated with the creation of Nigeria Air.Even more worrying is the fact that several Notable people, including industry experts, raised objections on highly technical and professional grounds to the proposed arrangement, but the Buhari government proceeded like a bull in a Chinese store.
"Away from the misadventures of the previous government and the waste of taxpayers' money in a fraudulent partnership with Ethiopian Air, it is pertinent to underline the importance for Nigeria to have a national carrier being the most black nation populous world, as it will attract Foreign Direct Investment, improve tourism, diversify our economy away from oil, increase our GDP and even help our economy with the much needed influx of foreign currency. Ethiopian Air, which is currently Africa's largest airline, recorded a 90% jump in net profit to USD 937,000,000 in the financial year 2021/2022, while its total revenue jumped 79% to $5,000,000,000 This is 90% profit growth despite the worsening global economic crisis, rising fuel prices and even the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. 19. The emirate group recently announced in its 2022/2023 financial reports that it made an annual profit of more than 3,000,000,000 USD with a turnover of more than 32,000,000,000 USD, an increase of 81 %. In 2022, British Airways generated over £11,000,000,000 in revenue, which was lower than its 2019 revenue, pre-COVID. China Eastern Airlines earned $8,000,000,000 in 2022 while its close rival Air China earned $8,362,000,000, a 31.36% drop from its 2021 revenue of $12,183,000,000. usd.
Adeyanju added that a national carrier is crucial for Nigeria's development and the country's growth as Nigerians travel extensively and seek affordable airlines for various purposes.
"From your policies thus far, with the exception of the hasty removal of fuel subsidies, you have shown the political will required to redress the situation in our country, and I have no doubt in my mind that you can revolutionize our aviation industry, making it compete positively with the other global aviation giants mentioned above.
"The first step in the restructuring of our aviation sector is to appoint an aviation technocrat and not a politician as the aviation minister of our republic. Thereafter, convene a meeting of critical...
Rights activist, Deji Adeyanju has urged President Bola Tinubu to divest from Ethiopian Airlines as Nigeria's flag carrier.
Adeyanju urged Tinubu to engage local airlines like Air Peace and others as the country's flag carrier.
He explained that the Air Peace engagement would bring economic progress to Nigeria.
In an open letter, the Abuja-based lawyer said the divestiture of Ethiopian Air will lead to the growth of the aviation sector in Nigeria.
The letter dated July 7 and addressed to Tinubu reads below…
"As you may know, weeks before former President Muhammadu Buhari left office, Nigerians were rocked by the news of the bogus establishment of Nigeria Air, a scheme devised and implemented by the government led by Muhammadu Bauhari.
"However, recent events have shown that not only the creation of the airline was conditioned in a dubious way by the Buhari administration, but also that the shareholding structure is likely to have a negative impact on the national economy of the country, with very serious consequences for our country. well-being.
"Before getting into the economic implications, I would like to draw your attention, Sir, to the selection of Ethiopian Airlines as the majority shareholder of Nigeria Air. In an unprecedented manner and against all known standards of major airlines national airlines in the world, the previous administration sanctioned a shareholding structure that saw Ethiopian Air, another country's flag carrier, take over 50% of what claims to be a Nigerian flag carrier. All over the world, national carriers are either wholly owned or majority owned by host nations.
“The Buhari government sanctioned this deal despite being aware that there are national airlines, such as Air Peace, that not only have the capacity, but also the experience and international clout to transforming itself into a national airline.Air Peace had, at various times in our nation's history, come to the aid of the country by airlifting compatriots from disaster-stricken or war-torn countries such as Libya, Ukraine , Sudan, South Africa, etc. Yet the Buhari government found the airline unworthy of being transformed into a National Airline.
"Past government action has not only cast the country's national airlines in a bad light before international communities, but has also left the country vulnerable to foreign espionage as a result of this unfortunate and ill-fated Nigeria Air which turned out to be a complete fraud, while depriving the country of the huge revenues that would have been generated from tourism if a local airline had been associated with the creation of Nigeria Air.Even more worrying is the fact that several Notable people, including industry experts, raised objections on highly technical and professional grounds to the proposed arrangement, but the Buhari government proceeded like a bull in a Chinese store.
"Away from the misadventures of the previous government and the waste of taxpayers' money in a fraudulent partnership with Ethiopian Air, it is pertinent to underline the importance for Nigeria to have a national carrier being the most black nation populous world, as it will attract Foreign Direct Investment, improve tourism, diversify our economy away from oil, increase our GDP and even help our economy with the much needed influx of foreign currency. Ethiopian Air, which is currently Africa's largest airline, recorded a 90% jump in net profit to USD 937,000,000 in the financial year 2021/2022, while its total revenue jumped 79% to $5,000,000,000 This is 90% profit growth despite the worsening global economic crisis, rising fuel prices and even the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. 19. The emirate group recently announced in its 2022/2023 financial reports that it made an annual profit of more than 3,000,000,000 USD with a turnover of more than 32,000,000,000 USD, an increase of 81 %. In 2022, British Airways generated over £11,000,000,000 in revenue, which was lower than its 2019 revenue, pre-COVID. China Eastern Airlines earned $8,000,000,000 in 2022 while its close rival Air China earned $8,362,000,000, a 31.36% drop from its 2021 revenue of $12,183,000,000. usd.
Adeyanju added that a national carrier is crucial for Nigeria's development and the country's growth as Nigerians travel extensively and seek affordable airlines for various purposes.
"From your policies thus far, with the exception of the hasty removal of fuel subsidies, you have shown the political will required to redress the situation in our country, and I have no doubt in my mind that you can revolutionize our aviation industry, making it compete positively with the other global aviation giants mentioned above.
"The first step in the restructuring of our aviation sector is to appoint an aviation technocrat and not a politician as the aviation minister of our republic. Thereafter, convene a meeting of critical...
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