Air Peace Entry Into London And Need For National Carrier

Today, I want to rant! I want to angrily discuss Nigeria’s embarrassing failings as a nation. I want to dissect and analyze some of the anomalous vicissitudes that typically characterize this geographical entity called Nigeria, and I will do well to narrow this discourse to only matters that border on the Nigerian aviation sector in relation to the aviation sectors of other African countries. I will throw open a vista of interaction that will get us all thinking about the fate, fortune, and future of Nigeria.

Like I said, I will narrow down this discourse to the aviation sector because I find the developments (both past and present) that have chequered this very important sector of our national life to be very interesting and worth discussing. Also, I am narrowing down my discourse to the aviation sector because it is one sector that seems to be getting a lot of attention lately; moreover, it will prove herculean to discuss the multifaceted problems militating against Nigeria’s corporate existence. So, let’s just discuss the aviation sector today while we prepare to analyze another sector next time.

Just recently, Dr. Allen Onyema, the founder and chief executive officer of Air Peace, a major Nigerian airline and commercial air travel company, announced the inclusion of London to its list of international destinations and as was expected, celebrations broke out in almost all parts of the country. Nigerians who frequently travel to London for diverse purposes could not contain their joy at the breaking of the news; even the Nigerian government was as impressed as the citizens at the development, showing clearly that that feat accomplished by Dr. Onyema was not one to be trivialized.

Dr. Onyema highlighted all the advantages that would accrue to Nigeria as his company commenced direct flights to London from Lagos, and the most commendable of the advantages was that Nigeria would be able to redeem its economy through the crashing of international flight rates which cost lots of foreign exchange. For example, a return ticket to London before Air Peace’s intervention cost between 4.5 and 5.5 million naira for the economy class, and about 15 million naira for the business class. But as soon as Air Peace launched its London operations, the airfare dropped by 66 percent. Air Peace’s return ticket to London goes for as low as 1.2 million naira for the economy class and 4 million naira for the business class. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways took advantage of the monopoly they enjoyed as the two major airlines flying directly to London from Lagos to fleece Nigerians of their hard-earned foreign exchange. Nigerians were made to pay for their air tickets in dollars which required them to source foreign exchange from within the country.

If you have been wondering why there has been a constant scarcity of foreign exchange in Nigeria, this trend is one of the most prevalent reasons for that.

Nigerians are often boxed into tight corners and forced to make inordinate sacrifices courtesy of the arbitrary and wicked policies being operated by the government and stakeholders in the economy management sector. How can the government just sit idle and not intervene in situations where the masses are being ripped off? What would it take for the government to wade into certain controversial issues such as the ones bordering on the compulsory payment for goods and services by Nigerians (in their country) using foreign currencies? Can a Nigerian company operating in the United Kingdom, for instance, insist on payments for its goods and services in naira without the UK government raising an eyebrow? But in Nigeria, it is even the government that will suggest to the foreign companies to demand payments in foreign currencies. In Nigeria, anything goes, and the people are always made to bear the brunt of the anomalies and inadequacies.

So, if you are wondering why Air Peace’s launch of its London operations has been causing so much excitement within and without Nigeria, then you can consider the fact that it bringing so much relief to Nigerians (particularly the ones who frequently travel to and fro London) is the reason for the excitement. Nigerians no longer have to pay exorbitant fares to fly to important destinations such as London. All thanks to Air Peace!

Now, I promised to rant about the inadequacies and palpable lapses in the Nigerian aviation sector, and I will not be nice in doing so. I am one Nigerian who expects Nigeria to outperform all the other African countries in infrastructural development, corporate governance, technological advancement, creation of employment, economic advancement, healthcare innovation, and all the other indices by which national development is measured. I know it may not be feasible for Nigeria to take the lead in all of the above-mentioned indices, but it is enough reason to be worried that Nigeria has not excelled in even a single one of the named indices, and there are no signs that it will soon start doing any better.

It is no news that Nigeria as a country owns no national air carrier like Ethiopia, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya, and this is very embarrassing because Nigeria is more than capable of owning a national carrier that is as large as, or even larger than Ethiopia’s. But that is not the case.

Owning a national air carrier attracts development to a country as is the case with Ethiopia which boasts of the largest national airline in Africa. With a fleet size of 135 planes, Ethiopia brags about an average yearly passenger carriage of 13.7 million and yearly cargo lifting of 723,000 tons. This schedule of activities resulted in the airline’s generation of $6.1 billion between 2022 and 2023. The huge revenue generated in the fiscal year under review was despite the Russian/Ukraine war which drastically affected global economic activities. According to a report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Ethiopian national airline contributes about 10 percent to Ethiopia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and precipitates the creation of 1.1 million direct and indirect jobs annually. The national carrier has continued to expand yearly and has been fully operational since it kick-started operations in 1945.

It is very striking that Ethiopia has managed to maintain its national carrier for 79 unbroken years, whereas the Nigerian Airways which was Nigeria’s national carrier between 1958 and 2003, never operated hitch-freely throughout its 45 years of existence until it packed up in 2003. Throughout its years of operation, Nigerian Airways was barraged with tons of challenges chiefly of which were excessive government interference and mismanagement of funds. Reports have it that a whopping $400 million was looted from the airline’s coffers between 1983 and 1999, a major reason why it halted operations and folded up in 2003.

That was the story of how a burgeoning national flag carrier was mismanaged and grounded by unscrupulous elements and up till today, no single soul has been indicted, arraigned, or prosecuted in connection with that humongous crime. That is how Nigeria operates. When organized crimes such as embezzlement of public funds are committed, the suspects are allowed to go scot-free. Nobody ever mentions of such crimes anymore.

So, today, Nigeria and the world celebrate Air Peace’s big entry into London, but like I earlier pointed out, it was not a mean feat. Dr. Onyema stated that it took him almost 8 harrowing years to birth the dream. Having commenced operations in 2013, Onyema began to work towards expanding his reach to as many countries as possible. He penetrated pockets of countries across the globe, but was unable to penetrate London because of what he called “aerospace politics.”

In an interview granted Arise Television, Onyema narrated how he was almost frustrated out of his quest for the London route. He accused the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) of tossing him about while seeking their license to operate flight services to London. He stated that it got to a point where he almost lost it, save for the wise advice of his shrewd chief operating officer. At a point, he wondered why his own country was deliberately sabotaging his effort at making things right. He wondered why a country that can’t boast of even a single plane, talk less of a fleet, would be frustrating all efforts being made to ease the burden of its citizens. The craziest part of it all was that he had already spent over a billion dollars in procuring three Boeing 777 planes for the London operations and was only waiting for the bureaucratic processes to be completed so he could swing into operation, but the NCAA wouldn’t let him off the hook.

But thank God for Onyema’s eventual triumph! Thank God that Onyema’s strong will prevailed, otherwise, Nigerians would still have continued to pay staggering sums of money to travel to London, while their counterparts in other countries pay three times less than they were paying.

Because of Onyema’s sacrifice, Nigeria is on the verge of recording a quantum leap in its economy. Because of Onyema’s innovation and resourcefulness, Nigerians can now fly to London on very moderate fares and even enjoy local dishes like Efo-riro and goat meat pepper soup on board the flight. It is very funny how the foreign airlines are now falling on each other to woo Nigerians to fly with them while offering fares that are far less than Air Peace’s, but Nigerians already know better. If it weren’t for Air Peace, would there have been these sudden niceties?

Having come to the end of my ranting, I will implore the Nigerian government to do all it can to re-establish a national carrier. It is something that every country should have. Nigeria is capable of bearing the costs of setting up such infrastructure, and it will be the better for it, if it does so. The sham Nigeria Air that was launched under the wasteful regime of Muhammadu Buhari was a national embarrassment that should never have happened, but it can still be undone if the current government can just make a bold move and reestablish a national flag carrier for Nigeria.

Disclaimer: This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.