Festus Keyamo, the new minister of aviation and aerospace development, has vowed to stick to Hadi Sirka’s aviation agenda and has no aspirations to innovate in the industry.
However, some aviation specialists who spoke to our correspondent in Abuja in separate interviews recommended against it, especially when it came to matters involving the acquisition of a national carrier and the concessioning of airports, among other things.
Prior to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointing Keyamo as Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, the aviation industry, led by Hadi Sirika, faced a slew of difficulties that led to internal strife, safety worries, high operation costs, including aviation fuel, insufficient funding, and a shortage of skilled labour.
Other issues include, among others: a union strike, the sustainability of a waiver on aircraft and spare parts, budgetary restraints, unemployment, deteriorating/aging infrastructure, outmoded equipment, and the bad and intolerable condition of airport facilities and equipment.
The national carrier, Nigeria Air, was one of the most divisive issues among all these issues plaguing the aviation industry and attracted the ire of not just Nigerians but also the rest of the world.
The lack of openness and ambiguity surrounding Nigeria Air’s operations is one of the main topics of contention. When the government first announced its plans to collaborate with private investors, little information was given about the names of these investors and the exact financial agreements. The airline’s viability and accountability, according to critics, are called into question by this lack of transparency.
Local airline operators argued that they could handle Nigerian Air more effectively than a foreign airline, which is why they filed a lawsuit to contest the choice to settle for Ethiopia Airlines. The operators pleaded with the judge to halt the agreement with Ethiopian Airlines.
However, three days before leaving office, the former minister inaugurated the airline at the ceremony using a single Ethiopian Airlines aircraft that had been painted in the colours of Nigeria. The purchase of three planes had received FEC’s authorization.
Nigerians’ worries were exacerbated by the news as many people expressed their doubts about the decision and Mr. Sirika’s management of the airline’s intended operation on social media.
However, in laying out a plan for the new Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Group Capt. John Ojikutu, a former military commandant at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport, suggested that rather than pursuing the previously suggested plan for launching a national airline, efforts be directed towards strengthening existing flag carriers.
According to his argument, such a change in emphasis will be better for the aviation industry’s overall expansion and development.
Along with that, he urged the new minister to immediately concession airports in order to free the government from having to pay for upkeep on an annual basis.
It is vital that airport concessions continue in order to free the government from the need to allocate funds for ongoing maintenance and expansion projects on an annual basis.
“Each international airport should apply for concessions with at least four domestic airports, though. Second, only non-aeronautical concessions and aeronautical services, such as taxiways and runways, might be excised from NAMA’s eligibility to become a holding company and transferred to FAAN.
Thirdly, we should uphold our commitments to the ICAO and the government’s oversight of airport security and its defence layers. The establishment of a national air traffic service by the government is required in order to integrate the NAF in the administration of the airspace, to regularly monitor airspace violence, and to prevent the type of disconnect between the two that occurred during the several attacks on September 11, 2001, in the US, he continued.
Olumide Ohunayo, the secretary-general of the Aviation Round-Table, concurred, stating that the aviation sector is still working to recover from the previous administration. He advised Keyamo to avoid rushing into the aviation roadmap and to be cautious of any potential landmines and booby traps.
“He is coming at a time when the industry is trying to recover from the 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,” he said.
Since he is unable to hit the ground running, I won’t join them in utilising that phrase. He needs to get to the ground and look back to see the various roadblocks that affect the general public’s interest and investment.
As a lawyer, he has a right to request access to all relevant records. He needs to review nearly all of the agreements that have been signed in the last eight years on behalf of the federal government based on his background as an activist in the past, a lawyer, and his SAN.
“He must organise a legal group to examine it carefully. He must consider those who came before them as well as all the controversial concession agreements, which must be settled. Actual investors, as opposed to those who will join on the basis of the Minister’s relationship, will join when you do that.
