Nigeria lost 110 airlines, more set to fail – Ex-Nigeria Airways MD
airlines
A former Managing Director of defunct Nigeria Airways, Capt Jonathan Ibrahim, weekend, warned that if the Federal Government and domestic airlines don’t rectify things in the airline sub-sector, Nigerian carriers will collapse within the next 10 years.
The former President of the African Airline Association, said Nigeria has lost 110 domestic airlines, arguing that the few surviving ones were just temporary.
Ibrahim spoke at the Public Presentation and Launch of the book: ‘Nigeria Aviation and Aerospace Development: All You Need to Know’, organised by Wings Support Family Foundation, WSFF, in Lagos.
Addressing newsmen, he said: “Honestly, we have a long way to go. We are trying, but we can do better.
They (airlines and federal government) are not ready to employ professionals. They want to go it alone with their family and political aides and that will not work. I will advise them to go and call professionals to give them advice. We have lost 110 domestic airlines, the few surviving are just temporary. If things are not done properly, they will also collapse in 10 years’ time, and Nigeria will end up with nothing.”
Asked what should be done to avert his prediction, he said: “A maintenance base should be built in Nigeria because the airlines don’t currently have the capacity to go abroad for checks, particularly because of Forex. The training school in Zaria should be upgraded. If government can not maintain it, they should give it to private individuals or there should be a collaboration between private companies and government. Also, the airlines should employ professionals as their managers, not their families.”
On former Nigerian Airways staff who were yet to receive their pay, Ibrahim said: “It is unfortunate. They left us for 10 years before President Muhammadu Buhari (retd) regime gave us N45 billion remaining about N37 billion. He approved it, but the Ministry of Finance that reports to the president cut N78 billion and gave us N45 billion. The problem we have now is the remaining payment.
“I have seen the Ministry, I have seen the Minister of Finance, I have approached the Chief of Staff to the President, we wrote a letter to him, asking them to please pay us because the Federal Government closed Nigeria Airways due to no fault of ours. I was the Managing Director, and I was asked to liquidate it. When I refused, they fired me, but somebody came and liquidated it and sold it out. We were not involved.
“What we are saying is that since we were not involved in the liquidation and we didn’t create any problem for the industry, they have refused to pay us our dues and they want us to die without collecting them. We are appealing to the Bola Tinubu administration to do the needful if they have conscience and the fear of God. We are appealing to Tinubu to please look at these innocent workers who worked for this country and pay what is left.”
