Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation Senator Hidi Sirika may not fulfill his promise to Nigerians and the aviation world
…No AOC For AMCON’s NG Eagle
It was way back in 2021 that Nigeria’s Aviation Minister Senator Hidi Sirika told the whole world that Nigeria will begin the operation of a new national air carrier in the first quarter of 2022. He made the announcement then while speaking to journalists after the Federal Executive Council presided by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja.
He had said then, “In this 2021, we will try to do all the needful and probably we intend to start operations somewhere around first quarter 2022.” He said the emergence of the dreaded coronavirus (COVID-19) delayed the conclusion of plans as well as the takeoff of the project, which he said the federal government is still committed to. He also promised that the aviation ministry will submit a proposal to the council in two weeks.
However, this is already February 8, 2022, and few months before the end of the final term of the present government. Nigerians are yet to hear any news from the quarters of the aviation ministry just as there are no signs at the airports regarding the starting of a new national carrier.
Sirika stated then that the national carrier was expected to take off initially in 2022, as an economic necessity for the country with the size of the population, the vantage geographical location, and other natural factors. “It is still in top gear, we are coming back to Council, hopefully within the next two weeks (that was since 2021), to present the memo on the national carrier,” he had explained to the media at the time.
“We went to Council to approve the outline business case for the carrier and then the Council raised some questions and asked us to go and file the memo again and bring it back. So, once it comes back and the outline business case is approved by Council, then, of course, we will now go to the full business case, which is now going to the market and then establishing the national carrier.
“It was our intention to have a national carrier running in 2021, which is this year. Unfortunately, due to COVID, which took the greater part of last year, since March last year, activities are almost impossible. Of course, for obvious reasons, we now have access to equipment, that they will come faster to us, deliveries of the aircraft will be faster, perhaps even the rates might be cheaper and so on, and so forth,” Sirika stated with confidence.
With few weeks to the end of the first quarter, there is nothing seriously on ground and fears are that should the campaign for 2023 elections start, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration will come to an end meaning that the minister would not deliver on his promise.
There is also the allegation from other quarters that it was the inability of the ministry of aviation under the supervision of Senator Sirika to start up the national carrier that the ministry has allegedly frustrated the efforts of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) from starting its own airline named NG Eagle.
AMCON had made bold to tell Nigerians that it planned to exit its aviation portfolio through the establishment of NG Eagle where all its aviation asset would be assembled for easy disposal for good value. As early as February last year NG Eagle was ready to take off with the arrival of three aircraft fully branded but have been denied AOC by the aviation authorities.
As at the time of this report, the three NG Eagle are parked at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja, Lagos wasting away rather than flying and making good money for the Federal Government of Nigeria being that AMCON is a recovery agency of the government of Nigeria.
