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Tag: Air Peace

  • Air Peace, capitalism, and national interest – By Dakuku Peterside

    Air Peace, capitalism, and national interest – By Dakuku Peterside

    Nigerian corporate influence and that of the West continue to collide. The rationale is straightforward: whereas corporate activity in Europe and America is part of their larger local and foreign policy engagement, privately owned enterprises in Nigeria  or commercial interests are not part of Nigeria’s foreign policy ecosystem, neither is there a strong culture of government support for privately owned enterprises’ expansion locally and internationally.

    Nigerian firms’ competitiveness on a global scale can only be enhanced by the support of the Nigerian government.  It is evident that relationship between Nigerian businesses  and foreign policy is important to the national interest. When backing domestic Nigerian companies to compete on a worldwide scale, the government should see it as a lever to drive foreign policy, national strategic interest, promote trade, enhance national security considerations, minimize distortion in the domestic market as the foreign airlines were doing, boost GDP, create employment opportunities, and optimize corporate returns for the firms.

    For example, the South Korean mega conglomerates within the chaebols corporate structure, such as Samsung, Daewoo, SK Group, LG, and others, have become globally recognizable brands thanks to the backing of the South Korean government. For Chaebol to succeed, strong collaboration with the government has been essential. Also, in telecommunications, Huawei would only be such a well-known brand worldwide with the backing of the Chinese government. The opposite is the case with Nigeria.

    Admitted nations do not always interfere directly in their companies’ business and commercial dealings, and there are always exceptions. I can cite two areas of exception: military sales by companies because of their strategic implications and are, therefore, part of foreign and diplomatic policy and processes. The second is where the products or routes of a company have implications for foreign policy. Air Peace falls into the second category in the Lagos – London route.

    Two events demonstrate an emerging trend that, if not checked, will disincentivize Nigerian firms from competing in the global marketplace. There are other notable examples, but I am using these two examples because they are very recent and ongoing, and they are typological representations of the need for Nigerian government backing and support for local companies that are playing  in a very competitive international  market dominated by big foreign companies whose governments are using all forms of foreign policies and diplomacy to support and sustain.

    The first is Airpeace. It is the only Nigerian-owned aviation company playing globally and checkmating the dominance of foreign airlines. The most recent advance is the commencement of flights on the Lagos – London route.

    In Nigeria, foreign airlines are well-established and accustomed to a lack of rivalry, yet a free-market economy depends on the existence of competition. Nigeria has significantly larger airline profits per passenger than other comparable African nations. Insufficient competition has resulted in high ticket costs and poor service quality.

    It is precisely this jinx that Airpeace is attempting to break. On March 30, 2024, Air Peace reciprocated the lopsided Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Kingdom when the local airline began direct flight operations from Lagos to Gatwick Airport in London.

    This elicited several reactions from foreign airlines backed by their various sovereigns because of their strategic interest. A critical response is the commencement of a price war. Before the Airpeace entry, the price of international flight tickets on the Lagos-London route had soared to as much as N3.5 million for the  economy ticket.

    However, after Airpeace introduced a return economy class ticket priced at N1.2 million, foreign carriers like British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Qatar Airways reduced their fares significantly to remain competitive.

    In a price war, there is little the government can do. In an open-market competitive situation such as this, our government must not act in a manner that suggests it is antagonistic to foreign players and competitors.

    There must be an appearance of a level playing field. However, the government owes Airpeace protection against foreign competitors backed by their home governments. This is in the overall interest of the Nigerian consumer of goods and services. Competition history in the airspace works where the Consumer Protection Authority in the host country is active.

    This is almost absent in Nigeria and it is a reason why foreign airlines have been arbitrary in pricing their tickets. Nigerian consumers are often at the mercy of these foreign firms who lack any vista of patriotism and are more inclined to protect the national interest of their governments and countries.

    It would not be too much to expect Nigerian companies playing globally to benefit from the protection of the Nigerian government to limit influence peddling by foreign-owned companies. The success of Airpeace should enable a more competitive and sustainable market, allowing domestic players to grow their network and propel Nigeria to the forefront of international aviation.

    The second is Proforce, a Nigerian-owned military hardware manufacturing firm active in Rwanda, Chad, Mali, Ghana, Niger, Burkina Faso, and South Sudan. Despite the growing capacity of Proforce in military hardware manufacturing, Nigeria entered two lopsided arrangements with two UAE firms to supply military equipment worth billions of dollars , respectively. Both deals are backed by the UAE government but executed by UAE firms.

    These deals on a more extensive web are not unconnected with UAE’s national strategic interest. In pursuit of its strategic national interest, India is pushing Indian firms to supply military equipment to Nigeria. The Nigerian defence equipment market has seen weaker indigenous competitors driven out due to the combination of local manufacturers’ lack of competitive capacity and government patronage of Asian, European, and US firms in the defence equipment manufacturing sector. This is a misnomer and needs to be corrected.

    Not only should our government be the primary customer of this firm if its products meet international standards, but it should also support and protect it from the harsh competitive realities of a challenging but strategic market directly linked to our national military procurement ecosystem. The ability to produce military hardware locally is significant to our defence strategy. This firm and similar companies playing in this strategic defence area must be considered strategic and have a considerable place in Nigeria’s foreign policy calculations.

    Protecting Nigeria’s interests is the primary reason for our engagement in global diplomacy. The government must deliberately balance national interest with capacity and competence in military hardware purchases. It will not be too much to ask these foreign firms to partner with local companies so we can embed the technology transfer advantages.

    Increasingly, other companies, especially in the banking and fintech sectors, are making giant strides in global competitiveness. Our government must create an environment that enables our local companies to compete globally and ply their trades in various countries.

    It should be part of the government’s overall economic, strategic growth agenda to identify areas or sectors in which Nigerian companies have a competitive advantage, especially in the sub-region and across Africa and support the companies in these sectors to advance and grow to dominate in  the African region with a view to competing globally. Government support in the form of incentives such as competitive grants ,tax credit for consumers ,low-interest capital, patronage, G2G business, operational support, and diplomatic lobbying, amongst others, will alter the competitive landscape. Governments  and key government agencies in the west retain the services of lobbying firms in pursuit of its strategic interest.

    Nigerian firms’ competitiveness on a global scale can only be enhanced by the support of the Nigerian government. Foreign policy interests should be a key driver of Nigerian trade agreements. How does the Nigerian government support private companies to grow and compete globally? Is it intentionally mapping out growth areas and creating opportunities for Nigerian firms to maximize their potential? Is the government at the domestic level removing bottlenecks and impediments to private company growth, allowing a level playing field for these companies to compete with international companies? Why is the government patronising foreign firms against local firms if their products are of similar value? What was the rationale for flight tickets from Lagos to London costing N3.5M for the economy class just a few weeks ago only to come down to N1.3M with the entrance of Airpeace to the market? Why are Nigerian consumers left to the hands of international  companies in some sectors without the government actively supporting the growth of local firms to compete in those sectors?

    These questions merit honest answers. Nigerian national interest must be the driving factor for our foreign policies, which must cover the private sector, just as is the case with most developed countries. The new global capitalism is not a product of accident or chance; the government has choreographed and shaped it by using foreign policies to support and protect local firms competing globally. Nigeria must learn to do the same to build a strong economy with more jobs.

  • How Dangote and Air Peace rose up against economic strangulation of Nigeria – By Magnus Onyibe

    How Dangote and Air Peace rose up against economic strangulation of Nigeria – By Magnus Onyibe

    Nigeria recently spent as much as N2.34 trillion in six months to service a humongous public debt that is currently in excess of N107 trillion that she is saddled with. That is why the country’s national budget of N27.5 trillion for 2024 has nearly half of it appropriated for settling the nation’s outstanding debt, which is comprised of local and international debt stock.

    As such the high borrowing cost and rising debt are hindering Nigeria’s ability to finance its development agenda, because the huge amounts of public revenue that are allocated for debt servicing purposes could have been used to intervene in other critical sectors such as education, health care and housing that urgently require funding.

    Based on statistics obtained from Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO), the Brookings Institution, an American think tank, reckons that: “In 2022, an estimated 96% of the federal government’s revenue was allocated toward interest payments.” This year, that figure has risen to over 100%.

    The American think tank then came to the following conclusion: “Understandably, debt servicing dwarfs investments in key sectors. In the 2023 national budget, the budget share for debt servicing is 29%, whereas the budget shares for education, health, and infrastructure are 8%, 5%, and 6%, respectively.”

    Therein lies Nigeria’s dilemma of underdevelopment reflected by its status as a debtor nation whose lion’s share of resources or income is geared towards debt repayment as opposed to being invested in capital projects like infrastructure that generate income and help boost the economy.

    As it may be recalled, until a couple of months ago, Nigeria had an unsettled foreign debt owed to international partners such as airlines, estimated to be in excess of $7 billion. The debt exposure was a source of ridicule to the country and caused embarrassment to Nigerian travelers who were denied services such as the purchase of airline tickets in naira by international airlines and similar organizations whose funds got trapped in Nigeria as the CBN could not remit their funds back to their country.

    Similarly, the import bill of Nigeria as at the end of 2023 rose up to a whopping N14 trillion in the last three (3) months of the year, which is a phenomenon that experts have also attributed to depreciation of the naira when the Nigerian currency got floated.

    Available records show that Nigeria’s top four (4) goods imported the most are: (1) Motor spirit estimated at 22.71% of the total imports . (2) Gas oil, 8.71% costing . (3) Drum wheat, 3.92% cost(4) Cane sugar, 1.86%.

    Remarkably, the cost of petroleum products is 22.71% or N1,921.03 billion, plus cost of gas, which is 8.71% or N736.66 billion brings the total value for the import of petroleum and gas oul alone to about 26% which amounts to over two trillion naira. The second-highest imported item is food.

    Specifically, wheat, which is put at 3.92% or N331.76 billion, and cane sugar, whose import gulps 1.86% of our import budget with a naira value of N157.34 billion. When the two food items are added together, it would be revealed that a total of N500 billion or half a trillion is exported abroad to import food to enable us to feed ourselves.

    To be clear, there other items that our country imports, but the four items listed above constitute the largest chunk of our gargantuan import bill.

    What the statistics above reveals is that as of 2022/23, Nigeria was spending in excess of two trillion on importing petroleum products and over half a trillion on food imports, yet the nation still wallows in energy and food insecurity.

    Fortunately, through the skillful management of the resources flowing into the country, since the inception of the current administration of president Bola Tinubu on May 29th of last year, debts to airlines, etc. have been settled after the current management team at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), led by Mr. Yemi Cardoso, assumed leadership.

    Be that as it may , the consequences of President Tinubu’s announcement signaling the end of the subsidy regime on petrol and the naira did not fail to have an initial negative effect on the purchasing power of a critical mass of Nigerians. These manifested as the hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and the free fall of the naira, which inflicted severe hardships on vulnerable Nigerian masses.

    But, by and large, those initial dire fallout are being reversed with the volume of petrol being imported into Nigeria, according to government sources, being reduced by as much as one million liters a day under President Tinubu’s watch, and crude oil production is being ramped up by about 500 million to 1.5 million barrels a day.  The improvement in production is boosting  foreign exchange income and thus stabilizing the naira, which was initially in a free fall.

    With the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery in Lekki, Lagos, coming on stream for local production of petrol in the past couple of months and Airpeace airline in the past one week commencing operations on Nigeria-UK lucrative routes previously monopolized by British airlines,Nigeria is poised to end the strangulation of her economy via the vice grip that Europe and indeed the West had on it by using their banking system, airlines, and petroleum refineries to control and tie our economy to their apron strings. Not many Nigerians realize that apart from corruption often touted as the bane of Nigerian economy, those unfair trade practices are part of what has kept Nigeria in a debt trap and perpetual slavery to the goods and services of the industrialized and advanced Western economies.

    But the aforementioned disadvantages seem to be coming to an end with indigenous solutions providers such as Dangote Industries and Airpeace relieving the Nigerian economy from the strangulations foisted on her since the country was colonized by the British, who in 1914 amalgamated their northern and southern protectorates following the Berlin, Germany partitioning of Africa in 1885 by Europeans and allocation of what has today become Nigeria as largese to Britain for lack of a better term to characterize the scramble for and partioning Africa by european oppressors.

    Now, the type of geopolitics and conspiracies underscored and narrated above have been ongoing since independence from colonialism and neocolonialism. But because it is sophisticated and nuanced, which is quite unlike the French introduction of the CFA currency and economic zone that enabled her to control the economies of her 15 former colonies via a tie to their umbelical cord, not many figured out why our economy has remained mired in debt despite the enormous natural and human resources that our nation is endowed with.

    That is perhaps the reason that while the former French colonies are currently openly rebelling against the stranglehold on their economy by France by cutting ties with her , not much is talked about how Nigeria must remove the yoke of economic strangulation, which is akin to a yoke or harness that was placed on its neck by the Europeans, particularly her colonizer, Britain, via the control of our country’s banking system of which Nigeria got unschackled when British banks were nationalized.

    That is one of the epochal events and part of the building blocks that Dangote and Airpeace are building upon in the annals of Nigeria’s journey to economic freedom by becoming major players in energy security through the production of the bulk of petrol required in Nigeria and the breaking of the monopoly of air transportation between Nigeria and Britain by insisting on the UK respecting international aviation protocol known as Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement,BASA.

    Is it not amazing that although our country had been granted independence by Britain in 1960, and Nigeria became a republic three years after, which is 1963, her economy was still tied to the apron strings of the United Kingdom and other Western countries whose banking institutions, such as Barclays Bank, were controlling the Nigerian economy?

    Until the military regime of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo in 1978, demonstrated its disapproval of the practice of white minority rule over the black majority in South Africa—a governance system known as apartheid-by nationalizing the assets of the Western countries buffeting South Africa in its practice of apartheid, banks in Nigeria were basically controlled from London, Paris and New york head offices.

    Records have it that Western nations such as Britain and the United States of America (USA) were complicit in the practice of apartheid through various means.

    This included purchasing bonds from apartheid South Africa.

    Consequently, Nigeria’s military head of state at that time Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo , (OBJ)had to nationalize British-owned Barclays Bank and transformed  it into Union Bank of Nigeria, (UBN) and also restructured the former British Bank for West Africa (established in 1894) and the British and French Bank Ltd (BFB), co-owned by the French and founded in 1949, into United Bank for Africa, (UBA).

    Prior to taking the measures above , the Nigerian economy resembled a horse with a bridle over its mouth, controlled by European and American financial institutions from London, Paris and New York.

    Of course, there were consequences for what the superpowers deemed to be OBJ’s intransigence in breaking their economic stranglehold. They penalized Nigeria by precipitating the tanking of Nigeria’s economy by inducing a crash in the international price of crude oil, which is Nigeria’s main source of foreign exchange.

    That reprisal action resulted in what infamously became known as the container armada (a flood of containers of imported goods stranded in the seaports), which defined the reign of Alhaji Shehu Shagari/Dr. Alex Ekwueme as president and vice president of Nigeria respectively , (1979-1983)  both of whom are now of blessed memory.

    The inability to clear the imported goods from the seaports due to the crash in the price of crude oil, resulting in negative foreign exchange earnings into the Nigerian economy, was basically part of the justification for the military coup d’état that toppled the democratically elected government in 1983 and set our country back, both politically and economically.

    After the ouster of Shagari and Ekwueme, the political leadership was taken over by Generals Muhammadu Buhari/Tunde Idiagbon, who ruled with military diktat, setting the country back for another long period that ended in 1998 when General Sani Abacha, who succeeded another army General, Ibrahim Babangida, that had toppled Buhari and Idiagbon’s regime in 1985, suddenly died in office.

    That was what paved the way for the emergence of another democratically elected government in 1999, with former army General Obasanjo enjoying a second chance at the helm of political affairs of Nigeria as a democratically elected president (1999-2007) after serving as a military dictator.

    Fortuitously, in the 1990s, under the watch of General Babangida, the practice of banking in Nigeria was fully deregulated, thus opening up the space for independent investors to be issued banking licenses which is one of the reasons that our country developed enough competencies to, apart from South Africa be a leading nation in Africa extending banking services to fellow African countries.

    Remarkably ,Nigerian banks achieved the feat inspite of the obstacles posed by the bureacracy which never cleared the path for their expansion internationally.

    In fact in a media intervention focusing on Africapitalism, l had asserted that banks have achieved what the founding fathers of the defunct Organization of African Unity, (OAU), now African Union, (AU) failed to accomplish which is the integration of the 54 nations of the continent.

    For a very long time ,one has been stressing how Nigeria’s public sector/ civil service structure is so anti-private sector investors as opposed to being pro-private sector as obtained in other climes such as the continents of Europe, the America’s and Asia where the bureaucracy functions only as a regulator not a competitor (which is the case in Nigeria) by making sure that the rules of the game are respected by all the players and equal playing field is provided for fair competion.

    It is a general knowledge that without the aid of government, the chaebols in South Korea like Samsung, Daewoo, etc. would not have emerged as global icons that they are today.

    Similarly, the US is keen on supporting Ford motors and other automobile manufacturers, which is why they were not allowed to die when they literally ran into financial rough waters and government under the watch of President Barack Obama had to bail them out by giving them financial life lines.

    Without the support of the Chinese government, Huawei would not be such a global household name in telecommunications today.

    We are all aware of the ongoing trade war raging between China and the US over the ban of TikTok  owned by the Chinese from operating in the US unless it is sold to US investors or others.

    How about the Electric Vehicles,EV war between China and the industrialised Western world stretching from Europe to the US wherein China which is churning out EVs like confetti and at much lower price is threatening Elon Musk’s Tesla pole position whose phenomenal sale is the key reason that at a point in time,Mr Musk over took Microsoft’s Bill Gates as the richest man in the world, before Bernard Anault displaced him as no 1 and Jeff Bezos became no 2. pushing Musk to no.3 and signposted by the reality that the sales of Tesla cars have lately dipped significantly.

    The point being made is that private sector operators need government support not just in patronage, but via tax rebates ,providing enabling environment in the manner that we do when trying to attract foreign investors and we grant tax holidays etc.

    But that  do not seem to be the case in Nigeria whereby the public sector deem the private sector investors to be foes instead of partners in progress for the greater good of Nigeria and the citizens.

    At least one thing that is clear about Nigeria is that we are a capitalist and market driven economy and we are not operating a socialist/, welfarist/communist system wherein everything is centralized like it is the case in Russia and to some extent China.

    Unfortunately, our country is yet to wean itself of the elements of command and control of government and the economy with public/ civil servants at the commanding heights. That mentality/ orientation inherited from the civil service of yore, and entrenched in the course of the prolonged stay of the military in political leadership saddle of our country, is the reason the private sector is not getting the required support that it deserves.

    Arising from the above , our  civil servants need to be given the orientation that it is the private sector that has the capacity to make our country rich and our fellow citizens prosperous.

    This very critical element needs to be added into the training programs for civil servants in the numerous training institutions for public servants from the Administrative and Staff College in Topo, near Badagary, Lagos to the National Institute For Policy And Strategic Studies,Kuru near,Jos, Plateau state.

    If our civil/public servants had the right orientation reflective  of what obtains in the developed economies highlighted earlier,  the Chief Executive Officer/Founder of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema would not be faced with the ordeal that he was confronted with on a return to Nigeria after the maiden flight of the airline to London as he narrated on a recent episode of Arise tv. In the course of the Morning Show program, he shared with the trio of Rueben Abati, Ayo Mayo-Ese and Rufai Oseni who are the anchors of the show,how some staff of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) tried to force Airpeace to land at an abandoned and neglected area of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Lagos.

    Since that part of the airport was seldom used and bereft of good quality infastructure and far from the main terminal building the passengers on the maiden flight from London would have had poor and unpalatable air travel experience which could have negatively impacted the image of Airpeace to the first time passengers that the airline was intent on impressing in other to enjoy the benefits of their repeat patronage.

    What peeved the Airpeace owner the most was that his airline was consigned to the ‘Siberia’ area of the old terminal regardless of the fact that as he put it “C-23 at the new terminal was free for use, the officials chose to reserve it for a foreign carrier at the expense of indigenous carrier”.

    Mr Allen Onyema then concluded with the following declaration:

    “There are internal conspiracies within Nigeria. Some Nigerians are praying that we fail, but the good thing is that nobody is God.”

    Aviation minister, Mr Festus Keyamo had also on Arise tv on monday corroborated the challenges and artificial and real barriers created by British authorities that Airpeace had to scale to break the monopoly of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic operating flights into Nigeria without Nigeria flying any into London which is a route known to be very lucrative.  Based  on well established Aviation conventions known as BASA, there is supposed to be reciprocity of flight exchange between both countries on equal basis.

    While the UK has been enjoying exclusivity on the route since the demise of Nigeria Airways, trade balance between both nations has been skewed in favor of the UK which is one of the reasons that there was a backlog of payments for  airline tickets which the CBN just cleared when cash flow into the economy improved following the ongoing reforms by the incumbent administration.

    The cold shoulder treatment meted to Airpeace by the bureaucracy in the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN is not dissimilar to the the nasty experience that Alhaji Aliko Dangote had to cope with when he was struggling to set up the largest refinery with 650,000 barrels per day at full capacity at Ibeju, Lekki,Lagos.

    The commissioning of the mega refinery had to be postponed a couple of times. That is in light of the fact it was being set up during Covid-19 pandemic and Russia,Ukraine war that disrupted world supply chain and even triggered multiple recessions in many regions of the world including two recessions in Nigeria in the course of the administration of the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari( 2015-2023) who is really not business friendly.

    Not being able to commission the refinery on schedule, some Nigerians, literally decided to ‘roast’ the visionary industrialist who braved the odds to invest in a refinery in Nigeria to stem the hemorrhaging of our treasury as humongous sums of money have been consistently exported to Europe for the import of finnished petroleum products as earlier revealed in our country’s import bill earlier highlighted.

    Some uncharitable  and ignorant Nigerians also umbraided the leadership of the CBN for taking equity in Dangote refinery irrespective of the fact that several industrialized countries as earlier detailed had invested in private sector firms in their countries to make them unicorns and veritable sources for earning foreign exchange.

    Today, Dangote refinery is effectively positioned to put European refineries that were intentionally set up along the  coastlines of Europe to produce petroleum products specifically for West African markets where it was in high demand due to lack of capacity and infrastructure for local refining of crude oil which incidentally abounds in Nigeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and even Ghana amongst others.

    Readers do not have to take my word for it but read the Reuters analysis by the pair of Ahmad Ghaddar and Robert Harvey published on March 27,2024:

    “lt has long been touted as the turning point for Nigeria’s quest for energy independence. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and its top oil producer, yet it imports almost all its fuel due to lack of refining capacity.

    About a third of Europe’s 1.33 million bpd average gasoline exports in 2023 went to West Africa, a bigger chunk than any other region, with the majority of those exports ending up in Nigeria, Kpler data shows.”

    The report is even more revealing:

    “The loss of the West African market will be problematic for a small set of refineries that do not have the kit to upgrade their gasoline to European and U.S. specification,” consultancy FGE’s head of refined products Eugene Lindell said, referring to more stringent environmental standards for other markets.

    As much as 300-400,000 bpd of refining capacity in Europe is at risk of closure because of rising global gasoline production, according to Kpler’s analyst Andon Pavlov.”

    There is not enough time and space to dwell on the international conspiracy to stop Dangote refinery from becoming a reality and how ignorant Nigerians were serving as facilitators by literary excoriating and presenting Dangote as a villain instead of the entrepreneurial warrior that he truly has been.

    There are so many other amazing entrepreneurs such as Chief Mike Adenuga, the  owner of Globacom who owing to tenacity of purpose and sheer grit and determination leapt over the barriers set by bureaucrats in the telecommunication system hell bent on preventing him and other indigenous investors from thriving. The travails and triumphs of Chief Adenuga when he was setting up Glo is well documented,so there is no need repeating them, but suffice it to say that the successful launch of GLO resulted in the revolution of GSM billing from per minute billing that was offered by foreign GSM service providers to per second billing which eased the cost burden on subscribers.

    It is unfortunate that some corrupt elements in the public sector conspire against local entrepreneurs so that they can continue to enjoy under the table favors ( bribery and corruption) when they aid foreign investors and constitute themselves into impediments and clogs in the wheel of progress for local investors.

    We are all familiar with the reasons that Virgin Nigeria folded up its operation in Nigeria.

    Sir Richard Branson, the owner of Virgin Atlantic, detailed how bribe seeking public servants in Nigeria forced him to withdraw his investment in the collaborative effort to create an alternative national carrier for Nigeria after the demise of Nigeria Airways. In light of the persistence of the perfidy of corruption and lack of patriotism by some Nigerian public servants as alleged by Mr Allen Onyema of Airpeace and Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic, and as reflected by the ignoble role played by some civil servants in the attempt to defraud Nigeria by Process & Industrial Developments Limited, (P&IiD) the head of service of Nigeria,Dr Folashade Yemi-

    Esan who is in charge of policy making in the civil service has her job well cut out.

    Clearly, our civil/public servants need re-orientation to enable them to become facilitators, not stumbling blocks in the efforts to pull Nigeria out of the current economic doldrums in which she is currently mired.

     

    Magnus Onyibe, an entrepreneur, public policy analyst, author, democracy advocate, and development strategist, and an alumnus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA, and a former commissioner in the Delta State government, sent this piece from Lagos, Nigeria. To continue this conversation and more, please visit www.magnum.ng.

  • Air Peace clarifies leaving passenger at Gatwick Airport

    Air Peace clarifies leaving passenger at Gatwick Airport

     The management of Air Peace has denied claims that it abandoned a passenger and closed its counter for its Gatwick to Lagos flight on Monday.

    Mr Stanley Olisa, Corporate Communications Lead of the airline, stated this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Lagos.

    According to Olisa, the airline’s explanation became necessary after a video surfaced on social media alleging that it abandoned a Lagos bound passenger at Gatwick Airport.

    “The video has claimed that the airline closed its  counter before closing time because the aircraft was over booked on the London to Lagos flight, which is  false.”

    Olisa said that the video was misleading, malicious and an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the airline.

    He explained that the passenger arrived the airport very late after check-in phase was concluded and the counter closed according to the approved time of the airport management.

    “Gatwick Airport operates by slot timings allocated to each of the airlines operating out of this airport. The check-in operations of airlines are slot-based, and airlines take turns based on their approved times.

    “Once your slot timing is up, you must vacate the counters for the next airline’s utilisation. The check-in process ends at 9.00 a.m. as advised in the Terms and Conditions section of our e-ticket and website, and the counter was vacated by Air Peace in accordance with our slot allocation at 9:55 a.m.

    “To ensure passengers do not miss their flights, we send them multiple messages at different times before their flight, 24 hours, 14 hours and 6 hours before flight departure.

    “Departure for this flight was scheduled for 11:10 a.m., so all processes needed to adhere to this time,” he clarified.”

    He further said that contrary to the claim in the video, the UK Civil Aviation Authority and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority could attest to the number of passengers on the manifest for the said flight.

    He said that the aircraft left Gatwick with some seats unoccupied, and so, no overbooking took place.

    “Gatwick Airport has CCTV coverage showing the time the passenger arrived at the airport and Air Peace counter and the time the maker of this video got to the airport.

    “The late arriving passenger duly paid the no show fee, was booked to travel on a subsequent flight, and therefore the issue was resolved at the airport.”

    Olisa expressed displeasure that a different version of what transpired had been circulating social media.

    He said Air Peace would continue to do its best to meet the needs of passengers, but also required them to align with the airline to ensure they could travel to their destinations by adhering to specified times.

  • Why can’t we just make Air Peace our official flag carrier? – By Etim Etim

    Why can’t we just make Air Peace our official flag carrier? – By Etim Etim

    By ETIM ETIM

    The maiden flight of Air Peace airline to London on over the Easter weekend is a perfect moment to discuss an important aspect of our aviation sector which has been on my mind for a long time. Why can’t the federal government enter into some agreement with Air Peace and officially designate the airline as our national flag carrier?

    Note that in aviation, a flag carrier is different from a national carrier. This question became quite pertinent after the Hadi Sirika fiasco last year in which the former aviation minister tried, but failed to float a national carrier. While a flag carrier is basically a privately-owned airline (or shipping line) flying the flag of its country on international operations and may enjoy certain privileges, a national carrier is owned and operated by the national government and they usually have certain sovereign advantages. As we all know, British Airways (BA) is not owned by the British government; neither are the many US carriers that bear US colours and flags.

    Since the liquidation of Nigeria Airways in 2003, it’s been so difficult for the government to float a replacement. In 2004, the Virgin Group, owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, established a Nigerian subsidiary known as Virgin Nigeria – a joint venture between Nigerian investors and the Virgin Group. The deal was facilitated by the Obasanjo administration. But Branson soon pulled out of the deal and the company collapsed after a few years in business. Branson explained later that he had to quit because Nigerian officials were pestering him for bribes. The airline was then renamed Eagle Airlines and later Air Nigeria. The business ultimately ceased operations in 2012.

    Over a decade after, the idea of a national carrier still remains a national fascination, but the government has neither the appetite nor the resources to invest in such a venture, especially given pervasive corruption and the ineptitude of our bureaucrats. When Sirika, a retired pilot, arrived the scene as aviation minister in 2015, he resuscitated the idea, but could not pull it through.

    A truly branded flag carrier will make up for the absence of a national airline. If Air Peace becomes our flag carrier, its planes (especially those on international routes) would bear our national colours and flag and ‘’NIGERIA’’ would be prominently emblazoned on it as part of its livery. It will project our national brand and unique Nigerian attributes, culture including cuisines and hospitality to many parts of the world. That’s why flag carriers are sometimes referred to as ‘’Embassy on Wings’’.

    Already, Air Peace has promised to serve Nigerian cuisines on its London route and it was also heartwarming seeing those beautiful airhostesses dressed in ‘’ishiagu’’ designs. In return, Air Peace will enjoy enhanced customer loyalty as passengers usually prefer their flag carriers out of a sense of national pride. The government will also provide the airline with many incentives such as official assistance to develop more international routes in accordance with our bilateral air services agreement (BASA) and support in aircraft acquisitions. Air Peace could also access FX at official rate. I should emphasize that such partnership with the government does not imply that the government has assumed any proprietorship or ownership rights on the airline; and so, government officials will not interfere in the management of the airline and shall not seek to make any appointment into its board or management or demand for free or concessionary tickets.

    Air Peace has shown considerable resilience and determination to succeed in the face of huge challenges. It therefore deserves to be supported by Nigerians and the government.

    With over 50 aircraft, 30 destinations and 5,000 employees, it is Nigeria’s biggest carrier, serving major cities in the country and flying to many African countries and the Middle East. Coming in the 11th year of the company’s existence, the London route is a marvelous attainment for a privately-owned African airline. London is the airline’s seventh international destination and it ‘’signals our entry into the European market’’, according to Chairman Allen Onyema.  New York and Houston routes are also coming. The London operations would be carried out with Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 Drealliner aircraft. It would be operating daily flights to the Southern Terminal of Gatwick Airport, with fares far cheaper than what competition was offering. The inaugural flight with 260 passengers took place seven years after the last indigenous airline, Medview, operated this very lucrative international route.

    The immediate impact of Air Peace’s entry into the Lagos-London route is the drastic fall in airfares charged by other international carriers. They were forced to reduce fares from N4 million to between N1.8 m and N1.9 m, compared to Air Peace’s N1.2 m for economy. Besides, these foreign airlines were also piling pressure on the CBN to sell them FX at discounted rates. The UK has 21 weekly slots into Nigeria with BA alone operating 14.

    In a recent TV interview, Chairman Onyeama acknowledges that his airline and other Nigerian-owned international carriers are automatically regarded as flag carriers. This is not enough. Those aircraft must be appropriately branded. He also listed the many challenges which Air Peace has been facing both within and outside Nigeria in the course of applying for the London route. The Nigerian government must do everything to ensure that Air Peace succeed.

  • Why local flight fares have skyrocketed – Air Peace boss

    Why local flight fares have skyrocketed – Air Peace boss

    The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air Peace, Allen Onyema has given reasons on why local flight fares have skyrocketed.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Onyema attributed the rising cost of local air fares to the value of Naira against the Dollar and the price of aviation fuel.

    “Apart from the issues of forex, other airlines in the world borrow money at 3%, 4% or 5%, but in Nigeria, we borrow at 26%. How are you going to do that?” Onyema queried.

    He added: “Talking about air fares, how do we get Dollar? How much is Dollar today? It is no longer N300. Dollar is at the centre of it all.

    “Everything about the aircraft is Dollar. Not even a pin; not even the rug you step on in the aircraft; not even the velcro is manufactured in Nigeria. Everything is tested against fire; imported from abroad; its Dollar.

    “So, today you are buying Dollar at N1,000 and you expect to pay the same fare as you were paying when the Dollar was N300.

    “Today, you are buying fuel at over N1,000 and you expect to pay the same thing you were paying when fuel was at maybe N300 to a litre”.

    Meanwhile, speaking on Politics Today on Thursday, on the incidents involving several aircraft recently, Onyema said: “There are so many things that could cause some of these incidents.

    “It could be bad weather. It could be an error on the part of the pilot. However, the cases are under investigation. But what I can tell you is that the Nigeria airspace is more than safe”.

  • JUST IN: 18 Nigerians banned from entering Saudi Arabia

    JUST IN: 18 Nigerians banned from entering Saudi Arabia

    Some eighteen (18) Nigerians have been outrightly banned from stepping their feet into Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has disclosed.

    While the Foreign Affairs Ministry did not reveal the identity of the Nigerians, it said they are part of the Air Peace passengers denied entry in Saudi Arabia on Monday, 13th November, 2023.

    Recall that Saudi Immigration authorities cancelled the visas of 177 Air Peace passengers who landed at the King Abdulaziz International Airport – Haü Terminal Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Monday.

    Eighty seven (87) of the 264 passengers on the flight were cleared by immigration and allowed entry into Jeddah.

    According to a statement by Francisca K. Omayuli (Mrs), Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 18 Nigerians were outrightly banned from Saudi Arabia for various offences committed in the past.

    “Air Peace Flight No. P4-752 airlifted two hundred and sixty four (264) passengers from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos and the Aminu Kano International Airport and landed at the King Abdulaziz International Airport – Haü Terminal Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Monday, 13th November, 2023.

    “It was on arrival at the Haü Terminal that the Saudi Immigration authorities informed the passengers that their visas had been cancelled. Conseqently, one hundred and seventy seven (177) passengers were made to return on the same flight back to Nigeria. While eighty seven (87) passengers were cleared by immigration and allowed entry into Jeddah.

    “The Saudi authorities are yet to give reasons for the cancellation of the visas, except for eighteen (18) of the passengers who were outrightly banned from Saudi Arabia for various offences committed in the past.

    “Notwithstanding the fact that it is the prerogative of a sovereign nation to determine who is permitted entry into its territory, Nigeria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are traditional and strategic partners, who are willing to guard against a reoccurrence of this unfortunate incident.

    “In this regard, investigation is ongoing in both Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. The affected passengers are therefore, implored to keep calm, while the matter is being resolved,” the statement by Omayuli reads.

  • Air Peace unsettled by Hadi Sirika’s revelation, says ex-Aviation Minister is a liar

    Air Peace unsettled by Hadi Sirika’s revelation, says ex-Aviation Minister is a liar

    The management of Air Peace has implored the general public to disregard claims made against the Airline by the immediate-past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, in his interview on Arise TV.

    Sirika on Sunday , during an Interview with Arise News, while praising Ethiopian Airline, said Air Peace leased ‘two’ Boeing 777 aircraft on a monthly lease fee of $250,000, parked the aircraft for several months and incurred losses of $19 million while all the aircraft engines and landing gears became due for replacement when the airline was ready to fly.

    The former minister also claimed that Air Peace stopped flying to Dubai because it lacks capacity.

    However, in a swift response, Air Peace, in a statement by its Chief Operating Officer, Toyin Olajide, described Sirika’s claim as a blatant, stark lie.

    Olajide said Air Peace never stopped the Dubai operations because of lack of capacity.

    “This is a blatant lie as we have three and not two Boeing 777 aircraft, which were never leased or rented but were purchased outrightly by the airline.

    “Air Peace never incurred such a loss, we never paid rentals contrary to his lies. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) can attest to the purchase and ownership of the Aircraft by Air Peace.”

    She explained that Air Peace commenced operations into the UAE in July 2019, but in October 2022, the UAE Government announced a total visa ban on Nigerians.

    “We watched with dismay the interview granted by former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, to Arise TV on Sunday, June 11, 2023, where he made spurious claims about Air Peace, Nigeria’s foremost airline.

    “Air Peace deems it absolutely necessary to debunk these false assertions.

    “Firstly, Sirika, in his bid to denigrate Air Peace while praising Ethiopian Airline, stated that we leased ‘two’ Boeing 777 aircraft on a monthly lease fee of $250,000, parked the aircraft for several months and incurred losses of $19 million while all the aircraft engines and landing gears became due for replacement when we were ready to fly. He went on to ask, “Who does that?”. He stated that Ethiopian Airlines would never do that.

    “This is a blatant lie as we have three and not two Boeing 777 aircraft, which were never leased or rented but were purchased outrightly by the airline.

    “Air Peace never incurred such a loss, we never paid rentals contrary to his lies. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) can attest to the purchase and ownership of the Aircraft by Air Peace.

    “Secondly, Sirika said the airline stopped flying to Dubai because ‘we lack capacity’. This is another stark lie.

    “Air Peace never stopped the Dubai operations because of lack of capacity. Air Peace commenced operations into the UAE in July 2019, but in October 2022, the UAE Government announced a total visa ban on Nigerians.

    “Neither Emirates nor Air Peace is operating the Nigerian/UAE route since the ban. The persisting non-issuance of visas and the accompanying inconveniences necessitated the suspension of our Dubai operations from November 22, 2022, till date.

    “For the former minister to ascribe the suspension to ‘lack of capacity’ is not only shocking but also shows how keen he is to disparage an airline whose ascendancy has defied all the commercial odds and hostile environment placed on its path to continue to serve our nation proudly.

    “How could an airline that placed a firm order for 13 brand new E2-195 aircraft, a firm order of 15 Boeing 737 Max 8 & Max 10, with over 30 aircraft already in its existing fleet be accused of lacking in capacity?

    “How can an Airline that stood up for the entire nation during the Covid-19 outbreak and embarked on rescue operations worldwide, evacuating Nigerians from far-away China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, UK and South Africa during the Covid-19 lockdowns be accused of lacking capacity?

    “We implore the general public to disregard these lies told by the former minister of Aviation against Air Peace during the Arise TV Interview.

    “We take serious exception to a situation where Air Peace is being misrepresented in the public sphere, causing wrong perceptions about our brand.”

     

  • Nigerians stranded as NLC, TUC stops Air Peace flights in Lagos

    Nigerians stranded as NLC, TUC stops Air Peace flights in Lagos

    Members of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC are at the moment picketing Air Peace offices at the domestic terminal of the Lagos Airport, grounding and operations over the airline’s continued defiance of the embargo on Imo Airport.

    The two labour bodies are staging what they claim to be an escalating operation against the Imo State Government over the alleged disruption of the May Day celebrations in Owerri, Imo State last Monday.

     

    The two labour centres have accused the Governor Hope Uzodimma administration of collaborating to forge a factionalisation of the labour movement in the state.

     

    The NLC and the TUC during the May Day celebrations vowed to bring pressure on the Imo State government to reverse its actions by squeezing the state with the first target being to cut off the state by air.

    The Labour activists entered the Lagos airport on Wednesday and disrupted the activities of the Air Peace counters at the airport. They have also pledged to deny the airline supply of aviation fuel in the escalating face off.

    It was gathered that the NLC and the TUC have also carried out their threat to petition the Imo State government to the International Labour Organisation besides the action against of grounding Air Peace operations in Lagos.

    Details shortly…

  • Sudan: Air Peace, NAF begin evacuation of stranded Nigerians

    Sudan: Air Peace, NAF begin evacuation of stranded Nigerians

    The Federal Government on Friday said the Nigeria Airforce (NAF C-130H) plane and Airpeace plane have been cleared to fly Egyptian airspace for the evacuation of Nigerians stranded in Sudan.

    This followed the outbreak of war between the Sudanese armed forces and para-military Rapid Support Forces.

    The government confirmed this in a joint press statement issued to newsmen by the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Janet Olisa, and that of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Sani Gwarzo in Abuja.

    ”The NAF C-130H is scheduled to leave Abuja on April 28, 2023, to  commence the airlift of the stranded students.

    ”Similarly, arrangements have been concluded to airlift all Nigerians that have already escaped on their own to safety in countries neighbouring Sudan.

    ”However, forty buses have been secured in Sudan to convey the students and other Nigerians from Khartoum to Aswan border in Egypt.

    ”Which is one of the identified safe reception borders, as at time of this statement, first batch of buses had already departed Khartoum,” the statement said.

    The federal government however said the initial hitches during transportation of stranded Nigerian students from Khartoum where bus drivers stopped and dropped the students in the desert over non-payment transport fees have been resolved.

    ”Some Nigerian students who found their way to the Ethiopian border were allowed entry into Ethiopia, following the interventions of some Nigerian leaders.

    ”The students are in safe condition. Similarly, another group of Nigerians assisted by government of United Arab Emirate have arrived Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and arrangement are been made to return them back home,” it assured.

    The government said it has already convened a Situation Room to monitor the evacuation exercise.

    It stated that the situation room is chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.

  • You must stay put – FG tells Nigerian students in warring Sudan

    You must stay put – FG tells Nigerian students in warring Sudan

    Nigerian students in warring Sudan have been advised to remain put and guard against undertaking the treacherous journey to the borders on their own in view of the dangers involved.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the advisory is contained in a joint statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

    Following the war by rival groups in Sudan, many Nigerian students have been caught up in the ongoing crisis.

    However, according to the statement, “concrete plans are underway, to deploy, very shortly, air transport to evacuate all stranded Nigerian citizens through the identified safe transit areas back home to Nigeria in safety and dignity”.

    The Ministers also urged parents to advise their wards that while concerted efforts are being made to evacuate them, the students should endeavour to remain calm and maintain constant communication with officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan for instructions and updates.

    “They can reach the Embassy officials on the following telephone numbers, +2348035866773, +249961956284, +2348063636862, +249961956274 and +2349066663493,” the statement reads.

    Meanwhile, a leading Nigerian airline, Air Peace had expressed urgent determination to evacuate stranded Nigerians from Sudan at no cost.

    The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of Air Peace, Allen Onyema disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

    He said if the government can take stranded Nigerians in Sudan to a safe and secure airport in any of the neighbouring countries bordering Sudan, Air Peace is willing to evacuate them, free of cost.

    Airpeace said there was a need to come to the aid of the government, ”we must not leave everything for the government alone and Airpeace is ready to evacuate Nigerians immediately.

    The statement said, ”any action that would promote national pride, cohesion, peace and unity, Airpeace will be up for it”.

    “Again, we have no apologies for believing in our nation and loving the nation despite certain national challenges. If they are moved to Kenya or Uganda or any other country, we will move in to get them out. Some parents have started calling on us to help. We are ready to do this again and again.” Onyema said.