The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has condemned ‘Nigeria Air,’ unveiled by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, as a fraud and confirmed that the project remains suspended.
Detailing the project’s flaws, Keyamo criticized the so-called ‘national carrier’ for its secrecy and fraudulent activities, which betrayed its promise as an indigenous initiative intended to inspire hope among Nigerians.
Speaking to journalists during the Ministerial Sectorial update in Abuja on Monday, Keyamo declared that Nigeria Air remains suspended, labeling the project as anti-Nigerian.
“It was never Air Nigeria, it was Ethiopian trying to fly our flag. It was not Air Nigeria. That is the truth. It was not Nigeria. It only printed Air Nigeria. It was an Ethiopian airline trying to fly our flag. If it is so, why not allow our local people to fly our flag? Why bring a foreigner to fly our flag?
“So nobody should deceive you that it is Air Nigeria. Air Nigeria must be indigenous, must be wholly Nigerian or must be for the full benefit of Nigerians, not that 60 per cent of the profit is given to another country. How does that benefit us? It remains suspended. It remains so,” he said.
Speaking on some of the steps so far taken to improve economic development in the aviation sector, Keyamo highlighted the commencement of cargo flights to Saudi Arabia, noting that it would enable Nigeria to tap into the $6 trillion global cargo market.
“We have agreed that we’re going to resume cargo flights between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. This has been suspended for a long time but now cargo flights are back.
“Guess what? Air cargo trade accounts for 35 per cent of the world trade deficit and air cargo trade according to the International Air Transport Association, IATA, attracts about $6 trillion annually and we’re missing you know, within that sector we were missing in many routes around the world and we have achieved that,” he said.