Titled: ‘Controversy over Age, Cost of Presidential Jet’, it detailed how a fairly used aircraft was packaged and sold as new to Nigeria after huge sums of money in foreign currency was paid for it. Durojaiye, then Aviation Correspondent with Daily Independent, published the story on June 12, 2006, exactly 17 years today.

Another journalist, Gbenga Aruleba, of African Independent Television (AIT), escalated the matter when he chose the acquisition of the tokunbo aircraft as a topic for discussion on his programme.

Sirika has brought shame to the country and he should be made to account for the fraud that he made of the Nigeria Air project.

A livid President Obasanjo ordered the arrest and prosecution of both Durojaiye and Aruleba. The duo was arrested by the goons of the then-president and detained for a week before they were eventually charged to court. But the then Federal Government had to quickly beat a retreat when it discovered that it had no strong case against the reporters.

The same sordid scenario is about to repeat itself in the aviation industry, as the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has allegedly perpetrated another scam in the industry, and this time, taking the entirety of Nigerians for a ride. Riding on the desire of former President Muhammadu Buhari to establish a national carrier for the country, Sirika, either due to ignorance, greed, or no proper knowledge of the industry, went about it in the most shambolic manner.  Although a trained pilot, it beggars belief that Sirika thought that he could pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians in the manner he went about the national carrier project.

Establishing a national carrier is not rocket science that should be difficult to accomplish for a nation like Nigeria. Buhari, on assumption of office in 2015, listed the establishment of a national carrier that would replace the defunct Nigeria Airways as one of his top priorities, having been around long enough to witness the glorious era of the defunct Nigeria Airways as a military Head of State between 1983 and 1984.

Indeed, Nigeria Airways was a pride to many Nigerians at its glorious height. Established in 1958 after the dissolution of the West African Airways Corporation (WAAC), it retained the name, WAAC Nigeria, until 1971, when it was rebranded Nigeria Airways. Nigeria owned 51 per cent of shares in the company up till 1961 when it boosted its participation to 100 per cent and made it the national carrier.

It had more than 35 aircrafts in its fleet as of 1979 but by 1999 when President Olusegun Obasanjo returned as a civilian president, only one aircraft was in operation. Within 20 years, Nigeria had ‘happened’ to the airline as it has been plagued by mismanagement, corruption, and overstaffing. It had a debt of $528 million hanging on record as of 2003, when Obasanjo angrily liquidated the airline.

But the size of the country and the economic benefits to derive from such a venture make the establishment of a national carrier a priority for Buhari’s administration. A National Carrier offers huge potential for the economic growth of Nigeria as there are numerous bilateral and multilateral agreements the country has with several countries of the world which are not being utilized. Nigeria is a huge market that could serve as the hub of commercial flight operations in the West African sub-region.

READ ALSO: Buhari’s eight-year rule: A postscript (3), By Kazeem Akintunde

His government, in 2015, set up a committee headed by the current Rector of Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Mohammed Abdulsalam, to work out the modalities for the establishment of a national carrier for the nation. The committee did a good job and submitted its report to the federal government. It was time for the nation to carry out the task and the responsibility for the implementation of the report fell on Sirika, as head of the supervising Ministry. But the man had other plans on his mind that were apparently not too altruistic.

Trouble started in 2018 when Sirika unveiled Nigeria Air at Farnborough International Air Show in London. The unveiling was after the transaction advisers completed the Outline Business Case (OBC) Report, and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission review and issued OBC Certificate of Compliance. Many Nigerians in the aviation sector were shocked by the Minister’s action.

Soon, Sirika made public the structure of the proposed airline. A share structure of 49 per cent equity was allocated to Ethiopian Airlines, the only foreign partner that indicated interest in partnering with the country for the establishment of a national carrier.  Five per cent was allocated to the Federal Government while the remaining 46 per cent was said to have been owned by Nigerian investors. The names of those private investors were shrouded in secrecy until local airline operators went to court to challenge the action. Again, the amount of money and number of aircraft Ethiopian Airlines would inject into the venture was not made public, which left many Nigerians wondering why a whopping 49 per cent share structure was allocated to the airline.

The lack of transparency in the whole process has ensured that the dream of a national carrier remains just that –  a mere dream – as nothing much was achieved despite the yearly allocation to the project in the budget by the Aviation Ministry.  From 2019 to 2021, the airline has racked up appropriation votes of N14.65 billion, yet the Federal Government was meant to own only five per cent equity. The former Minister also recently said that only N400 million had been approved thus far. Yet, in the 2023 budget, the government is proposing N1.3 billion, with N700 million as “working capital” and N200 million as consultancy fees for the project.

The Ministry, after much pressure from local airline operators and other stakeholders, announced the trio of SAHCO, MRS, and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) as custodians of 46 per cent private sector equities. But barely 24 hours later, the ministry issued a rejoinder that NSIA was included in error.

There is nothing wrong with Ethiopian airline partnering with Nigeria to establish a national carrier for the country, although I’m guessing  stakeholders in the industry would have been more comfortable having a foreign airline from a non-African partnering with Nigeria to prevent undue rivalry with the national carrier for control of the industry in Africa.

Ethiopian Airlines is indeed the most successful African carrier and an advocate of African airlines competing with other foreign carriers to wrest the African market share, currently skewed in favour of European, American, and Gulf carriers by 80 per cent. Pursuant to its Vision 2035 to connect the nooks and crannies of the African airspace, the airline, 100 per cent owned by the Ethiopian government, already has major stakes and ownership in eight African countries. The airline recently listed Nigeria Air as its ninth “subsidiary”.

Local airline operators in the country are not comfortable with the way and manner the Minister went about the whole bidding exercise, as only the airline submitted a bid for Nigeria Air. Now, they have 135 planes. They have also said that they will increase the fleet size to 250 within the next five years and are ready to go into all domestic markets where they have footprints, with Nigeria now inclusive. What they are trying to do has been called ‘aviation colonialism’ of Africa as the airline will be in a position to operate local flights in Nigeria and charge low fares which local airlines believe will drive them out of the market.

Going by the partnership design now made public, Ethiopian Airlines is expected to deploy just three Boeing 737-800 aircrafts on domestic routes with Ethiopian crew onboard, and allegedly with no financial contribution. However, many Nigerians were shocked when, on his last day in office, a plane flew into Abuja branded in the colour of Nigeria Air and was displayed at a big show as the launch of Nigeria Air.

A few hours after the show, the branded ‘Nigeria Air’ left the country, and was immediately stripped of its Nigerian colour and name. It was at this point that many Nigerians became convinced that the country might have been duped.

The House of Representatives quickly directed its Committee on Aviation to look into the matter. The committee, last week, submitted a report to the larger House and indeed confirmed that what Sirika packaged for the Nation was a complete fraud, prompting for the suspension of the establishment of Nigeria Air as well as the prosecution of those involved in the unveiling of the national carrier.

If the impunity committed by Sirika is allowed to be swept under the carpet, we may just as well forget about Nigeria as we would definitely have become a Banana Republic where anything goes.

The House of Representatives has also urged President Bola Tinubu to constitute a high-level Presidential Committee to undertake a holistic review of the processes of the Nigeria Air project and advice the government on the way forward. The lawmakers also advised the Federal Ministry of Aviation with its Agency, the NCAA to designate some Nigerian Indigenous Airlines as Flag Carriers to take advantage of the Bi-Lateral Air Service Agreement (BASA), entered into by Nigeria, pending when a viable National Carrier comes on board. The lawmakers also stated that the $250,000,000 required to fully start a national carrier in the country could be raised by the government and its citizens without necessarily subjecting the nation to ridicule as done by Sirika.

Nigeria is gradually becoming a huge joke among the comity of serious nations and it’s high time we arrested the development. Sirika has brought shame to the country and he should be made to account for the fraud that he made of the Nigeria Air project. If the impunity committed by Sirika is allowed to be swept under the carpet, we may just as well forget about Nigeria as we would definitely have become a Banana Republic where anything goes.

See you next week

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Other prominent Nigerians in the aircraft, Boeing 777-300, included the Director General of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA); the Director of Ports Inspection, National Agency For Food, Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC), Amb. Ayoola Olukanni, as well as scores of Nigerians and other nationals.

The passenger aircraft, ET-901, had departed the Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, at about 9:10 a.m., Ethiopian time, 7 a.m. Nigerian time.

A News Agency of Nigerian correspondent, who was among the passengers, reported that the almost five-hour flight from the Ethiopian capital to Lagos had been smooth until the pilot attempted to land at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

Rather than landing on the first touch line of the runway, the pilot over shot it, due to rain and heavy wind, landing on the third touchline.

On realising that, the pilot quickly maneuvered the plane back air, flying out of the Lagos airport.

After hovering between Lagos and areas suspected to be in Ogun, causing panic in passengers and crew members, the plane finally landed in Lagos airport, some 20 minutes after the initial false landing.

The NAN correspondent reports that the atmosphere in the air bus, upon landing was replica of what is obtainable in some Nigerian worship centres, as many passengers broke out into worship songs and clapping, while some fell to their knees in prayer.

Officials of the NCAA were unable to confirm the incident as the General Manager, Public Relations of the agency, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, said there was no report of any incident in Lagos so far while the General Manager, Public Relations, Accident Investigation Bureau, Mr Tunji Oketunbi, said he had not received any incident notification from any airline.

NAN checks from the Control Tower also gave the same report.

But the Duty Manager and Chief Customer Service (Nigeria) of the airline, Mr Otori Otan, told NAN that if the pilot had continued taxing down after landing on the third touch line, he would have overshot the runway.

“But this is an experienced pilot. He realised this immediately. Fortunately, the distance between when he realised the situation still permitted him to take off and renegotiate landing,” Otori said.

He added that the incident was not out of place, while confirming that the wind obscured the pilot’s vision.

Otori also disclosed that most of the aircraft that flew out of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport had to fly against the mid day heavy wind.

“These things happen. That is where the sophistication of the aircraft and experience of the cabin crew members come in.

“The aircraft is one of the best you can find around and we are fortunate to have pilots who know their onions,” he said.

Furthermore, Mr. Ikechi Uko, Media Consultant to Ethiopian Airline, confirmed that the aircraft had a “missed approach” while about landing due to poor visibility caused by inclement weather.

“The aircraft thereafter made an air return before it proceeded to land successfully.”

He said the pilot’s effort was in line with the Safety and Recommended Practices (SARPS) in aviation.

Obasanjo and Olukanni had both attended a Stakeholders Dialogue on Continental Trade and Strengthening Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) which ended on Tuesday in Addis Ababa.

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It said 149 passengers and eight crew members were believed to be on flight ET302 from the Ethiopian capital to Nairobi in Kenya.

The airline added that there were 33 different nationalities on board.

The crash happened at 08.44 local time, six minutes after the months-old Boeing 737 Max-8 took off.

It is not yet clear what caused the accident.

An eyewitness at the scene told the BBC there was a blast and intense fire as the aircraft hit the ground.

First word of the crash came when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expressed his “deepest condolences” on Twitter.

In an earlier statement, the airline said that search and rescue operations were under way near the crash site around the town of Bishoftu, which is 60km (37 miles) south-east of the capital.

“Ethiopian Airlines staff will be sent to the accident scene and will do everything possible to assist the emergency services,” the statement added.

Boeing, the company that built the aeroplane, said in a tweet that it was “closely monitoring the situation”.

Its 737 Max-8 aircraft is relatively new to the skies, having been launched in 2016.

It was added to the Ethiopian Airlines fleet in July last year.

Another plane of the same model was involved in a crash five months ago, when a Lion Air flight crashed into the sea near Indonesia with nearly 190 people on board.

What do we know about the airline’s safety record?

Ethiopian Airlines flies to many destinations in Africa, making it a popular carrier in a continent where many airlines fly only from their home country to destinations outside Africa.

It has a good reputation for safety, although in 2010 one of the company’s aeroplanes crashed in the Mediterranean Sea shortly after leaving Beirut.

The airline’s highest fatalities prior to this came in a November 1996 crash during a hijacking on a flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.

One of the aeroplane’s engines stopped when the fuel ran out and although pilots attempted an emergency water landing, they hit a coral reef in the Indian Ocean and 123 of the 175 people on board were killed.

Source:  BBC

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