Why FG picked Ethiopian Airlines as national carrier partner – Aviation Minister

With just a month before the inauguration of the ambitious Nigerian Air, the Federal Government on Thursday, advanced reasons why Ethiopian Airlines was chosen as the preferred airline to partner with Nigeria in floating the new entity.

Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, said at a news conference in Abuja that appart from being one of the biggest and most efficient airlines in the world, Ethiopian Airline was the only airline that responded to its requests for expression of interest and fulfilled all the stipulated conditions laid down by Nigeria to be picked.

The Minister also explained that other airlines in the world ignored Nigeria to join hands with it to float a national carrier despite the fact that he personally went to such airlines and met with them at several air shows and international aviation forums to convince them to partner with the country.

Besides, Sirika pointed out that Ethiopian Airlines has proved to the world that it is not only efficient and prosperous by registering over $1 billion profit after tax even in the wake of Covid-19 but has continued to flourish despite the challenges in the aviation sector globally.

The minister explained: “We did not cede Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines. It is the only airline in the world that made $1 billion profit even during Covid-19 pandemic. It is the most prosperous, efficient and leading airline in the African continent and it was the only airline that responded to our request for partnership to run the airline after many months of advertisement of expression of interest.

“Even after some interested persons asked the Nigeria to extend the time of EoI and we did, none of them showed interest. Despite the fact that officials of the ministry of aviation led by me personally visited some of the leading airlines across the world and pleaded with them to take up the partnership with Nigeria to set up the airline, none of them signified interest except Ethiopian Airlines, which has been allotted 49 percent shares while Nigerian institutional investors take up 45 percent while the federal government will take up only five percent.

“The choice of Ethiopian Airlines is good for Nigeria and it is in line with the African Union Agenda and spirit and to take advantage of the over 1.2 billion population in Africa. Our desire is for Africa to come together and lead the African aviation market through our new partnership with Ethiopian Airlines. The partnership will also reduce cost of operations and air fares for Nigerian and African air travelers as opposed to the current situation.

“Contrary to what people think, let it be known that Ethiopian Airlines emerged as the preferred partner of Nigeria Air through a transparent and credible process that cannot be faulted because we want the project to succeed so that Nigeria can have an airline that does not suffer the fate of the former Nigeria Airways,” Sirika said.

The minister also announced that going forward, all airports in the country must be built and operated in accordance with the Aviation masterplan that had been developed in order to avoid chaotic situations that have already sprung out in many of the airports including Lagos International airport, where many structures have already been marked for demolition in overall public interest despite the cost involved.

Regarding the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Abuja, the minister pointed out that the entire stretch running from Bill Clinton Way through Gwagwalada has been captured under the Abuja Airport Masterplan and that any development that does not fit into the masterplan would be demolished.

He therefore, cautioned individuals and entities currently carrying out development project along that stretch measuring about 12,000 hectares of land, to pause and await further information to avoid demolition.

Asked to pinpoint what the Buhari administration has recorded as a major achievement under the aviation sector, Sirika mentioned the strengthening of institutions in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation and global best practice and polices that delivered safe, strong and efficient industry as Buhari’s greatest achievement between 2016 to date.

The minister also warned international airlines operating in Nigeria to respect Nigeria’s sovereignty, dignity and honour in their operations under the Bilateral Air Services Agreement that they signed with the country and not to threaten it at random because of the delay in repatriating their funds.

He said that those airlines need Nigeria just as Nigerians need their services and that they should therefore show respect, patience and understanding with Nigeria, which has promised to clear the back lock of the accrued funds before the end of the year.

The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, who moderated the press conference, had earlier made it clear that Nigeria has no intention to clampdown on any media in the country but would not allow anyone to cause anarchy in the land through the use of social media to breed fake news, disinformation and hate speech.

The Minister said that Nigerian government was monitoring developments around microblogging platform, Twitter, following its takeover by a new owner, adding that its suspension last year was due to the penchant by some elements to use it to destabilise Nigeria via fake news, disinformation and hate speech.

The minister said, ” Many have called to ask us what will become of our agreement with Twitter in view of the change in its ownership. Many have asked for our reaction following reports that there has been a spike in fake news, disinformation and hate speech since the micro-blogging site changed ownership. Many have even asked us if another ban is in the offing?

“Let me say this: We are closely monitoring the evolving developments at Twitter. It has never been our intention to ban any social media platform or stifle free speech. Not at all. What happened in the case of Twitter is well known to all. Twitter became a platform of choice for those who want to destabilize Nigeria, using fake news, disinformation and hate speech. No nation will allow any social media platform to plunge it into anarchy. Definitely not Nigeria. But we have continued to engage positively with the different social media

platforms, including Facebook, Google (owners of YouTube) and Twitter.

“We have no intention of banning any social media platform again. But we will also not sit by and allow any platform whatsoever to throw our nation into crisis,” the minister said.

(Vanguard)