For taking action to suspend the controversial national carrier project, Nigeria Air, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo has displayed rare courage, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has said.
A statement by Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, Spokesman for AON, said that the action of the minister has also saved Nigeria from further embarrassment in the aviation world and a show of patriotism.
AON hinted that apart from the stakeholders in the aviation industry, it was evident to everyone who had followed developments around the Nigeria Air project under the immediate past administration that the idea was not only ill-thought-out but also lacked any modicum of transparency.
According to AON, it remained a mystery to Nigerians why the processes of actualising such a major national project were shrouded in secrecy until the end of the last government.
Okonkwo expressed the optimism that by suspending the project to allow for a thorough review, Keyamo would put things right and help restore Nigeria’s image in the global aviation family.
The statement insisted that it was not right to float a national carrier on the terms set out by the last aviation minister, alleging that this was positioned to undermine and destroy the aviation sector in Nigeria with Ethiopian Airlines waiting on the wings for a total takeover.
The body passed a vote of confidence on Keyamo, saying he had the right vision for the development of the sector, which was driven by public interest considerations for the good of Nigerians.
Keyamo at the tour of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos facility on Thursday, had said that the national carrier and airport concession projects remained suspended until he got full briefings on the two projects.
Keyamo insisted that the two projects must be transparent for Nigerians to benefit from them, maintaining that once they were short of transparency, the government would take decisive actions on them.
He explained that he, as the minister, was responsible for the feelings of Nigerians on the two projects.
He insisted that the government was very responsive to the Nigerian people, saying that the two projects were a commonwealth of Nigerians.
As the commonwealth of the people, he insisted they must not be executed in secrecy.
