By Abiola Olawale
The Federal government has officially announced the indefinite suspension of the Nigeria air airline project.
This was made known by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Festus Keyamo, who spoke during a ministerial briefing commemorating the first year of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Keyamo, giving details of the decision said that the Federal Government discovered that the airline, touted as a national carrier, was not genuinely Nigerian.
The minister emphasized that the decision to suspend Nigeria Air is in line with the need for transparency and authenticity in the aviation sector.
He said: “The airline was never a Nigerian airline but an attempt to use a foreign airline to pose as a Nigerian national airline.”
The New Diplomat reports that the Air Nigeria project had been surrounded by controversy and scepticism from its inception, with various stakeholders questioning its viability and authenticity.
In 2023, the Ministry of Aviation, under Hadi Sirika, former minister, unveiled Nigeria Air.
The development generated massive controversies and concerns among stakeholders nationwide over the ownership arrangement which gave Ethiopian Airlines a 49 per cent equity stake.
The Federal Government had a 5 per cent equity, while a consortium of three Nigerian investors had 46 per cent.
It would be recalled also that the latest development comes after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) launched an investigation into the project and other deals executed by immediate-past Aviation Minister, Hadi Abubakar Sirika.
The former minister was arrested by the anti-graft agency and subsequently arraigned on multiple counts of fraud earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Nigerians began to react to the latest revelation from Keyamo.
Below are some of the reactions curated from social media:
“Everyone involved in that Nigeria Air scam or handicap shouldn’t be walking free, from the head to the last person.”(@Emiloju)
“FG should arrest everyone involved in the Nigeria Air scam including the former president who saw Sirika’s scam but kept quiet. All of them should be in jail right now. It was an international embarrassment.”(@okrote4real)
“As this fraud called NIGERIA AIR was ongoing, Tinubu was national leader of APC and he never said anything against Hadi Sirika and Buhari. He supported it, only for them to say now, that it’s a fraud.”(@okolie)
“Siemens deal was a fraud
Ajaokuta was a fraud
How many times will they “secure funding for Nigeria – Niger rail line”?
Nigeria Air..need I say more?
“What we said about Nigeria as far back as 2018 when sycophants were defending their lord, has come true today. Was it because we didn’t wish Nigeria well or the leaders never wished Nigeria well?
“Here’s a test of Nigeria’s collective intelligence. Is it a pass or fail?”(@rbiakpara)
