FG to bar officials, contractors from flying foreign airlines

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has announced that the long-awaited Fly Nigeria Act will finally be transformed into law under his leadership.

The minister expressed frustration that the Act, which has been in the works for over 15 years, has not yet been implemented.

The Fly Nigeria Act aims to make it mandatory for government-financed air transportation—including the movement of government personnel, contractors, grantees, and properties—to be carried out by Nigeria Air Flag Carriers. This move is expected to boost the domestic aviation sector and promote national carriers.

Speaking at a one-day Stakeholders’ Engagement on the Legal Framework for the Fly Nigeria Bill and Related Enabling Legislation in Abuja, Keyamo reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring the Bill is signed into law. He emphasized the need for collaboration among all stakeholders to push the bill through the legislative process.

Industry leaders have welcomed the minister’s efforts. Allen Onyema, the Vice President of the Airline Operators of Nigeria and Chairman of Air Peace, along with Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, the spokesperson for the Association, both hailed the initiative as a “new dawn” for the country’s aviation sector.

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They believe the bill will provide a significant boost to domestic airlines and foster a more competitive aviation industry in Nigeria.

Speaking at the event, Keyamo said, “This has been on the cards for some time, for many years, more than 15 years, because I think my predecessor, Chief Omotoba, served more than 15 years ago. So you can imagine that this bill was taken to council more than 15 years ago, and yet it did not see the light of day. Under my tenure, it will happen.

“We just want to get things done. And so, when I came to the office, I saw a couple of these things hanging on my desk, like the Cape Town Convention, to the cry of the Aviation Working Group, and all the proposals that have been made to former governments to develop especially indigenous industry, a local industry. And what we did was to say, look, let us revive all of these dead things on my table that would help or that will help to develop our local industry.

“And one of them, of course, is the Fly Nigeria Act. Luckily Olisa Agbakoba was also talking to me about it. He had brought a proposal.

”It’s a global conspiracy, but you have to be smart to see it. Look at the entire African continent. Just look at it. All the foreign airlines in the world feed on the African markets without competition from African airlines, without fair competition from African airlines. And they will ensure that this aviation market in Africa remains taunted. Especially in a big country like Nigeria, they will ensure that it remains taunted so that they will continue to feed on your markets.”

The minister further lamented that nationals of the world have been feeding fat in Nigeria without a commensurate gain to Africans.

“Air France is coming here full, going back full. So, we’ll set up a technical session. We have a pre-draft resolution here. The National Assembly members are waiting for the bill to get there. The senators are just waiting. It’s for us to set up a technical committee. We agreed in principle that this is good for us, good for aviation, you know, local operators especially.”

(Punch)