President Muhamadu Buhari last week issued a directive to the Federal Ministry of Aviation to expedite action towards refloating the Nigeria national carrier.
The President gave the directive after he was briefed on the activities by its permanent secretary, Mrs. Binta Bello at the State House, Abuja. Since then the issue has generated much national interests in aviation circles and among members of the public generally.
References were often made to swinging fortunes of the defunct Nigerian Airways Limited, a viable national carrier but beset with multi-dimensional problems which it could not overcome until it finally went down in 2003, amidst protracted operational weaknesses, chief of which was corporate insolvency. At the time it was grounded, it was burdened with a debt of over $60 million, and a fleet of three aircraft, from the high of thirty two.
However beyond the sad saga of the Nigeria Airways, the renewed initiative for a national carrier for Nigeria is a positive development that offers potentially significant dividends to the country. In the first place, the advent of a national carrier will accelerate the growth of the country’s aviation industry, with the possible increase in the scope of resources as well as impetus that will be mobilised into it.
Presently the Nigeria aviation sector is still grossly under-developed and therefore contributes less than its expected quota to national development. Even the private sector operators in it are operating with challenging handicaps that diminish their capacity to stay afloat, to say nothing of developing it.
Yet, aviation in the contemporary world has demonstrated its capacity to serve as a catalyst for economic growth and development, given its growing popularity as the safest means of transportation for both regional and long haul purposes. It is a powerful tool for projecting soft-power and means for the promotion of enhanced regional interaction
The prospects of a national carrier will also stimulate development of the idea of the aerotropolis scheme, by which airport locations nationwide will be developed into hubs of aviation-related enterprises, thereby promoting accelerating industrialization in those locations.
The advent of a national carrier will further provide jobs, as well as other associated entrepreneurships for the benefit of the immediate benefits of host communities and the entire country.
