Shady business
The Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Toyin Olajide, has said that the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, lied about some of his…
The Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Toyin Olajide, has said that the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, lied about some of his claims on Air Peace during his Sunday interview on Arise Television. While praising Ethiopian Airlines, the ex-minister claimed that Air Peace leased ‘two’ Boeing 777 aircraft on a monthly lease fee of $250,000 and incurred losses of $19 million. He also said the airline stopped flying to Dubai because it lacks capacity. Mrs Olajide, however, responded by saying “Air Peace has three and not two Boeing 777 aircraft, which were never leased or rented but were purchased outrightly by the airline.” She said that Air Peace never incurred such losses and stopped flying to Dubai because of the visa ban on Nigerians.
It is clear that the erstwhile minister, Hadi Sirika, had simply chosen to commit to creating a national carrier and the permanent or temporary acquisition of aeroplanes to create looting opportunities. Rather than be a champion of industry stakeholders, including airline operators, Mr Sirika spent the entire eight years dreaming of establishing a national carrier and antagonising those same stakeholders. He has a lot of explaining to do because the Nigeria Air project he oversaw was a pipe dream that deserves to be thoroughly investigated. The new National Assembly should grill him properly and refer the matter to the appropriate agencies to investigate and bring him to book. However, hoping that the anti-corruption agencies will take a proper look at the entire debacle to ensure that any impropriety is fully unearthed and punished will be a waste of time and energy. What we can hope and ask for is that whoever becomes the new aviation minister focuses on what is practical and opts to improve the sector by reducing taxes and fees, increasing competition levels and improving the quality of relevant infrastructure to make air travel cheaper, safer and a more reliable investment opportunity for investors.