Air Peace CEO, Allen Onyeama, has criticized the idea of a national carrier, labeling it as outdated and financially draining. Despite the earlier launch of Nigeria Air, a national carrier, the controversy surrounding the project led to its suspension by the government under President Bola Tinubu.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Expressing his strong opposition, Onyeama emphasized that Nigeria doesn’t need a national carrier due to the inherent challenges of managing such an enterprise. He argued against government involvement in commercial airline operations, considering the idea obsolete and discarded by many countries decades ago.
On Channels Television’s “Politics Today,” Onyeama highlighted that several airlines bearing country names are merely “flag carriers” and are not owned by the nations themselves. He questioned Nigeria’s focus on a national carrier in 2023, citing the global trend of divesting such enterprises and suggesting that countries with national carriers often lack private entrepreneurs with sufficient funding.
His remarks echo a series of criticisms surrounding the Nigeria Air project, including condemnation from the Senate, which labeled it as shrouded in secrecy. Lawmakers raised concerns about the project’s transparency and convened meetings with aviation officials to investigate its legitimacy. The revelation that the aircraft used for Nigeria Air’s unveiling was chartered from Ethiopian Airlines further intensified the backlash, with the project being labeled as a “fraud.”
