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Stakeholders: Nigeria Air Was Conceived On Power Point, Shared On Adobe, So It Died On Twitter

“The death of the airline was planned by its promoters. Air Nigeria product was conceived on Power Point, shared on Adobe and died on Twitter. There was no industry engagement and when a project is like that, it is meant to die. Nigeria should avoid this kind of failure in the future.”

Players in the Nigerian aviation industry have berated the Federal Government for the suspension of the national carrier project.

Most of the players in the sector said the idea was not well-handled by the Minister of State for Transportation, Hadi Sirika, from the outset, noting that it would have been a failure if the Minister was allowed to continue with the project.

In his presentation on Thursday at a Quarterly Business Breakfast Meeting organised by the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), Professor Anthony Kila, the Director of Studies, Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies, said the idea of Nigeria Air was “conceived on power point, shared on Adobe and died on Twitter".

Kila said the airline was not projected to fly in the air, rather conjectured to be active on social media.

Kila, who was also the Chairman of the event, themed ‘Short Lifespan of Nigerian Airlines, The Importance of Corporate Governance', accused the Minister of being secretive about the peculiarities of the project.

He further declared that the project, unveiled in Farnborough Airshow in London, commenced without due consultation.

He said: “The death of the airline was planned by its promoters. Air Nigeria product was conceived on Power Point, shared on Adobe and died on Twitter. There was no industry engagement and when a project is like that, it is meant to die. Nigeria should avoid this kind of failure in the future.”

In his speech, President of the group, Gabriel Olowo, said the announcement by the government about three years ago signified vote of no confidence in the existing airlines, while its suspension by the government also caused stability in the system.

Olowo charged the government to come out and tell Nigerians whether the project was only suspended or it would be resuscitated, stressing that this was necessary for operators to plan their growth and aircraft acquisition.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Overland Airways, Captain Edward Boyo, declared that the failure of Nigerian airlines was due primarily to unfavourable operating environment for airlines in the country.

Boyo insisted that not only good corporate governance could make an airline successful, stressing that the issue of Virgin Nigeria, despite its seemingly good corporate governance was planned to fail.

Boyo accused the players in the sector, government and aviation agencies of hostility towards the airlines, stressing that no airline anywhere in the world could operate successfully in Nigeria under the current condition.

He said: “The agencies and stakeholders are so hostile to the airlines; we talk them down at every given opportunity. Nigerian airlines need the right atmosphere and environment to operate profitably. But, at every opportunity we have, rather than encourage the airlines, we talk them down without respect.”