As intrigues trail NG Eagle take off, what other option?

THE ongoing cold war between the ministry of aviation and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) is one of the burning issues presently tearing down the already saturated sector.

For the two bodies to be engaged in muscle flexing can be compared to a supposed one house that is divided against itself.

It is already in the public domain particularly across the sector that the two government agencies of government are at loggerheads over the role each is playing in floating different national/flag carriers whose statuses are though not yet clear to Nigerians.

From the inception of the present government, it has listed the floating of another national carrier in place of the liquidated Nigeria Airways as one of its priorities.

Unfortunately, six years after the promise and the high hopes that the project will be delivered timely created, the promises still continue in ecstasy even after billions of public funds have been sunk and still being sunk into it.

While the floating of the national carrier seems to be a rocket science to the ministry of aviation, AMCON, the debt recovery agency of government which was appointed as the Receiver Manager of both the ailing Aero Contractors and Arik Air to among others stabilise, manage their assets and recoup the humongous debts owed government and corporate organisations, in the course of carrying out this function realised that the only way to achieve its goals particularly in Arik Air  will be to use the assets of the airline to float a new airline, Nigerian Eagle Airline (NG Eagle).

While the federal government national carrier project continues to wobble, AMCON, on the other hand, has displayed absolute commitment to package the new airline for Nigerians before the end of the year as it has got to the level of obtaining the required Air Operators Certificate (AOC) that is needed for the NG Eagle’s take off.

From all indications, it is obvious that AMCON is determined to deliver the goods which will automatically render the wobbling national carrier unnecessary after all.

Certainly, the birth of NG Eagle may eventually close the lacuna hitherto created by the absence of a national carrier and when this happens, Nigerians may begin to ask questions about the failed national carrier project that has already gulped huge fortunes.

Without doubt, this, to many key players in the sector may be responsible for the intrigues and counter intrigues flying around over the issue of suspension of the NG Eagle airline AOC which had reached the final stage.

The questions on the lips of many include: why should the AOC be suspended at this critical stage when the new airline was almost set with aircraft already painted in its colour and waiting to take off. Another question is why must the NG Eagle be frustrated for a national carrier that has almost become an impossible project.

This unnecessary scheming to truncate the NG Eagle Airline, a government project for the failed Nigeria Air, also another government project has further created division among the different interest groups.

Even the unions are at each other’s throat as one group seems to be for NG Eagle while the other group is routing for a national carrier that no one knows when and how it will kick off.

It is at this juncture that Crucial Moment is calling on the government at the center to step in and interrogate the two principal parties involved over what they intend to achieve with this unhealthy scheming.

The need for government’s intervention becomes imperative since the two projects belong to the same government, hence, there is no need using them to further heat up polity in a sensitive sector.

At this point, since the high hopes initially generated for another national carrier has become dampened in view of endless expectations; the best option is for government and Nigerians to allow NG Eagle to hit the sky.

According to the saying, ‘a bird in hand is worth two in the bush’, therefore rather than kill an already cleared project for an uncleared one, let everyone encourage AMCON to fulfill this dream of having another carrier that will fly the name Nigeria in the sky. Any attempt to sabotage this will make Nigerians the losers at the end.

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