The events that have been unfolding in the past weeks over the unveiling of Nigeria Air aircraft, have further gone to show the depth of abuse of Nigerians by those appointed to represent them.
This gross abuse of office, which has remained the bane of the largest black country, has spread to all sectors of the economy and the other facets of the society.
Aviation, being one of the most critical sectors, has become a victim of this menace as witnessed in the controversy that continues to trail the unveiling of the Nigeria Air.
Presently, the country’s aviation has become a laughing stock before the whole world courtesy of the unpopular actions of the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who despite all the opportunities available to him to use the national carrier project to write his name in gold, failed to heed the warning of the majority to retrace his steps in the course of packaging an acceptable national carrier.
The consequence of his action is responsible for the earth-shaking bombshells that have been unfolding, which only exposed the fact that the proposed national carrier was actually not to carry the status of a national carrier, but that of a few individuals though billions of naira belonging to the generality of Nigerians had been sunk into it.
Besides the condemnations and anger that followed the unveiling of an Ethiopian Airline plane registered as that of Nigeria Air, the subsequent debate that surrounded the entire process is not only shocking but deep enough to cause international bodies to lose respect for the country.
Regrettably, the man at the centre of this controversy, Sirika, seems not to be concerned in view of the remarks he has made in his bid to defend the bad project.
Speaking on Arise Television on Sunday, the former minister, who before the end of his tenure had said that all the needed requirements for the take-off of the airline, ranging from a well formed crop of shareholders, the AOC to the availability of aircraft, among others, had been put on ground, gave a contrary information which all showed the promises were mere rhetoric despite the huge funds already expended on the project.
To the chagrin of all Nigerians, the former minister revealed that up till now, there was no shareholders agreement in place, which automatically means that the much taunted list of shareholders he paraded were merely on paper with no binding document to back it up.
The minister played on the intelligence of Nigerians by saying that the Ethiopian Airline aircraft displayed as that of Nigeria Air was operated into Abuja by the foreign carrier free of charge, an information too watery to believe in view of the financial prudence of the foreign carrier which can be traced to its stability and sustainability on the continent.
In view of the pedigree of Ethiopian Airline, it is doubtful if its management would want to embark on the Nigeria Air unveiling without any financial benefit attached to it even when it was known to them that their status as a shareholder in the national airline was still hanging.
The former minister also used the opportunity of the interview to call out those he felt were opposed to the project. Some of those he indicted have since come out to counter the minister with facts and figures.
As more facts continue to emerge on the controversial national carrier project, the man at the centre, the former minister should accept the fact that his unwillingness to accommodate other people’s opinions and his belief that he has the best answers to all issues are responsible for the ongoing shenanigans flooding the global space about Nigeria.
There is no doubt that the national carrier project has backfired due to its poor packaging, tempers are very high in view of the huge public funds that have been invested into it which the former minister has constantly failed to reveal.
It is hoped that the new government will do the needful by calling for a total probe of the project to unravel the unanswered questions as a way of preventing the image of the sector from further going down due to the actions of the former minister.