GRADUALLY, life is becoming almost unbearable to majority of Nigerians with the middle and low classes being overwhelmed due to economic hardships in the country.
In Nigeria at the moment, it is becoming difficult to get the necessities of life by the middle and low classes, as they keep dying of hunger, with those in the political class having excessive funds to throw about. The hardships know no bounds as the situation continues to pummel the different sectors of the economy with no hope in sight.
It is no longer news that a dollar now exchanges for N1,200 and litre of aviation fuel now being sold at between N950 and N1,000, depending on the oil marketer and the depot.
Obviously, amidst these crazy increment, air travels will be the worse off, as the airlines, both the domestic and foreign carriers, will be forced to increase their fares to survive the hardships.
Unfortunately, a one-hour flight on the domestic scene presently attracts between N65,000 and N140,000 for economy class, while business class goes for as high as N200,000 and N250,000, depending on how early you book for the flight.
It is the same sad story with the foreign flights where a six-hour economy flight between Lagos and London route attracts up to between N1.8 million and N3 million, depending on the airline and booking time.
In the face of the obvious skyrocketing fares, the desire of the majority of Nigerians to travel by air, to avoid the road transport system now turned death traps further worsened by insecurity, is gradually eroding.
With the way prices of Jet A1 is fast increasing and coupled with the wide margin between the dollar and the naira, air travels may soon become the sole right of the bourgeois.
In Nigeria of today, majority of those who can conveniently travel by air under the present circumstances must belong to the political class, who, even in the face of the ongoing hardships, continue to approve billions of public funds to themselves under the guise of having ‘good cars and befitting accommodations,’ not minding the sweat and blood of the majority on whose shoulders they rode to their positions.
The ongoing scarcity of forex in the country, though not peculiar to Nigeria, has greatly contributed to the woes bedeviling air transport. It can, however, be tackled if those in government are sincere.
What about the over $700 million trapped funds of the foreign airlines operating in the country that has forced the foreign carriers to take some decisive actions which again have put ordinary Nigerian travellers in a tight economic situation, whereas the so-called political class and their family members can comfortably afford any price.
The contradiction in the midst of the economic hardships is made manifest in the day-to-day stories of how the so-called politicians, particularly the National Assembly members, approve unreasonable privileges such as using public funds to purchase luxury vehicles for its 469 members.
Everyday, the whole world hears how the Nigeria’s political class squander billions and even trillions of public funds on themselves and yet to pay $700 million to foreign airlines and make the accessibility of forex available for the aviation sector has turned to impossibility for this same group.
It is no more hidden that doing business in the aviation sector in Nigeria presently is with tears, as witnessed by the reduction in the number of aircraft with many domestic airlines finding it difficult to maintain their aircraft due to non-availability of forex.
Equally, the foreign airlines are bleeding with their huge funds trapped in Nigeria and increasing daily and yet they keep hearing of how billions of naira are shared on frivolities.
Sadly, while the political class is quite aware of the dire situation of things in the sector, they chose to ignore it, forgetting the critical roles the sector plays in connecting the country to other parts of the world and the funds the sector generates to the coffers of the national economy.
Agreed that many of the political class may have their private jets but what they fail to realise is that their jets can only take off and land when there is a well-coordinated, financially-backed and safe aviation sector where rules guiding the business, be they domestic or international, are well followed.
In the business of aviation, no country can be an island and since the business is guided by the principles of international standard and recommended practices, Nigeria cannot afford to continue to ignore the sector.
Any attempt not to tackle the different challenges ranging from lack of forex, expensive aviation fuel, depreciating value of the naira, to the lingering issues of the trapped funds of the foreign airlines, may lead to the total collapse of the sector.
and then