THE Nigerian Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, Baba Ahmad Jidda, has commended the governments of China and Nigeria for deepening bilateral ties through the approval and commencement of Air Peace’s scheduled, commercial flights to Guangzhou-China on July 13.
This came just as the diplomat also called on the Chinese government to relax the travel restrictions for Nigerians willing to fly to the Asian country.
Jidda who made the statement on Monday, during a courtesy visit to the Chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, at the airline’s headquarters in Lagos, noted that the approval for Air Peace to launch flights into China was given on the strength of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) signed between both countries.
The Ambassador, who lauded the efforts of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, and those of his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, stressed that a lot went into getting Air Peace, a Nigerian airline, to finally connect both countries through air travel.
His words: “I want to say that as an ambassador, we still have much to do to support Air Peace to operate comfortably for the benefit of all Nigerians and the Chinese. So far, the Chinese are benefitting tremendously from the operations of Air Peace because Nigerians are having some difficulty in obtaining visas. I, therefore, want to use this medium to plead with the Embassy of China in Abuja, to consider relaxing restrictions on Nigerians, such that Nigerians will be given visa and they will now fly Air Peace and the market of Air Peace will expand. This, to us, is very important.
“Finally, I would like to thank the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for making this historic approval of direct flight between Nigeria and the People’s Republic of China.”
In his remarks, Onyema expressed delight over the visit of the Ambassador and emphasised the role he played in ensuring that Air Peace got the statutory nod to kick off the China route.
Applauding the support of the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, towards the airline, the Air Peace chairman harped on the need for Nigerians to jettison their ethnic differences and support one another.
According to Onyema: “This is why I have always believed in the unity of this country. I am Onyema from South East. You are Alhaji Baba Ahmad Jidda from North East. You have been fighting for me. You have been fighting for this Air Peace owned by an Igbo man. And today, we have it, the China route.
“We thank Federal Government of Nigeria, and we thank the government of the Republic of China for cooperating with us so far to this end. Thank you, Your Excellency. We really appreciate your efforts, and we wish the country will recognise what you have done today”.
With the addition of Guangzhou, Air Peace now operates a network of three international routes, including Dubai and Johannesburg, seven regional and twenty domestic routes, while parading an increasing modern fleet of over 30 aircraft.
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