DUE to the economic situation in the country, several local airlines have gone out of business, thereby throwing our aviation sector into crisis. The unavailability of aviation fuel is the major reason our local airlines are shutting down operations, with some travelling as far as Ghana to source for aviation fuel. Unfortunately, the silence of our Ministry of Aviation is also not helping matters in the midst of this crisis. As a result of this, foreign airlines have increased their fares arbitrarily due to the stress they go through before procuring aviation fuel before travelling to their respective destinations.
I am happy when a top official of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said the Federal Government might designate the Kaduna refinery to be refining aviation fuel only in order to solve the crisis; this is commendable, and I hope this crisis will be resolved as soon as possible. The unavailability of aviation fuel is a national shame for the country, as foreign airlines travel to another country to source for the product.
The problem we are having is the fact that our refineries are not producing enough aviation fuel, but I hope the Federal Government will do everything in its power towards reviving our refineries, while also bringing in investors to build more refineries in the country.
- Etudor Henry,
Ikeja,
Lagos.
henryOetudor@yahoo.com
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