Chairman, Senate Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa/NEPAD, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani has commended the proprietor and management of Air Peace Airline for the prompt intervention to rescue Nigerian citizens facing xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Managing Director of Air Peace Airline, Mr Allen Ifechukwu Onyema and the Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa who led her team had received the first set of 187 Nigerian Returnees from South Africa last week.
The former Enugu state governor who represents Enugu East Senatorial District in the upper legislative chamber in a statement issued in Abuja at the weekend said he was particularly touched by the patriotism and uncommon spirit of brotherhood exhibited by the Managing Director of Air Peace Airline, Mr Allen Ifechukwu Onyema and his team.
“The bold steps taken by the management of Air Peace to rescue our stranded citizens in South Africa on account of the xenophobic attacks by South Africans is commendable. This gesture will go a long way to give hope and mitigate the pains of the victims who have lost their means of livelihood”.
Senator Nnamani tasked the federal government to create a programme of rehabilitation for the returnees so that they would be fully reintegrated into the society, while urging other well-meaning Nigerians, corporate organizations and charities to emulate the Air Peace example by joining in the efforts to rehabilitate them.
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“The novel intervention by Air Peace in airlifting stranded Nigerians to safety is a foretaste of the immense benefits accruable to the country from the robust participation of indigenous airlines in the sector”.
Senator Nnamani, therefore, canvassed the need for the federal government to introduce deliberate and sustainable policies to promote indigenous entrepreneurship in the airline industry to make them compete globally and take reciprocal advantages of Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA).
He recalled a motion passed by the Senate in July this year mandating the federal government to protect Nigeria indigenous airlines from unfair competitions by foreign airlines, saying “this is essential to unfettered regional cooperation and economic integration in Africa”.
He called for “concerted measures to expand the economy in order to address migration issues and halt the penchant of youths to seek greener pastures beyond the shores of Nigeria.”
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