Chinedu Eze

Top officials of government and elected political leaders have been accused of being responsible for the failure of the federal government to implementthe Fly Nigeria Act.

The Fly Nigeria Act, which was formulated to support Nigerian carrier and its partners, made it compulsory for every government official flying on government expense, to fly Nigerian carrier or their partners, but it was never implemented. 

Stakeholders in the transport industry that knew the importance of Fly Nigeria Act had pushed the campaign forward through the National Assembly, but government officials who preferred to fly foreign airlines, killed the initiative.

Some years ago, the Arik Air management met with the members of House of Representatives and Senate to seek their support for the Fly Nigeria Act to be passed into law, but after going through two readings the matter was dropped.

Some members of the National Assembly told newsmen after the siting that Nigerian airlines did not have capacity stressing that Nigerian airlines would not be able to sustain international flight service.

Former top Arik Air official who spoke to THISDAYabout the issue, said: “That time it was agreed that anybody travelling on government expenses should fly Nigerian airline or its partners. We made presentations then to the House Committee on Aviation. We met with top government officials and went to the Nigeria NNPC Limited because they had corporate account with us then. They made it clear to us that they would not fly Arik Air; that they would prefer the well-known London based carrier. Even the Minister of Petroleum then made it clear that they would not fly Nigerian airlines. We had brand new aircraft and we had the youngest aircraft that was flying the London route, but they refused to fly Nigerian carrier.”

According to the official, “I am happy that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has decided to push it. I know how he is determined to make Nigerian airlines succeed. Maybe something will come out of it this time.” 

Despite the delay in the implementation of Fly Nigeria Act, Keyamo has revisited the issue to reawaken discussions on the implementation strategies for Fly Nigeria Act.

The matter came to the front burner recently when Keyamo revealed that the ‘Fly Nigerian Act,’ bill has been re-proposed, mandating government officials to patronise Nigerian airlines on international routes.

Keyamo explained that the proposed law would demand that, “every government official travelling abroad must patronise our local airlines, but can patronize others if no Nigerian carrier is flying the route.”

The minister said the idea was consistent with global practice, adding that countries such as the United States and India already have similar laws protecting their national carriers.

“We have these laws all over the world, but we have not implemented them in Nigeria. If a government official, member of the House of Representatives, member of the Senate, Minister, Director General, or government official is flying to any part of the world, the first question you ask him is, is there a Nigerian airline flying that route? You must buy that airline ticket first, except that they are not flying that route. That is the Fly Nigerian Act that we want to do,” Keyamo further explained.

Emphasising the importance of the Act and the need to pass it into law, the Managing Director of NdanoEnergy, an oil marketing company, and former Managing Director of Arik Air, Chris Ndulue, observed that Nigerian airlines cannot grow without intentional support from the federal government, just as other countries do for their airlines, insisting that one of the key ways to support Nigerian airlines is to pass the Fly Nigeria Act into law.

According to Ndulue, “The minister is doing very well. He is one of the best that have been appointed to manage the industry. I commend him for bringing to the fore the Fly Nigeria Act. He has shown commitment by promising that he would push to see it passed by the National Assembly. I expect National Assembly to pass it into law. The proposal needs no debate because it is the key for the resuscitation of the airline sub-sector.

“Just imagine government providing money for you to travel and you use that money to buy ticket from foreign airlines. Automatically that money leaves the country. In fact, instead of debating it, I think the President of Nigeria should give executive order on that because it is very important for the country. It does not make sense at all using tax payers’ money to buy tickets from foreign airlines. This is the reason why the United States made it a law that if you are travelling at the expense of government and its agencies, you must patronize American airlines.” 

Industry analyst and Executive Secretary of Aviation Round Table (ART), Olu Fidel Ohunayo, recalled the efforts he and others made to pass the Fly Nigeria Act into law in the past. 

“It is a long battle that we have been into for over 18 years now. It is over 18 years that it was first muted in the industry. I remembered the push we had for it. And I think the best we went then was when we had Babatunde Omotoba, the former minister, where I took that decision (on the need for Fly Nigeria Act). I even had to send some reports to him. We took it straight to the Federal Executive Council. And there and then it was knocked down. Rather than see it as a national assignment, they were seeing it as helping a person in the person of Arumeni Johnson, the owner of Arik. I pray that mentality is pushed aside now.

“We need to look at it now. We have Air Peace, Ibom Air. Xejet, and Overland, all operating as flag carriers at the moment. And it is not out of place but it is just the norm to see what we can do to put our public flyers into the Fly Nigeria Act. This act is not an act for private funds to mandatorily use the flag carrier. But we are saying that those who are flying with public funds, you fly the flag carrier to any point where the flag carrier goes to. Then you can go to another point beyond. Again, if that flag carrier has a partner that is going towards your area, then you follow through on it,” Ohunayo said. 

“It is something that I am happy that for the first time a minister is now bringing it up. And I am not surprised it is coming from him (Keyamo). If you look at his trajectory since he came into office, he has not only protected Nigerian airlines, he has protected other businesses, catering, for other business in the aviation value chain. And I think we can give it another push. There is nothing wrong with giving it another push. It might not happen this year. It might not happen next year but it should be on record that the push is on and we are able to do it. Happily, Air Peace has been able to sustain their London flight without much hiccups and they have been able to move on schedule,” Ohunayo further said.

Many stakeholders posit that Nigeria does not have the political will to endorse the Fly Nigeria Act because they are yet to see airline business as Nigeria’s business. According to them, “they rather see it as the business of the owners, but the airlines provide critical service to the country. Dangote Refinery is owned by Dangote but it is providing critical service to Nigeria.”