By the end of August 2024, Barr. Festus Keyamo would have clocked a year in office as the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development. OLUSEGUN KOIKI in this article, assesses the minister’s performance a year after.
Not a few doubted the ability of Barr. Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, to perform in his new portfolio when he was appointed by President Bola Tinubu in August.
Having been a Minister of State for Niger Delta and later redeployed to the Labour and Employment in 2019, Keyamo is a typical example of a man with the wealth of experience to steer the nation’s aviation industry to the desired growth trajectory.
Though, many of the aviation practitioners argued that the sector being a technical one, required a personality with the knowledge of the industry to supervise and hit the ground running, but since his appointment last August, some of the industry professionals said the minister had taken some audacious steps in conformity with his Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), aimed at repositioning the sector, which his predecessors failed to take in the past.
Already, stakeholders said Keyamo is tackling some private jet operators, who illegally converted their equipment to charter, thereby robbing the Federal Government of its deserved revenues, while also preventing the approved chartered operators from rendering their services to their customers as stipulated.
Apart from this, they also emphasised that the minister was creating a comfortable working environment for the operators, especially the airlines by supporting their growth and expansion and working out easy leasing agreements for them, among others.
Commenting on the performance of the minister one year after assumption of office, Capt. Ibrahim Mshelia, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), West Link Airlines, confirmed that Keyamo had taken some bold steps to stabilise the industry, despite not being an aviation professional.
According to Mshelia, the recent setting up of a Ministerial Taskforce on Illegal Air Charter Operations and Related Matters by Keyamo, revealed some huge, but obvious gaps in the civil aviation industry in Nigeria.
The committee in a preliminary report, released on July 26, 2024, had exposed the use of private foreign registered aircraft for illegal charter operations by some private jet owners in the country.
The committee also fingered high-net-worth individuals in the scandal, which had consistently put a question mark on the adherence to regulations by the Private Non-Commercial Flight (PNCF).
Besides, Mshelia explained that Keyamo recently wrote to the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Transport concerning Heathrow Airport, London for Air Peace.
He described this step as another good move by the minister, pointing out that United Kingdom (UK) with two of its carriers; British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways operating into two cities in Nigeria, had failed over the years to reciprocate the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) arrangement the country had with any Nigerian airlines going to UK and it’s currently preventing unfettered access to Air Peace to the European country.
The West Link Airline CEO, emphasised that while airlines from smaller and less competitive countries like Rwandair for instance, had continued to operate directly to Heathrow Terminal Four and connect wider destinations, reverse was the case with Nigeria, which its airlines on internationally routes had been treated like a second fiddle by the government of UK.
Mshelia pointed out that the decision of the minister to write to the Secretary of State for Transport in the United Kingdom would further garner more respect for civil aviation industry in Nigeria among the comity of nations.
He said: “The fact is that nobody is perfect, but I will say that there are some bold steps Mr. Keyamo has taken that no other minister in the industry has done in the past. So, I give him credit for that.
“For instance, there has been a criminal gang that has been sabotaging the industry for a very long time; brokers and illegal charter operators. He is the only one who is bold enough to stop them. For me, that is the biggest kudos I can give him.
“There were certain times that he stepped outside the cycle, but I will blame it on his advisers. He is a lawyer and not an aviator, however, he has performed very well so far. He has shown boldness.”
To Mr Frank Oruye, aviation expert, Keyamo had brought in a more transparent approach to the dealings of the ministry.
Oruye specifically mentioned the speed at which the minister addressed the controversial and the behind the scene deals of the botched Nigeria Air debacle, which was recently cancelled by the Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos as one of such examples of transparency and fervent steps.
Besides, he also commended the minister for the progress made so far with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the planned return of Emirates Airlines to Nigeria.
According to Oruye, Keyamo had also since his appointment, showed avid support to the indigenous airlines and other organisations in the sector, stressing that this would further reduce capital flight out of the country.
He said: “He (Keyamo) made progress with the UAE stalemate. However, the cost of acquiring a visa to that nation is rather exorbitant. Nigeria is partly to blame on high visa costs, being something our government seems to treat as a commodity.
“The commencement of Air Peace operations to England is commendable, after all the blockage from the previous regime. Also, Keyamo has been able to secure agreement with landowners around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to acquire land necessary for building a second runway at the Abuja Airport. This is another landmark that the minister has achieved since his appointment.”
However, Oruye advised Keyamo not to follow the footprint of his predecessors who blatantly refused to appoint Board of Directors for the aviation agencies, in contravention of the Acts setting them up.
He posited that the appointment of boards for the agencies would further showcase and promote his transparent character.
Oruye appealed that just as the minister facilitated the payment of minimum wage arrears of 45 months owed to the staff of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), he also needed to address the challenges facing the staff of the defunct Nigeria Airways staff and pensioners, who he decried are still owed part-payment of their severance packages 21 years after the liquidation of the airline by the Federal Government.
He added: “The negotiated severance packages to the staff at liquidation as well as placement of existing pensioners on the monthly pay-roll are matters awaiting his input for the final approval of the President.
“Finally, just as he saw-off the Nigeria Air project, he needs to ditch the other pet-baby of his predecessor, called the African Aviation University, Abuja. This University is based on two faculties – Meteorology and Aviation Management.
“NCAT, Zaria, should be given all the support necessary to compete with the best in the world in order to attract students from Africa and beyond,” he said.
To Capt. Mohammed Badamasi, a pilot with the defunct Nigeria Airways, Keyamo inherited numerous challenges when he assumed office a year ago.
These, according to him, included the controversial Nigeria Air project, concessioning of four airports, flight delays and cancellations, shortage of serviceable aircraft, multiple destinations to foreign carriers, taxation, dollar security and repatriation, airport land encroachment, rising airfares, touting and hawking.
Badamasi said that while the minister had been able to solve some of the inherited challenges like the dollar/repatriation crisis, strengthened the security arrangements at the airports and airports land encroachment, most of the problems were yet to be addressed, but hoped that these would be attended to by the minister in the next coming months.
Badamasi, however, emphasised that Keyamo needed to up his game in order to meet the expectations of the stakeholders.
He also opined that the minister should authorise the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to organise a three-day conference, which could help him in solving the myriads of challenges in the industry.
Mr. Olumide Ohunayo, the General Secretary, Aviation Round Table (ART), said that so far, Keyamo had been able to push “Nigeria first” in all his dealings.
According to him, apart from designating Nigerian carriers on international destinations, the minister had also protected the airlines in the same routes, unlike in the past where such Nigerian operators were abandoned to their fate by the government.
He, however, suggested that Keyamo could encourage local and foreign investors to partner with Nigerian airlines by creating the enabling working environment for investments to thrive.
He said: “He has exhibited more of that movement of having Nigerian airlines participate and that is a positive energy for the airlines to begin to see that they are not alone and that for the first time, we are having a minister who when he designates a carrier on any route outside Nigeria, it becomes his responsibility to protect such a carrier. That I give to him.
“Now, we need to get investors to partner with these airlines and that has to do not only with the minister, but with corporate governance, the economic interest rates and all other indices that would attract the investors to come into the sector. I think that is an area that the government would need to look at in building a relationship with them,” he said.
But, Ohunayo advised the minister to reduce his interference in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), lessen his travels and act in accordance with the ICAO recommendations and standards.
Read the full article here
