He said that it was still on hold. Giving specifics about the project, he pointed out that there was a lot of deception and secrecy surrounding the “national carrier,” which was meant to be an indigenous endeavour that would give Nigerians hope.
Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, called the contentious Nigeria Air announcement made by the Buhari-led government to be a scam.
He said that it was still on hold. Giving specifics about the project, he pointed out that there was a lot of deception and secrecy surrounding the “national carrier,” which was meant to be an indigenous endeavour that would give Nigerians hope.
On Monday, May 27, in Abuja, Keyamo made the announcement on Nigeria Air while answering questions from the media during the second day of the Ministerial Sectorial report.
Keyamo declared that the Nigeria Air remains suspended, adding that it was anti-Nigeria.
His words: “It was never Air Nigeria. It was Ethiopian trying to flag our flag and not Air Nigeria. That is the truth; it was not Nigeria.
“It only printed Air Nigeria. It was an Ethiopian airline trying to fly our flag. If it is so, why not allow our local people to fly our flag? Why bring a foreigner to fly our flag?
“So nobody should deceive you that it is Air Nigeria. Air Nigeria must be indigenous, wholly Nigeria or must be for the full benefit of Nigerians. Not that 60 percent of the profit is given to another country.
“How does that benefit us? It remains suspended. It remains so,” he said.
Speaking further on some of the steps taken so far to boost economic development in the aviation sector, Keyamo highlighted the commencement of cargo flights. He noted that it will enable Nigeria to tap into the $6 trillion global cargo market.
“We have agreed that we’re going to resume cargo flights between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
“This has been suspended for a long time but now cargo flights are back. Guess what? Air cargo trade accounts for 35 percent of the world trade deficit.