‘Non inclusion of private sector players in new national airline taskforce suspicious’
The recently inaugurated nine-man committee (Fast Track Task Force), to ensure the takeoff of the new national aviation carrier which has no private sector stakeholder by the federal government has come under criticism.
Over the weekend, the national carrier brainstorming meeting, brokered by the Minister of State, Aviation, Capt. Hadi Sirika, was held to among other things fine-tune modalities to guide the final investment decision of equity holders in the airline, agree on the firm that would serve as aircraft maintenance partners, determine number of aircraft and personnel required for takeoff, and the name of the proposed airline.
Already, the Minister had fixed December 24, 2018, for the inaugural flight of the airline with all parties involved in the project and urged Committee members to work assiduously to beat the deadline.
Business Hilights gathered that while the Managing Director of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Captain Fola Akinkuotu, was appointed as Chairman of the committee to realise the target deadline, other members include Capt. Muhtar Usman, Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); Capt. Abdulsalami Mohammed, Rector, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology; Mr. Akin Olateru, and Commissioner for Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB); Capt. Tilmann Gabrie.
Others include a representative of National Carrier Transaction Adviser; Layi Are, a representative of Transaction Adviser for MRO and Aviation Leasing Company; Mr. Chidi Izuwah, the Acting Director General of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
Mr. Ben Tukur, Technical Assistant to the Minister of State for Aviation, will serve as the Secretary of the committee.
In his response, a retired Pilot with defunct Nigerian Airways, who pleaded anonymity, said “The idea is good but my concern is that the Committee is full of government officials who may not understand the current demands of running an airline:.
“Running an airline is not policy formulation or industry regulation. It is about managing a company for service delivery and revenue generation and we are all aware that government has never been a good business manager especially here in Nigeria”.
“Am saying that because it will not be good for only policy makers to design the platform upon which the takeoff of the carrier will stand without inputs from the private sector who are better business operators.
According to him, “It is because the Nigerian Airways was structured to run as a parastatal that it failed when it was needed most. For you to design a system that will work, field stakeholders in the sector who have cognate experiences should be part of it including members of several aviation think tank who had been calling for the carrier over the years, than allowing the committee to be full of civil servants”.
Another expert observed that “Am disturbed on the sudden way and manner the idea came up. The entire process leading to the inauguration of the Committee, if it true beats my imagination and some of us who had been in the industry have reservations on what actually the government wants to achieve in setting up that committee without private sector players.
“I don’t know if the Committee will fund the airline or they will catch the fund in the air considering the fact that there is nothing like funding national carrier in the just passed 2018 national budget or even the ending 2017 budget after all.
“Now, if government wants to look for fund based on the advice of the Committee, what cognate experience do the members who are mere salary earners have on managing an airline for service and revenue delivery”.
“To me, I think the government needs to really come up with the reasons behind the inauguration of such a strange committee on a national carrier.
“Setting up a national carrier should not be a rushed process to avoid starting today and collapsing tomorrow and like I said earlier, there must be the input of private sector stakeholders’.
“It is very hard to understand how a government that is working towards handing off from all state owned businesses is planning to set up a new one or is government establishing national carrier to sell same to private investors or what?.
Continuing, the expert recalled that “As at the time the administration came in, they made a lot of noise on setting up a national carrier. Later they changed course and termed it national fleet to be run and managed by the private sector.
“Later still, the same government switched to the idea of merging some private airlines into national carrier and halted the idea due to paucity of fund in the available airlines in the country.
“Still later government came up with an idea to operate a 60-40 investment partnership in the floating of the national carrier. Even at a time, government said it is going to give the right of national carrier to any serious international airlines.
“In fact, there are serious issues of inconsistency in this matter and it will be very hard for any investor to take them serious especially during a heated election period like now. I have fears”.
