Today is one year since Mr. Festus Keyamo, a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) assumed office as the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development following his appointment by President Bola Tinubu. To core aviators, and stakeholders, the appointment amounts to putting a round peg in a square hole.
They argued that since he is not an aviator or aviation professional, he would not understand the dynamic of the sector. Therefore, the possibility of tackling the challenges bedeviling the industry they argued will be remote.
However, despite their pessimisms, the Minister is learning faster than they thought and has recorded some remarkable achievements in the last 365 days.
With Keyamo’s form and performance in the aviation sector, some experts and aviation professionals who had hitherto expressed fears on his capacity and ability to achieve some tangible achievements are retracing their steps and changing the narratives about him.
To further buttress the point that the Minister has made some remarkable progress, Ontimenewsng.com, one of the online media platforms with bias for the aviation industry seek the opinion of stakeholders experts in the sector to assess the Minister in the last one year in office.
Some of the landmark achievements include: payment of the over $800 million backlogs of trapped funds belonging to international airlines’ in Nigeria.
B, Facilitating of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport (NAA),Abuja second runway, which has been lingering for years.
C, Ensuring return of air connectivity between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which before now almost resulted into a diplomatic row
D, Seeking more favourable working environment for airline operators (partnering with aircraft manufacturing giants such as Boeing, Airbus for dry lease arrangement for Nigerian airlines)
E, He ensured the putting to rest of the controversial Nigeria Air, an arrangement by his predecessor that was secretive to stakeholders but only known to his predecessor and his cohorts. The illegality matter was further confirmed by a court competent jurisdiction, the Federal High Court
E, In the course of performing his duties, the Minister ensured strict adherence to Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) arrangements in support of Nigeria airlines and especially Air Peace for international routes (i.e. UK), who has been designated to fly to Gatwick Airport second tiers instead of Heathrow International Airport
F, The sanitisation of the Business Aviation sub-sector by descending on the cabal who use their aircraft to do illegal charter operations.
G, Ensuring transparency in the aviation industry
H, Reducing the menace of touts’ ad touting activities within the airport environments
I, Seeking more favourable working environment for airline operators (partnering with aircraft manufacturing giants such as Boeing, Airbus for dry lease arrangement for Nigerian airlines)
K, He ensured improved infrastructure by facilitating the re-opening of the renovated E-arrival Wing at the old Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos for passengers’ use.
(ii) Procurement of Scanners for five international airports in the country.
One of the Minister’s achievements is that a few months ago, he pursued and received the approval of the Federal Government for the procurement of modern scanners for use in five international airports across Nigeria.
The airports are the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA) and Enugu International Airport, Enugu.
The intention of the airport scanners, Ontimenewsng.com learnt is to put an end to airport officials having to physically search the bags of passengers going through airports and it can also detect explosive devices, contraband drugs and others.
The platform learnt that when the scanners eventually arrive, installed and put to use, it would reduce the complaints of harrowing experiences that passengers go through at the international gateways where the airport officials of various agencies have to physically search their bags.
J. Reopening of 18R 36L Runway of Lagos Airport designated for international flights.
Prior to the reopening, airline operators in the country, especially the foreign airlines, were exposed to extra burden for 11 months due to the closure of the 18 Right 36L runway of the airport for maintenance purposes.
L, One of his landmark and bold steps is the relocation of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Headquarters Lagos in January from Abuja back to Lagos.
The relocation, the Minister had said put an end to the humongous amount totaling about N1 billion spent as Duty Tour Allowances (DTAs) used in shuttling between Lagos and Abuja and 2023 alone.
With these developments, the Minister, who was perceived by some stakeholders and aviation professionals as having demonstrated to the entire industry that he is ready to learn, work the talk, foster collaboration with Nigeria and other countries, while also placing emphasis on seamless experiences for airport users.
With the current determination by the Minister, the Nigerian aviation industry would be a force to reckon with in the global aviation industry as strict adherence to Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs)preached by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) takes centre stage.
Accessing the stewardship of Keyamo in the last one years, the Chief Executive Officer of West Link Airlines, Capt. Ibrahim Mshelia, stated that though nobody is perfect, but that the Minister has taken some bold steps that no Minister in the industry has taken in the past and that he gives him the 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 and so on, but I will blame it on his advisers. He is a lawyer and not an aviator, but he has performed very well so far. He has shown boldness.”
Speaking further, he said that the Minister a few days ago wrote to the United Kingdom Secretary of State for transport concerning Heathrow Airport for Air Peace. That is a very good move, adding that he likes that boldness because it is supposed to be reciprocity.
In his words, “Our Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) arrangement says operation into prime airports. We have only one carrier that is going to the United Kingdom; the authority there should even give us Terminal Four, not even Terminal Three because their airlines are getting Lagos airport, which is our most primed airport, but they are pushing us in the bush through London Gatwick Airport.
“If your end destination is London, Gatwick is not a problem, but if your intention is to connect to Europe and America, then Heathrow is the best choice for you as a carrier because of the traffic you will hit along that route.
“Rwandair is flying into Terminal Four and that terminal is 10 times better than Terminal Three. This is one other good thing that the minister has done and he should be commended for his stance.”
Assessing the 365 days of Keyamo in office, the General Secretary, Aviation Round Table (ART), Mr. Olumide Ohunayo, commended the Minister for putting Nigeria first in all his dealings.
“Like the Americans would say ‘America first,’ Keyamo has been able to push Nigeria first in all he does; his push for the Nigerian airlines out of the players in the market. 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.” he said.
He said that the industry needs investors to partner with these airlines but that it is not only the Minister that should make this happen but that it also has to do with corporate governance, 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.
Speaking on what the Minister must do to properly position the industry, Ohunayo said that there is the need to reduce interference on the issue of airlines, adding that two decisions have been taken that are out of place; first was the grounding of Dana Air and temporary grounding of some aircraft in the Arik fleet when passengers were still onboard the aircraft about to take off in a domestic flight.
He urged Keyamo to use this one year to sit down with the players and assess himself, adding that yes, he has done well in some areas but that he needs to improve in others.
“I also think he needs to reduce his travels; you cannot be going for every programme outside the shores of Nigeria under the guise that the minister was invited. For instance, a contract for the second runway in Abuja that has been, you now travel to Finland to look at it. I think he needs to sit down and devise a means by which we can get more airlines into the country, more aircraft for the airlines and how we can continue to sustain the safety level that we have and protect the passengers,” he advised.
Also speaking, an Aviation Expert, Frank Oruye, pointed out that the Minister has brought in a more transparent approach to the dealings of the Ministry, adding that the speed with which he addressed the Nigeria Air debacle was commendable.
This, Oruye said has now been further upheld by the verdict of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
According to him, “He 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.”
Speaking further Oruye said, “The commencement of Air Peace operations to England is commendable, after all the blockage from the previous regime. Still remains to shift the base from Gatwick to Heathrow, which reports in the papers state that the minister is about to address.”
On whether the Minister has been able to bring any change or development to the aviation in last 12 months, the Aviation Experts said that securing agreement with landowners around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to acquire land necessary for building a second runway at the Abuja Airport is one of the changes the Minister has brought into the system.
On the areas Keyamo needs to improve to move the sector forward, he said that he has started well by appointing governing councils for the Maritime University and NCAT, Zaria, urging him to appoint the Board of directors for the remaining agencies.
He also commended Keyamo for facilitating the payment of minimum wage arrears of 45 months owed to Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) staff, urging him to also ensure that the defunct Nigeria Airways staff and pensioners, their negotiated severance packages to the staff at liquidation as well as placement of existing pensioners on the monthly pay-roll are matters that should be looked into as they are awaiting his input for the final approval of the President.
He called on the Minister to stop the establishment another aviation institution called African Aviation University, Abuja, which according to him is based on two faculties, Meteorology and Aviation Management, when the present administration is talking about the implementation of the Oronsaye Report on streamlining of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
He argued that it is unthinkable at this time to give birth to such an institution whose courses can be delivered by the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria and others.
NCAT, he said, should be given all the necessary support to compete with the best in the world to attract students from Africa and beyond.
On his part, an Ex- Nigeria Airways Pilot, Capt. Mohammed Badamasi, stated that though Keyamo, inherited many issues when he assumed office such as : the controversial Nigeria Air project, concessioning of four airports, flight delays, cancellations, shortage of serviceable aircraft, multiple destinations, taxation, dollar security and repatriation, airport land encroachment, rising airfares, touting and hawking but that he was able to solve the dollar/repatriation issue with foreign airlines, strengthened the security arrangements at the airports, and successfully stopped airports land encroachment.
“However, the minister needs to improve on his performance. I suggest that the Minister should authorise the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to organise a three-day workshop for stakeholders in the industry to assist him in solving the challenges facing the industry.
He, however contended that, “The autonomy of the NCAA as an independent regulator for the aviation sector of the ministry is not negotiable.”
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