Travel News

(Bloomberg) -- The number of luxury condominium units bought by foreigners rose to the highest in almost a decade before Singapore doubled taxes on purchases by the demographic.

Foreigners bought 159 non-landed, luxury homes in Singapore’s core central region in the first quarter, according to a report by OrangeTee & Tie Pte. That’s up from 71 units a year earlier. 

The number of luxury condominium units bought by mainland Chinese buyers increased to 111 units, up 158% on-year, the real estate company said. 

Singapore authorities last month doubled property levies for foreigners to 60%, the highest among major global cities, as part of efforts to cool the housing market. The government has said that the policy is a preemptive move as investment demand for residential property is likely to continue to grow otherwise.

“The cooling measures may not affect buyers’ perception of Singapore as one of the best places for property investment,” said Christine Sun, a senior vice president at OrangeTee, citing economic fundamentals. “Some high-net-worth individuals may continue to park their wealth here as luxury properties are pricey in many other cities.” 

Singapore’s home sales surged 80% in April from a month earlier to a seven-month high as more projects were launched, government figures showed Monday. 

Foreigners bought 70 units in April, the most since May 2022, according to Lee Sze Teck, senior director of research at Huttons Asia Pte. Most purchases were in the S$2 million ($1.5 million) to S$5 million category, he said. Geopolitical tensions may have led more foreigners to buy Singapore properties as a safe-haven asset, he added.

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - The United States has imposed entry restrictions on more Nigerians for undermining the democratic process during the African nation's 2023 election cycle, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.

"These individuals have been involved in intimidation of voters through threats and physical violence, the manipulation of vote results, and other activity that undermines Nigeria’s democratic process," Blinken said in a statement.

Additional details were not provided.

The action is the latest in a series of visa restrictions imposed on Nigerian individuals in recent years.

Nigeria's election tribunal this month was to begin hearing opposition petitions challenging president-elect Bola Tinubu's victory in the disputed February presidential vote, court records showed.

Tinubu, from the ruling All Progressives Congress party, defeated his closest rivals Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party and the Labour Party's Peter Obi, who have alleged fraud and have launched a court challenge.

Atiku and Obi want the tribunal to invalidate Tinubu's victory, arguing that the vote was fraught with irregularities, among other criticisms. Tinubu, who is set to be sworn in on May 29, says he won fairly and wants the petitions dismissed.

There have been numerous legal challenges to the outcome of previous Nigerian presidential elections but none has succeeded.

Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Hugh Lawson

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK government will allow an extra 10,000 seasonal agricultural workers to enter the country next year in response to demands from farmers.

The premier on Tuesday told the UK Farm to Fork Summit that ministers had rolled over to next year a seasonal workers program that allows for 45,000 temporary laborers to enter the country for horticulture and poultry, his office said in a statement. There will be the capacity for an extra 10,000 visas if needed, he told attendees.

Sunak also vowed the government won’t lower standards in its pursuit of trade agreements. He detailed two concerns that have frequently been voiced when discussing a potential deal with the US, saying: “So no chlorine-washed chicken. No hormone- treated beef. Not now. Not ever.”

BY Anthony Osae-Brown, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- The US is helping Nigerian security agencies investigate an attack on an American convoy in the West African nation in which at least four people were reportedly killed.

The attack took place in Nigeria’s southeastern Anambra state on Tuesday, a US Mission Nigeria spokesperson said in response to questions, without giving further details. “US Mission Nigeria personnel are working with Nigerian security services to investigate.”

At least four people died and three others were abducted in the incident, Agence France-Presse reported. Among the dead were two members of Nigeria’s Police Mobile Force and two US consulate staff, it said, citing police spokesman Ikenga Tochukwu.

“No US citizens were involved, and therefore there were no US citizens hurt,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a briefing at the White House on Tuesday. The US State Department is looking into the matter, he said. 

A separatist group in southeastern Nigeria, the Indigenous People of Biafra, has waged an increasingly violent campaign to create an independent state of Biafra. A thriving kidnapping-for-ransom industry has also emerged in recent years. Security agencies and individuals have been targeted in the violence.

President-elect Bola Tinubu, who will be inaugurated on May 29, has pledged to beef up the military to tackle insecurity in the country, which has also been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency and terror attacks in northern Nigeria. US Secretary of State held talks with Tinubu on Tuesday and promised the US’s “continued comprehensive security cooperation, and reforms to support economic growth.”

By Lilian Ukagwu

LILIAN UKAGWU examines the possibility of the national carrier flying before the end of Buhari’s administration

As Nigerians look forward to the May 29 inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, into office, the prospect of Nigeria Air, the country’s national carrier, flying before the end of the current administration continued to be shrouded in doubt.

Last month, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, assured Nigerians that Nigeria Air, which has been embroiled in controversy, would commence operation before May 29.

Speaking at the National Aviation Stakeholders Forum 2023 in Abuja, the minister stated that the national carrier would commence local and international flights before May 29.

“Negotiation meeting with the Ethiopian Airlines Group Consortium and the Federal Government of Nigeria ongoing. “Next step: Federal Executive Council approval of the Full Business Case,” he asserted.

However, aviation pundits have argued that this may be another failed promise from Sirika.

The Nigeria Air project was launched amid fanfare in 2018. The Nigerian government promised to establish a national carrier to compete with other successful African airlines.

Meanwhile, the project has been enmeshed in controversies since it was launched. The first thing attracted criticism was the initial branding of the airline, with many Nigerians questioning the suitability of the logo and name. Many also frowned at the government’s decision to maintain a sealed lips about the details of the project.

There was news that the project had been put on hold indefinitely in September 2018, but government officials repeatedly assured Nigerians that the project was on course, though there were no physical developments to buttress their claims.

Less than two weeks to the inauguration of a new government, the fate of Nigeria Air remained on clear.

The country has been without a national carrier since the collapse of Nigeria Airways, despite several failed attempts to float one.

In September 2022, the Federal Government named Ethiopian Airlines Consortium as the preferred bidder for Nigeria Air.

The Minister of Aviation, Sirika, said Ethiopian Airlines won the bid with a consortium and would have 95 controlling shares in the airline.

While noting that only Ethiopian Airlines met the bidding evaluation criteria and the deadline, Sirika said it would hold 49 per cent equity with other consortiums holding 46 per cent.

According to the minister, the Federal Government will have only a five per cent equity in the project.

Also, in a statement released by the Ministry of Aviation said Nigeria Air would launch with Boeing 737-800 (NG) aircraft, adding that B787 aircraft, which would be for international operations, would follow thereafter.

“Nigeria Air, the new airline will be owned by a Nigerian private Investor Consortium together with a five per cent Federal Government holding, including Ethiopian Airline’s shareholding. Bringing Nigeria Closer to the World,” the statement read.

In October same year, the Minister of Aviation said the national carrier would kick off before the end of December 2022, noting that 20 aircraft with petrol engines had been ordered for training purposes, nine of which had been delivered.

Sirika at a recent ministers’ retreat noted that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had given a marching order to ensure that the carrier was launched.

He said, “When I came in as a minister, we didn’t arrogate to ourselves knowledge and wisdom. We believe in the stakeholders on whose behalf we are serving. The national carrier is in the works and we have advanced significantly. And just yesterday, Mr President, in concluding the retreat, directed that this airline must work between now and December. And it will work by God’s grace.

In November 2022, eight local airlines and their association took the government to court, listing Nigerian Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, as defendants.

Among other prayers, the indigenous airlines wanted the court to stop the national carrier deal and withdraw the Air Transport Licence already issued to Nigeria Air by the Federal Government/Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

They also claimed that the firm which served as Transaction Adviser for the transaction was incorporated in March 2021 and alleged that the company was linked to the aviation minister.

The local airlines further alleged that ATL issued to Nigerian Air did not pass through the normal security clearance.

According to them, the Federal Government’s partnership with Ethiopian Airlines on the project will send domestic airlines out of business by opening up the domestic air travel market to Ethiopian Airlines.

However, despite the court order, the minister has insisted that Nigeria air must fly, stating that the project was 98 per cent ready and all equipment had been procured.

At the end of the day, the court ordered the government to suspend the project indefinitely.

However, despite the court order, the minister had insisted that Nigeria Air would fly, stating that the project was 98 per cent ready and all equipment had been procured.

He said, “Nigeria Air Limited. I did say that we will get it going before the end of this administration and I have not withdrawn my words. We have everything in place. The aircraft, offices, operational centres, staffing and everything needed are in place. We are doing the last minute checks and waiting for the issuance of the AOC and it will fly.”

In April this year, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos also restrained the Director General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Nuhu Musa, from issuing an Air Operator’s Certificate to the proposed national carrier.

This development came several months after Nigeria Air got an Air Transport Licence.

The latest court order obtained by the domestic airline operators barred the government from taking any step with regards to the national carrier project until further notice.

Responding to the order of the court barring the NCAA from issuing an AOC for Nigeria Air, the Special Assistant to the Minister on Public Affairs, James Odaudu, claimed there was no such order.

According to Odaudu, there was no High Court sitting on the matter, adding the reports on order of the court barring the NCAA from issuing an AOC for Nigeria Air were the work of “mischief makers”.

He argued that the reports were based on a letter sent to the NCAA by the lawyer for the Airline Operators of Nigeria, noting that letter reminded the NCAA of an injunction previously issued by the court, which stated that status quo should be maintained.

Odaudu claimed that the reports were sponsored and that the journalists who wrote them lacked the capacity to interpret the letter properly.

He said,” There was no High Court sitting on the matter last week, not to talk of an order. The report was the work of mischief makers.

 “What happened was that the lawyer for AON wrote a letter to NCAA reminding them of the injunction earlier issued by the court stating that status quo ante be mentioned. I believe that the reports were sponsored.

“Check the reports again. Did any of them refer to a sitting, a judge, a date, etc.? Probably they did not have the capacity to interpret the letter properly. I wonder what has happened to interpretative journalism.”

Key players in the sector have expressed diverse views regarding the Nigeria Air. The Chief Executive Officer of TopBrass Airline, Capt Rolland Iyayi, said the Ethiopian Airline was poised to benefit most in the Nigeria Air project.

He said, “The issue of the national carrier is very important. It is something we are all paying attention to. We just want to make sure we get it right. There have been some misgivings. Some issues have been raised. But there are issues that need clarification.”

In the same vein, the Chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji,  criticised the engagement of another country’s airline to own a major stake in Nigeria’s national carrier, warning that it may be counterproductive.

The former military commandant at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Group Capt John Ojikutu (retd), while speaking about mistakes the government had made with Nigerian Airways, which Nigeria Air must avoid in order to survive, blamed government officials for being part of the reasons the airline ceased to operate.

He said, “Let it be sustained as a national carrier and not a government carrier. Let it be sustained by that national name carrier, not a government carrier. Nigeria Airways was virtually turned into a government carrier that virtually most officials who travel by Nigerian Airways were not paying the real fare for the class they sat in. It was either they do not pay at all or they do not pay the real fare.

“They will sit in business class, first class, but they will pay for economy class. I have a lot of experience with them. I am very sorry to say without any reservation that these things were done during the military era and it is not going to be different under this political dispensation with the way we are even handling it. That is one aspect of it. Then, commercial agreement. Let commercial agreement be commercial agreement.”

He went further to condemn the partnership between FG and Ethiopia, questioning the government’s stake in the flagship of Nigeria Air.

A captain in the industry, who preferred not to be named, told The PUNCH in an interview that there was no way Nigeria Air would be launched on or before May 29. Giving his reasons, he said, “I cannot see how this can happen because I do not see any tangible structures in place. I mean, where are the crew, the cabin crew, the ground handlers, the ticketing desk, and all that? I do not see it happening. I might be wrong.”

Reacting to this, the spokesperson for the Airline Operators of Nigeria and  chairman of United Airlines, Prof.  Obiora Okonkwo, stated that there had been an order from the court that the status quo should be maintained months back.

“Unless someone is violating this order, everything related to Nigeria Air should have been halted three months ago.

”I am not a stakeholder in Nigeria Air. So, I don’t attend their meetings to know their plans but if the minister had said it will fly before May 29, I think he should be the one to give you the assurance of the possibility.”

Will the new president urge the central bank to hand over the cash?

International airlines with bases in Nigeria are looking hopefully at the inauguration of Bola Tinubu as president on May 29th, since their fate may rest in his hands. They want the country’s new chief pilot to tell the central bank to let them have their cash. Of the $2.2bn in airlines’ blocked funds across the world, the wodge stuck in Nigeria, almost $800m, is the biggest, says the International Air Transport Association (iata). That figure has doubled since September. Nigerians are frequent flyers, thanks in part to their huge, helter-skelter diaspora, but, unless the bank acts fast, frustrated airlines may make it harder for any of them to get anywhere at all.

Dwindling oil revenues, meagre exports and currency interventions have drained Nigeria’s foreign-exchange coffers. The central bank must decide how to parcel out scarce cash. Every fortnight or so it promises airlines a morsel of all the dollars their accumulated revenues in naira should equate to, at an exchange rate almost 50% less advantageous than its official one. Even then, it does not guarantee when the pledged money will arrive. klm, the Dutch carrier, which has been flying to Nigeria for 75 years, is waiting for funds promised in September. Emirates, fed up with waiting for an estimated $500m, pulled out last year, despite the popularity of its route.

In 2022 about 3.5m people flew in and out of Nigeria. Once a profitable route, it should have offered airlines an opportunity to recoup lockdown losses. “It should be lucrative, but it’s not if you can’t get your money,” says iata’s Willie Walsh. Airlines have to keep paying interest on their own debts, even as they chase the arrears they are owed.

A manager at one of Nigeria’s leading banks notes that some airlines unlawfully sell tickets in dollars within the country. Others are taking on more cargo. Faced with the prospect of reducing its Nigeria-bound flights, klm resorted to selling only the priciest of tickets to Nigerians and as a last resort increased its prices in naira to make up for the added risk. But passengers grumble that they are being fleeced.

As carriers run out of tricks, more may leave. Rising jet-fuel costs and other levies are obstacles enough. Every so often the central bank gives a “special allocation” of funds to placate rankled airlines as a temporary reprieve. The aviation minister has called for patience.

In the long run larger airlines may be able to absorb the losses, but Nigerian passengers will be certain to lose out. Unless Mr Tinubu’s crew finds a way to replenish reserves and disburse the cash, foreign flyers may stop coming. “We’re not talking years here,” says Mr Walsh. “We’re talking months and weeks.”

This article was first published in The Economist 

The Federal Government has ordered the closure of roads linking Federal Secretariat Complexes of Phase I, II, III and Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2pm…

By Abbas Jimoh

The Federal Government has ordered the closure of roads linking Federal Secretariat Complexes of Phase I, II, III and Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2pm on Friday May 26, to Monday May 29.

The Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office, Office of the Head of the Service of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), Dr Ngozi Onwudiwe, said this in a circular on Friday in Abuja.

Onwudiwe said that the order is in line with security arrangements by the Presidential Transition Council (PTC), for the smooth conduct of the inauguration parade for the swearing-in ceremony of President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29.

By Wole Oyebade

President Muhammaudu Buhari was clearheaded in his plan for the air transport sector, for which he appointed an aviator as minister – the first ‘round peg in round hole’ in the 95-year history of aviation in Nigeria. Eight years after, not only has the uneasy tenure failed to deliver on Buhari’s core promise of a new national carrier, the much-vaunted airport concession plan, aircraft leasing agency, maintenance and repair organisation, new airport city projects, aviation university, new condition of service for workers, among others, have plunged the critical sector into turbulence, and blighted achievements in the areas of safety, infrastructural uplift, and revised regulatory framework. Stakeholders reckon that landmines and tough decisions await the next administration. WOLE OYEBADE reports.
 
President Muhammadu Buhari made a solo pledge to the aviation community pre-2015. It was to deliver a befitting national carrier in the status of Nigeria Airways in its heydays.
 

Six months into the administration came Captain Hadi Sirika as Minister of States for Aviation, and later, a full-fledged Minister of Aviation. Like Buhari was to the presidency, Sirika was perceived as a breath of fresh air to local aviation administration. He is the first insider to lead the pack, and also turned out to be the longest serving Aviation Minister in the country.
 
Shortly after his confirmation in 2015, Sirika did hit the ground running with the Aviation Roadmap agenda. At the top is the new national carrier that Buhari promised, followed by the plan to concession airports for efficiency. Also, a Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility, and aircraft leasing company to service local operators. In addition is the creation of aerotropolis at major airports nationwide, among 15 other components of the “aviation transformation and modernisation plan”.
 
Fast forward seven years later, findings by The Guardian showed some improvements in major airport infrastructure, navigational facilities, and regulatory framework across the agencies. However, most dominant is the gross underperformance of key deliverables in the Aviation Roadmap initiative, with implementation rate still running at 20 per cent, contrary to high appropriation rack up over the years.
 
More disturbing for aviation stakeholders is the opaque nature of the project implementations, dodgy policy directions, and oddly familiar absence of transparency in the mix.

Progress, against all odds
Indeed, it was a chaotic era in which two major events of devastating proportions hobbled aviation growth globally. COVID-19 happened and shattered all plans and projections by cutting off air transportations for months. Shortly afterwards was the Russo-Ukrainian crisis that disrupted energy supplies, which is one of the major operating components of the air transport sector.
 
Indeed, it was an era when the U.S. Dollar – the currency of global aviation business – ballooned to N950 against the Naira on the black market end (the most reliable source for forex!). Aviation fuel also hit the N1000/litre mark. Local air travel buckled at the sight of a N200,000 ticket for a 55-minute one-way flight. Operators lost 70 per cent of fleet capacity and some distressed airlines closed shop. Foreign airlines were also hit over stuck funds that climbed to $800 million – the highest in the world after Venezuela. It was an industry in unprecedented disarray!
 
In between, the air transport sector in Nigeria recorded some cheering moments. Despite the chaos, the industry proved its resilience to weather shocks. Notably, airlines managed to stay in business with new ones coming onboard. Regulators were firm and kept tabs on the safety rules. Service providers also improved on some airports, and aeronautical services got better nationwide.    

Specifically, infrastructure got a significant boost with the eventual opening of the Chinese new terminals in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Lagos – all of which started before 2015. Similarly, Abuja airport got runway rehabilitation. Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos restored Runway 18L lighting and night operations after 14 years of blackout. The airports also got 10 new fire trucks at a whopping cost of N12 billion. 
 
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) was very busy deploying advanced Instrument Landing Systems (ILSs) across nationwide airports to enhance night operations and safe flights even at low air-to-ground visibility.
 
Besides the upgrade of ILSs, the controversial Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) and Safe Tower facilities also got new equipment, all estimated to worth N36 billion. Similarly, the agency got two mobile state-of-the-art control towers at the cost of N1.7 billion.
 
Passenger traffic also rose from 12 million to 16 million as of 2022. The airline operators felt the positive impact in the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on aviation equipment, the COVID-19 palliative of N5 billion, and recent push back on aeropolitics.
 
Conspicuously missing on the roll call of achievements, however, are the deliverables contained in the Aviation Roadmap of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

Nigeria Air took off, landed in court 
Perhaps one of the biggest flops of the era is the handling of the national carrier project vis-à-vis the embedded ‘national’ over private interests.
  
Having been prepared as a worst kept secret, the national carrier project got off to a shaky start with the controversial christening and unveiling of the logo at the London Farnborough Airshow in July 2018. The launch was meant to draw foreign investors ahead of the December 23, 2018 commencement of operation.
 
Back home, the project soon ran into budgetary constraints, as it had no place in that year’s budget. The December 23 take off was aborted. But from 2019 to date, budgetary votes have continued to mount for Nigeria Air.
 
By 2022, the national carrier had racked up to N14.65 billion, out of which N6.25 billion was penciled for working capital, consultancy and transaction advisers’ fees. The minister said only N400 million had been approved out of the lump sum.
 
For the 2023 budget, another N1.3 billion, with N700 million as ‘working capital’ and N200 million as consultancy fee, also went to the national carrier for which the government was meant to own only a five per cent stake.

In November 2022, after five years of foot-dragging, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) – the biggest African carrier – got into the narrative as the “preferred” technical partner ahead of the December 2022 take-off date (the fifth that had been proposed). ET was actually the only airline that showed interest in the globally publicised invitation to bidders!
 

But unimpressed by the alleged tacit “giveaway” of Nigerian national carrier to fellow African competitor, local operators approached the court, technically throwing spanner into the works of Nigeria Air.   
 
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, in November ordered all parties involved in the proposed national carrier to maintain the status quo, effectively truncating the December take-off date as pledged by the minister.
 
The court gave the order upon receiving the application of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), urging the court to stop the national carrier deal and withdraw the Air Transport Licence (ATL) already issued to Nigeria Air by the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
 
Operators, like Air Peace, United Nigeria, Azman, and Top Brass, claimed that the firm that served as Transaction Adviser for the transaction was incorporated in March, last year, and alleged that the company was linked to the aviation minister. The local airlines further alleged that the ATL issued to Nigerian Air did not pass through normal security clearance.

Concession of major airports amid controversies
In 2016, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the concession of airports in the country, beginning with the big four in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano. Not until last year did the Minister announce the preferred and reserved bidders for the concession of three major airports – Lagos, Abuja and Kano.
 
The process has also not been spared of controversies. One of the bidders for the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, Sifax Group of Companies Limited, has filed a suit seeking disqualification of two preferred bidders – Tav Airports Holding Company and GMR Airport Limited.
 
Similarly, aviation workers’ unions have registered their displeasure against the Federal Government’s plan to concession four major international airports, coupled with the new agenda to demolish aviation agencies’ offices in Lagos.
 
The workers, under the aegis of National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), said details of the concession plan have shown it as self-serving and anti-Nigeria.

Aircraft leasing company, MRO, aviation varsity
This week, at the Extra-Ordinary FEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the government ratified the establishment of a leasing company, a vital component of the aviation roadmap, which would allow existing investors and new entrants to lease equipment at affordable rates.
 

Sirika highlighted the significance of the aviation leasing company, stating, “Today in Council, something very significant happened in the world of civil aviation. Part of our roadmap, the aviation leasing company, has been established and approved by Council.”
 
An elated Sirika said: “So, I’m glad to see the full business case has been approved by the FEC. So the roadmap is gradually coming to 100 per cent completion. Therefore, entrepreneurs and civil aviation will have access to lease equipment at affordable rates within our country, Nigeria, and this is part of our roadmap.”
 
While there is no mention of the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at all, Hadi Sirika last year assured that the Federal Government was committed to setting up a University of Aviation which will commence on September 26, 2022.
 
He said President Buhari had concluded all the necessary preparations for the establishment of the African Aviation and Aerospace University in Abuja. Sirika said the institution, which would be the first of its kind in Africa, will commence with 20 pioneer students with a BSc in Aviation Business and BSc in Meteorology in view and by 2023, the University would start an MSc in Air Transport Management programme.
 
“For this year’s (2022) academic session, we are going to start BSc Aviation Business and BSc in Meteorology, then each of the courses will start with 20 students for now and by 2023 the University will start MSc in Air Transport Management,” Sirika had said.
 
Just yesterday, the minister announced that the commencement date of the university has been shifted till September 2023 – four months after the expiration of the President Buhari-led administration.

Performance rating: Poor
But the minister has given a verdict of 100% delivery of the aviation road map – without the takeoff of the national carrier, airport concession (despite endorsement of bidders), MRO, airport cities. Fillers from the stakeholders did not agree with his self-appraisal.
 
The Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), in a recent poll, scored the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s performance in the air transport sector only six per cent success rate in over seven years.
 

The rating was benchmarked on key performance indices like the aviation roadmap, critical issues identified by the stakeholders and recommendations made to the government since assumption of office.
 
ASRTI, a think-tank group, estimated that only six per cent of the agenda has so far been implemented successfully; 42 per cent still in the progress, while 52 per cent others remained unscratched in almost eight years.
 
Aviation Security Consultant, Group Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd) noted that there are about 12 items in the minister’s Roadmap, “but none of them seems to be up to 20 per cent in completion”.
 
Ojikutu noted that the 16 million yearly traffic would not even qualify as an achievement. “The Vision 2020 projected 20 million passengers traffic by year 2020 but unfortunately, in 2019, the passenger traffic was 16 million, and COVID-19 could not be an excuse for not attaining 20 million in 2020.
 
“We are in 2023, two years after COVID-19 had been declared ended in Nigeria, and we are still in the pre-COVID figures. The airfare is higher than pre-COVID. About 70 per cent of the air travelling passengers are government and corporate officials whose airfares are paid by their employers.
 
“The question now is, are the employers financially buoyant today to be able to be paying for the airfares of their officials to increase or sustain the passenger traffic figures? Only time can tell,” Ojikutu said.
  
Aircraft engineer, Andrew Sunday, is one of those disappointed with the state of the industry. Sunday said though the minister enjoyed good support from stakeholders, “attempts to implement unpopular and outdated ideas were his undoing”.
 
He said: “I’m surprised that he awarded himself a 100 per cent score for the Roadmap. Sadly, he came in as an insider and professional, but clearly missed the runway and crash-landed on his promises to the industry at large. It’s so painful for some of us who love him so much, to witness these episodes of unfulfilled promises. He should score three over 10, because on the overall, aviation is worse off than he met it,” Sunday said.

Where are the governing boards of agencies?
Indeed, one of the issues that agitated aviation workers the most is the conspicuous absence of statutory governing boards of directors for five aviation agencies. President Buhari had six years ago, approved replacements for the former boards but the new ones were not inaugurated, allegedly in preference for “a one-man” leadership at the helm.
 
The responsibilities of the board include fixing the terms and conditions of service for employees, reviewing yearly reports of the management for submission to the President, presenting yearly budget estimates of the agency to the minister, record-keeping, and auditing the agency among others.
 
Former scribe of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Olayinka Abioye, said besides the Roadmap “been a colossal disaster as the items became distorted with variations, wasteful, and avoidable controversies”, the tenure also treated the worker with disdain.
 
Abioye noted that workers are the lubricant of the industry, and despite their grievances over the years, they remained steadfastly devoted to the provision of seamless services.
 
“As the maxim says, a disgruntled worker is an accident waiting to happen. It is disheartening that under the watch of the minister, workers service conditions nosedived arising from the failure of the Executive and the Ministry to secure for these workers the only ingredient that could add value to their lives and working conditions. This non-provision and approval of functional service conditions worsened following the arbitrary and unwholesome refusal, failure and reluctance of the supervising Minister of Aviation to inaugurate Federal Government approved Governing Boards for aviation agencies.
 
“The establishment Acts of these agencies provides for the existence of these Boards, who see to the day-to-day running of the agencies in consonance with the Act establishing them. And without the existence of these Boards, the Minister becomes the alpha and omega, de facto and de jure controller of the agencies and that’s where we have found ourselves in these past eight years, where probity, accountability, and transparency had taken the back seat.
 
“It is very frustrating for CEOs to be running helter skelter all over the ministry waiting to secure one approval or the other from the minister for days. I have witnessed occasions where the minister became the spokesman for the CEOs at several fora whereas the CEOs were present. Very humiliating, to say the least!” he said.
 
President of the group, Dr. Gbenga Olowo, said it was regrettable to find the “national carrier a stillbirth, MRO as unborn, and airport concessioning inconclusive”.
 

Olowo added that the government, however, did well in the area of regulatory bodies, with the status upgrade of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and expansion of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) into National Safety Investigation Board (NSIB).
 
He, however, said that: “the failure to establish some aviation agency boards as stated in the Civil Aviation Act (CAA) violates Section 29:1 of the Civil Aviation Act, as contained in Section 11:1 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.
 
“The New Airport Terminal Building in Lagos, commissioned by the President last year, was said to have had no apron for parking, ditto for the one in Abuja obstructing the control tower. The light rail line in Abuja does not connect to the airport terminal building either. Were there no plans before these projects were executed?
 
“We expected the government to have done at least 60 per cent and leave the rest to politics. To us at ASRTI, following our indices, we scored the administration below par. We didn’t see the national carrier. We started acquiring non-profitable airports from state governments, and some governments still want to develop their own. And we said no. How about the existing ones that are unprofitable?
 
“The Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos that is supposed to be our number one airport has been neglected. The one added by the Chinese, recently, some foreign airlines rejected it. How can we deliver a facility that operators don’t want? So, who is delivering facilities for who? No airline growth, no airport growth because I didn’t see a hub developed,” Olowo said.

Caveat emptor!
The president added that it behooves the incoming administration to critically review the aviation roadmap and make amends with the foreign airlines, to return air transport to the path of growth.
 
Aviation analyst, Olumide Ohunayo, said the current administration has demystified the age-long agitation for having aviation professionals at the helm of its affairs.
 

“Now we have realised the need for a change; to bring people from outside the industry but people with good flair for economics and commerce. What is actually lacking in our industry is that ability to attract FDIs and the need to push for the commercialisation of the industry and its agencies,” he said.
 
Ohunayo explained that with aviation agencies struggling with inefficiencies, each minister that comes on board has been loading those agencies with all manner of irrelevant staff.
 
“The staff structure is killing professionalism; we must address it. Again, we must get to the point of ICAO’s statute that says that revenue generated in aviation must be reinvested to develop infrastructure and delivery of quality services. We need sincerity of purpose. That much we lacked and you can see why all the concessions are failing.
 
“For me, we should return to those days when we had the Minister of States for Aviation, under transport, for accountability purposes and avoidance of dictatorial tendencies. I only pity the next minister of aviation because there are so many landmines that have been put in place for him or her failure. And all of them are coming from the Roadmap that is enmeshed in all manner of controversy just because the handlers put their private interest before national benefits,” Ohunayo said.

NAHCON says over 96,000 Nigerians are expected to participate in the 2023 Hajj.

By Bakare Majeed

The inaugural flight of Nigerian pilgrims for the 2023 Hajj exercise will depart the country for Saudi Arabia on 25 May, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria has disclosed.

The Chairman of the Commission, Zikrullah Hassan, announced this on Thursday at the inauguration of the media team for the 2023 exercise in Abuja.

Mr Hassan said pilgrims from Nasarawa State will be the first set to depart for Hajj.

He stated that the commission has concluded arrangements for the advance team to depart for Saudi Arabia on Sunday to prepare for the Nigerian delegation.

“Every pilgrim will get value for money in terms of the money they paid for service.

“Insha Allah, we are fully prepared, all registered Nigerian pilgrims will be airlifted. Our plan still remains that our advance team proceed to the holy land on the 21 May, which is just in three days.

“An advanced team of Hajj officials will depart to the Holy land on Sunday to prepare for the reception of Nigeria’s pilgrims,” he said.

Mr Hassan further disclosed that over 96,000 Nigerians are expected to participate in the 2023 Hajj.

Speaking to the media team, Mr Hassan urged it to cover the 2023 Hajj robustly while maintaining the ethics of journalism.

He assured the team that the commission is ready and willing to provide information when required. He noted that the team should equally obey the laws of the host country during the exercise.

In his remarks, the commissioner of planning, research and policy management, Sulayman Momoh, also called for collaboration between the commission and the media in making the 2023 Hajj seamless.

According to the timetable released by the Saudi authority, Saudi airports will open for the first flight carrying 2023 Hajj pilgrims on Sunday 21 May and close for arrivals of Hajj flights on Thursday 22 June.

By Solomon Odeniyi

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has said the Federal Government has plans to launch a home delivery service for passports.

He said the government intended for anyone desirous of having a passport to do so within a reasonable time, and at an affordable price without any stress.

The minister spoke at the opening of the Nigeria Immigration Service Passport Front Desk Office in Auchi, Edo State, on Saturday.

A statement by his Media Adviser, Sola Fasure, quoted the minister as promising to conclude negotiations with the Nigerian Postal Service on the usage of its speedy mail service to start delivering passports to Nigerians.

The statement partly read, “What we are doing here is significant for two main reasons. The first is the right (and even the necessity) of Nigerians, especially those in the diaspora to hold the Nigerian passport. Except for those travelling outside the country or intending to, most of those who hold a passport do so for identification purposes. For some, it is also a thing of pride to be able to brandish the greenback of the passport.

“But for those outside the country, the passport is the proof of their existence. The inability to produce it on demand may bring untoward consequences. The government, therefore wants to provide the passport for anyone desirous of it within a reasonable time, at an affordable price, and without any stress whatsoever. The second is the need, flowing from the first, to break out of the regular.

“We are in the final stage of concluding negotiations with NIPOST to begin using its speed mail service to deliver passports to Nigerians wherever they are in the world after production. ”

Aregbesola stated that Edo State has one of the highest passport applications in Nigeria, adding that the waiting period between application and collection would likely increase due to the recent increase in demand.

He said, “Our current working schedule is that a fresh application would take six weeks after biometric data registration and three weeks for renewal. This is reasonable, competitive, and in line with the global best practices.

“The challenge however is the waiting period at the point of application and data registration. All applicants will be put in a queue, depending on the centre of their choice, to determine the registration date. Regrettably, it might take two months in some highly competitive centres where the application is very high. We have no control over this.”.

He also urged applicants to plan ahead for their travelling, as travelling requires long-term planning, whether for education, work, leisure, or migration, except for urgent national assignments or medical emergencies.

Speaking earlier, the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Isah Jere Idris, said that the choice of Auchi is apt, as Edo State ranks fifth amongst states with the highest volume of passport applications locally.

He said, “In the past 365 days, Edo state has processed 56,291 applications out of the 1.5 million passports produced in Nigeria. The commissioning of this front office will no doubt go a long way in reducing the traffic in Edo State and other neighbouring states”.