The National Civil Society Council Of Nigeria (NCSCN) ably led by the Executive Director, Amb. Blessing Adebowale Akinlosotu , on Monday, 15th of April, 2024 held a World Press Conference on the state of the Aviation Industry, with focus on development within Lagos-London Route, and entry to the Air Peace.
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Our highly respected ladies and gentlemen from various Media Platforms; Local, National and International herein represented, most distinguished Comrades and Heads of over 100 renowned Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organisations seated in this World Press Conference, you are all very much welcomed and well appreciated.
As the coordinating body for over 500 Civil Groups Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations, standing as the voice of the masses, conscience of the people and watchdog of the society, we shall never relent to speak up and stand firm to criticize every anti-people Policies and Action Plans within the Public and Private Sectors, while equally commending all satisfactory and positive performances within the Sectors in same manner.
The Council remains undaunted and will keep fighting the course of Good Governance, Equity, Justice and excellent Service Delivery to Nigerians across board.
It is an incontrovertible fact, acknowledged across the globe, that Nigerians are one of the most travelled and travelling demography in the world. With a massive population of over 70 million persons travelling in and out of the country annually accounting for over 70% of the entire travelling statistics of Africa, the Aviation Industry in Nigeria is a highly critical matter to our Nation Development. Air Travel must be dragged to the front burner of national discourses, henceforth, and no longer be treated as exclusive concern of the elite or bujeuor class, as this crucial sub-sector of our national economy carries heavy weight of implications with multi-faceted impact on many aspects of our national life, be it economic, political,even socio-cultural and traditional heritage.
Some Countries’ economy depend and thrive solely on the Aviation Industry, with Ethiopia as good example. If properly manned with patriotic Administrators and deliberate policies in favour of Nigeria and Nigerians, this yet untapped Industry can surprisingly revamp the Nation’s ailing economy, considering the volume of citizens that travel in and out of the country on daily basis. Until recently, the alarming exploitations of Nigeria and Nigerians, coupled with gross maladministration of the Industry by the previous Governments, Air Travel Service Providers and Airline Operators have gone unnoticed and without creating a scenario of national disaster or emergency as should be the case.
However, the ongoing dramatic pricing warfare occasioned by the entry of the Air Peace into the Lagos-London Route, has opened a large can of worms and exposed decades of economic sabotage and unacceptable exploitation of Nigeria by Foreign Airline Operators in various international route. The commencement of Air Peace Operations in the Lagos-London route at an unbelievable low rate or price has become one of the greatest shockers and historic development in the Industry, which has sparked off a lot of actions and reactions.
Before the launching of Air Peace to the Lagos/London route, foreign operators had, for decades, monopolized this high traffic and very profitable route, taking undue advantage of countless thousands of Nigerian travellers, subjecting them to pay costliest fares in Africa, while other countries pay much lower rates for same destination.
An operator such as Turkish airlines, charges for the economy class tickets on the Lagos-Istanbul route rose up to N874,661 while the business class ticket jumped to N1,980,876. Nigerian travellers experienced same with other foreign operators such as British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Lufthansa, KLM/Air France, Air Maroc and Ethiopian Airlines. Before the foreign operators conspired to increase fares, the economy class tickets on the Nigeria-UK route was between N400,000 and N650,000, depending on the booking period while business class was between N800,000 and N1.2 million.
The financial pressure the exorbitant fares inflicted on the Nigerian travellers became so unbearable that those who could not afford it were forced to suspend international trips while some like students shifted their patronage to the neighbouring countries where low inventory fares were available. Immediately Air Peace announced its fares which have been found far much affordable for Nigerians, the foreign carriers, out of fears of losing their massive Nigerian passengers to Air Peace, have engaged in price wars and subtle aero-politics for survival and to get Air Peace off the trail.
In addition to traveller’s incentives and aggressive marketing strategies, the foreign airlines are now into dangerous battles for market share that is capable of throwing smaller operators out of business, while negatively affecting their profit margins. All these are aimed particularly at jeopardising the existence of Air Peace and smaller Indigenous Operators.
Many Airlines are today forced to lure passengers to book for economy class seat on the Lagos/London route with N907,782 fares as against the over N2 million for the economy they charged before now. British Airways has been forced to slashed its fares on the Abuja/London Heathrow to N1,394,536 as against the over N3 million it was formerly charging. Now, an economy class ticket on Virgin Atlantic from Lagos to London has been brought down to N980, 654,000 as against the N2.353,200 it used to charge.
The ready and reasonable question any objective mind should ask over this sudden and shocking development is “what has suddenly changed in terms of operational cost?”. “Have the foreign operators suddenly turned Father Christmas and no longer interested in making profits? Has there been any major global economic upturn or reduction in production and service costs that warranted such giant down-jump in prices in the Lagos-London route? Let do an imaginary calculation of the huge thousands of naira differentia between the former high charges and the new low rates, and multiply by the number of international trips by Nigerians and number of years this exploitations has lasted. We will all be shocked at the Billions of Dollars this would amount to.
NCSCN consisting of diverse professional from various walks of life, including Investigative Journalists, Security Experts and Background Check Practitioners, has discovered some highly worrisome facts and interesting realities within the Industry in Nigeria, that needs emergency attentions and urgent national action, hence, shall take up this national challenge and fight this battle to the end point.
Even a Primary School Pupil in Nigeria today must be aware of the numerous intervention of the Air Peace for Nigerians at various times of national emergencies and distresses, ranging from the airlifts for stranded Nigerian during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the South African Xenophobic attack era, and even the Sudan war, which can rightly be celebrated and honoured as the most patriotic and progressive Airline Operator in Nigeria.
The Federal Government and all well-meaning Nigerians must rise up to save our most patriotic and progressive indigenous operator, the Air Peace, and other well-meaning Indigenous Outfit, from this international dangerous aero-politics and pricing warfare by foreign airlines who are seriously threatened by the rising profile and business strategies of a Nigerian Operator with impressive global records of flight operations between Nigeria and other countries like China, UAE, Israel Brazil and South Africa during the pandemic seamlessly.
Air Peace has really exposed the foreign operators, just like GLO Nigeria did to the foreign Telecom Providers that almost milked and bled Nigerians to death in the name of telecommunication. Who would have imagine the possibility of all foreign operators coming down so low in pricing if not for the entrance and intervention of our patriotic and nationalistic Air Peace? Air Peace must be protected, rewarded and honoured for this patriotic gesture.
The Civil Society Council hereby calls on all Nigerians to patronise Air Peace in the Lagos- London route, irrespective of the deceptive lower pricing of the foreign conspirators, as this will save our Naira and further grow our National Economy. All the foreign operators repatriate their profits and funds back to their home countries, but Air Peace is indigenous and reinvests profits here in Nigeria to the advantage of the Naira.
The Council, therefore, appeals passionately to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as an accomplished Businessman himself, to help the Air Peace and other Indigenous Operators by granting a waiver of One Year Tax Holiday, which would go a very long way in keeping this patriotic indigenous operator afloat, against the foreign onslaught. Also an Executive Order should be given to all Government Official embarking on International Trips to routes within the operations of Indigenous Operators such as the Air Peace, to mandatorily fly our Nigerian brands.
Furthermore, Air Peace should be permitted to extend airlift from Abuja to London to increase the weekly operations. All bottlenecks, and internal sabotage factors such as delays in issuance of End Users Certification must be completely eliminated. The Civil Society thereby call the attention of our dynamic National Security Adviser (NSA) to these ugly developments. The foreign exploitations and conspiracy must not be allowed to prevail over Nigeria any longer. There is serious and urgent need to revisit and ensure strict compliance with the BASA Agreements.
The Council has already mapped out plans and actionable strategies to mobilize Nigerians and other well-meaning nationalities in favour of Air Peace in this ongoing pricing warfare, within this month of April, which we shall make available to the Press in course of time. However, for now, we are embarking on a Solidarity March to submit our Protest Letters to relevant quarters, including the Presidency, immediately after this World Press Conference.
