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Lagos (© 2018 Afriquinfos) – Very mixed reactions were provoked in Nigeria following the recent announcement of the creation of a new national airline, Nigeria Air by the time By the end of the year
According to Nigeria's aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, who gave the information at a press conference at the Farnborough International Air Show last Wednesday, Abuja had "a moral and social to create a new air carrier. "
Since the closure of Nigeria Airways in 2003, a debt-ridden airline that has finally succumbed to its financial difficulties, the country is without a national airline.
This change It was long overdue, said Supo Atobatele, editor-in-chief of Air Transport Quarterly and former spokesman for the Nigerian Airspace Agency. "An airline flying our flag around the world will strengthen the international image of our country," he told AFP.
In Nigeria, this new decision is not unanimous within the population, given the unenviable balance sheet of Nigeria in the field of aviation.
They are more than 40 airlines, including Nigeria Airways (which collapsed under the weight of the debt in 2003) to have made Bankruptcy in the country in the last 30 years.
According to the unions, to date, there are many former employees who have not yet been paid and still do not have their pensions. [19659003ThenewcarrieraccordingtoAtobatelemustbeshieldedfrompoliticalinterferencetosurvivehesaidpointingoutthat"themainreasonNigeriaAirwaysfailedwasthatitwasasocialserviceandnotacompanyNigeriaAirshouldnotsufferthesamefate"headded
Olayinka, Abioye Secretary-General of the National Union of Air Transport Employees, is concerned about the use of public funds to finance the new airline
"What will happen to the fate of the national airlines that have been assigned the routes of the defunct Nigeria Airways," he added. "Will they be excluded from these routes when the new national carrier enters service?
For Abolaji Odumesi, a frequent traveler in Lagos, however, it is not necessary to launch a new airline
"We should have resuscitated Arik Air and Aero Contractors to form the core of Nigeria Air as they have been taken over by the government because of their huge debts, "he added.
For others, Nigeria, where only a tiny minority benefited from the billions of dollars generated by oil production, and in which corruption and mismanagement have left public services in tatters and infrastructure inadequate, more urgent to resolve.
Former Education Minister Oby Ezekwesili said a national airline was " clearly a bad priority "and a" waste "of money that could be better spent elsewhere.
West African country, Nigeria is over 180 million Some 86.9 million people live today in extreme poverty.
As a reminder, President Buhari had revived a national airline company in a campaign promise in 2015. [19659003] IN
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