Nigeria Air: An Ambush?

Reuters photo

By

Prince Charles Dickson

See them fighting for power (ooh-wee, ooh-wee, ooh-wa!)

But they know not the hour (ooh-wee, ooh-wee, ooh-wa!)

So they bribing with their guns, spare parts and money

Trying to belittle our integrity now

They say what we know

Is just what they teach us

And we’re so ignorant

‘Cause every time they can reach us (shoobe, doowa)

Through political strategy (shoobe, doowa)

They keep us hungry (shoobe, doowa)

And when you gonna get some food (shoobe, doowa)

Your brother got to be your enemy, well

Ambush in the night

All guns aiming at me

Ambush in the night

They opened fire on me now

Ambush in the night

Protected by his majesty

Ooh-wee, ooh-wee. Ooh-wa-ooh!

(Ooh-wee) Ooh-wee, ooh-wee (ooh-wa), Ooh-wa!

Ooh-wee, ooh-wee, ooh wa-oh!

Ooh-wee, ooh-wee, ooh wa-ah!

Well, what we know

Is not what they tell us

We’re not ignorant, I mean it

And they just cannot touch us

Through the powers of the most I (shoobe, doowa)

We keep on surfacin’ (shoobe, doowa)

Through the powers of the most I (shoobe, doowa)

We keep on survivin’, yeah

This ambush in the night

Planned by society

Ambush in the night

They tryin’ to conquer me

Ambush in the night

Anything money can bring

Ambush in the night

Planned by society

Ambush in the night

– Bob Marley

In Nigeria, these are interesting times, or rather strange times. As a commentator, you are at odds, what is really wrong with my nation, the political hallelujah men at work as 2019 approaches. The latest being an ambush in the air…

Let me start this admonition with the simplest of facts—Ethiopia Airlines is a national carrier owned 100 percent by the government of Ethiopia, it is fully autonomous, and will Nigeria Air be anywhere?

So last week at an airshow; what in local parlance I would call a trade fair; the following transpired:

Minister of State for Aviation, Sirika Hadi on Wednesday unveiled the name of Nigeria’s national carrier, as well as the logo at the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK.

Sirika said the national carrier is Nigeria Air.

During the unveiling, the minister said, “this will be a National Carrier that is Private sector-led and driven. It is a business, not a social service. Government will not be involved in running it or deciding who runs it. The investors will have full responsibility for this.”

The Nigerian Government will not own more than 5% (maximum) of the new National Carrier. Government will not be involved in running it or deciding who runs it,” he said.

He added that the government is in talks with aircraft providers, “We’ve been talking to Airbus and Boeing (and they’re present at this event) regarding the aircraft and we will be making announcements very soon. We are currently negotiating.”

This is the problem when governance is riddled with lies and inconsistencies with the above and the very meager information available in the public space, we are told the airline would be operational in December 2018.

A national carrier with the current state of our airports, sometimes we simply operate this nation like one big joke. Will this venture run successfully and be in operation for 12 consecutive months?

If the government will not be involved in deciding who runs it, for whom are they setting it? Why does the government want to own only 5% of what they do not want to be a part of?

Will Nigeria Air work…Yes and No, do we want it to work?; below is my answer:

Every day, a small ant arrives at work very early and starts work immediately. She produces a lot and she was happy. The Chief, a lion, was surprised to see that the ant was working without supervision. He thought if the ant can produce so much without supervision, wouldn’t she produce even more if she had a supervisor? So he recruited a cockroach who had extensive experience as supervisor and who was famous for writing excellent reports.

The cockroach’s first decision was to set up a clocking in attendance system. He also needed a secretary to help him write and type his reports and he recruited a spider, who managed the archives and monitored all phone calls. The lion was delighted with the cockroach’s reports and asked him to produce graphs to describe production rates and to analyze trends, so that he could use them for presentations at Boards meetings. So the cockroach had to buy a new computer and a laser printer and recruited a fly to manage the IT department.

The ant, who had once been so productive and relaxed, hated this new plethora of paperwork and meetings which used up most of her time! The lion came to the conclusion that it was high time to nominate a person in charge of the department where the ant worked. The position was given to the cicada, whose first decision was to buy a carpet and an ergonomic chair for his office.

The new person in charge, the cicada, also needed a computer and a personal assistant, whom he brought from his previous department, to help him prepare a Work and Budget Control Strategic Optimization Plan. The Department where the ant works is now a sad place, where nobody laughs anymore and everybody has become upset. It was at that time that the cicada convinced the boss, the lion, of the absolute necessity to start a climatic study of the environment.

Having reviewed the charges for running the ant’s department, the lion found out that the production was far less than before. So he recruited the owl, a prestigious and renowned consultant to carry out an audit and suggest solutions. The owl spent three months in the department and came up with an enormous report, in several volumes, that concluded: “The department is over staffed.”

Guess who the lion fires first? The ant, off course, because she “showed lack of motivation and had a negative attitude”.

It is obvious that we don’t get it, yes, we have problems, but in truth we are just creating them by the day. Rat; do not chew the doctor’s bag on purpose, and doctor, do not starve the rat on purpose. Where is Nigeria headed, is this airline business a true renaissance of a nation or another ambush in the air; one cannot tell—Only time will tell.

Prince Charles Dickson

Currently Prince Charles, is based out of Jos, Plateau State, and conducts field research and investigations in the Middle Belt Region of Nigeria with an extensive reach out to the entire North and other parts. Prince Charles worked on projects for UN Women, Search for Common Ground, and International Crisis Group, among others. He is an alumnus of the University of Jos and the prestigious Humanitarian Academy at Harvard and Knight Center For Journalism, University of Texas at Austin. A doctoral candidate of Georgetown University

Born in Lagos State (South West Nigeria), Prince Charles is proud of his Nigerian roots. He is a Henry Luce Fellow, Ford Foundation grantee and is proficient in English, French, Yoruba Ibo and Hausa. Married with two boys, and a few dogs and birds.