An old Nigeria Airways plane

The Ministerial Committee on Establishment of  a new National Carrier  for Nigeria has submitted its report to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Aviation, Hajiya Binta Bello.

The Committee was inaugurated on Aug. 25 in Abuja, and was given four weeks to complete its assignment.

Bello, after receiving the report, commended the Committee for keeping to the stipulated time and assured that the recommendations would be thoroughly studied and forwarded to the President.

She said that the Committee was inaugurated based on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to advise government appropriately on how to go about the establishment of a national carrier.

On when the national carrier would come on board, she said “the report has just been submitted to me and I have not even opened it.

“Until I open the report and see the recommendations, I may not be able to say this is exactly what we are going to come up with.’’

The Chairman of the Committee, Mr Abdulsalami Mohammed, said the team consulted widely before coming up with the report.

Mohammed said that the creation of the Committee had generated a lot of excitement and comments both in the print and electronic media, as well as social media networks since its inauguration.

He added that “we consulted with a total of 74 stakeholders, ranging from airline operators to aviation agencies, service providers, financial consultants, institutional investors, aircraft and parts suppliers and former staff of Nigeria Airways Limited before coming up with this report.’’

The chairman said the Committee had made far reaching recommendations, noting that if accepted and implemented by the Federal Government, it would have positive impact on the aviation industry in the country.

“The report also employs the system thinking paradigm as pictorial analysis tool for understanding the inherent dynamics and complexities for establishing a national carrier,’’ he said.