Buhari

At the inauguration of the of the ministerial committee on the assessment of the security situation in Nigeria’s airports on Friday in Abuja, Hadi Sirika, the Minister of State for Aviation revealed that the implementation of the recommendations concerning the establishment of a new national carrier would start soon.

Since President Muhammadu Buhari made it known earlier that the establishment of a new national carrier would be prioritized by the government in the aviation sector in this dispensation, pundits and stakeholders have awaited pronouncements about concrete plans towards achieving this aim.

In the last administration, Stella Oduah who was Aviation Minister was keen about establishing a new national carrier, but the required moves towards making this a reality was never made. At the time, Oduah’s idea of starting another carrier after the bad experience of Nigeria Airways was not applauded by some aviation experts who deemed it an unviable venture considering current economic peculiarities and a changing trend in the aviation sector worldwide.

President Buhari appears convinced that creating another new carrier is the way to go despite the predictions of dim prospects in some quarters. According to Sirika, Buhari had since made up his mind about the venture by setting up a committee for it even before appointing the ministers that would eventually work with him. And the committee had since submitted its report, which had also been forwarded to the ministry for further action.

“I want to tell you that we are working on it, and within my purview of the management of this Ministry, the committee report will not be swept under the carpet,” the Minister said. He further stated that the Ministry will indicate if there is any point of disagreement on the national carrier report. ”We will be modest and courteous enough to inform the members of the committee and the public about it,” he said.