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COLLAPSE OF RITETIME-WORLD AIRWAYS DEAL:
A FALL-OUT OF THE MANY POLITICS CRIPPLING THE NIGERIAN AVIATION SECTOR

or any traveler, a direct flight from a US city to Lagos or Abuja is obviously the best choice, other than a merry-go-round trip through London, Amsterdam or Frankfurt, coupled with the usual boring long hours of stopover. Today, the idea of flying directly from the US to Nigeria or from Nigeria to the US is fast becoming a nightmare owing to various man-made avoidable factors, but is this trend going to continue unabated while numerous air travelers suffer for the inept managerial failure of others?

Joshua saved enough over the years to fulfill one of the cardinal points of manhood, he was ready to travel home to marry the woman of his choice and about four months before the trip, he wisely booked a seat on one of the World Airways NY-LOS flights scheduled towards the end of December 2003. He made it to Lagos, Nigeria and also had successful marriage ceremonies, despite little hiccups occasioned by scarcity of petroleum products, especially premium motor spirit, popularly known as petrol.

Towards the end of his vacation by mid-January, 2004, Joshua's attention had already shifted back to his return trip to base in Maryland, US; of course, he had a return ticket, so there was no cause for any anxiety, but that aura of confidence soon vanished as the news was all over the airwaves that World Airways was having some problems. Despite all the noise about the Federal Government's intervention, Joshua managed to make it back to base, just early enough to keep his job, but not without paying one hundred and thirty-nine thousand naira to book a one-way ticket through KLM. According to this traveler, it was a tug of war to secure the KLM ticket because of a combination of the usual Nigerian factors (you know what I mean) Added to this was the ever corrupt nature of the customs, immigration and even the airline officials who were all so desperate to siphon anything from him, thereby making airport formalities unnecessarily cumbersome. While bitterly narrating his experience, this traveler was just short of saying "bye-bye to Nigeria." He's already talking to his Attorney.

The story of Ritetime Aviation Services/World Airways is not too different from what air travelers experienced with Nigeria Airways in November/December 2002 and January/February 2003 when its deal with Air Atlanta collapsed. Most of the passengers then couldn't retrieve their luggage until a few days before the end of their vacation in Nigeria and so many also spent several nights sleeping at the airport while the ailing national carrier couldn't fly its passengers back to the US due to contractual disagreements with its partners.

As it is now, disappointment of air travelers is fast becoming an annual event on that route and this has become a great source of worries not just to passengers but other stakeholders in the aviation sector. Apart from the fact that this route is very lucrative for operators, it's also the toast of passengers, most of whom want to spend less time in the air and also avoid long waiting hours to connect flights in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt or other cities.

As a nation, when we encounter problems in any sector of the economy, then it's appropriate that we look back and retrace our steps. In 2001, Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL) partnered South Africa Airways (SAA) in joint venture to run the Lagos-New York route, I remember that the inaugural flight was celebrated with fanfare at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel with lots to eat and drink while juju music maestro, King Sunny Ade was on bandstand as the selected passengers virtually danced their way to the airport. But that deal barely lasted a year before South Africa Airways walked out on Nigeria Airways midway into the venture, claiming that it wasn't paying off. Nigeria Airways gallantly rose up to the challenge by leasing two aircrafts from Air Atlanta and direct flight on that route resumed again.

After the exit of SAA, this face saving arrangement also collapsed as NAL couldn't fulfill payments for the lease of the aircrafts, hence passengers were again at the receiving end as hundreds of passengers were stranded in Lagos and New York, while Dr. (Mrs.) Kema Chikwe, the erstwhile Minister of Aviation was able to remedy the situation in Lagos as some of the travelers were flown back to the US on Virgin Atlantic airline while others who couldn't withstand the stress actually bought fresh tickets.

For Chikwe, the collapse of the NAL-SAA deal was a relief, and in fact, she described it as "good riddance to bad rubbish", even though she was obviously committed to opening up the LOS-NY route, SAA was never her preference for the joint venture, she had better consideration for a US based airline. Chikwe had no choice, she was arm-twisted, she had to bow to superior powers, but it was glaring that she probably identified some loopholes in the deal. Of course, Nigeria Aiways was half dead at that time with only two ageing aircrafts flying the domestic route and SAA with almost forty functional air planes entered into the deal to provide equipment while both airlines shared seats on the frequencies. Whether right or wrong, every other arrangements favored by Chikwe to salvage NAL were either described as non transparent or personalized, so the Airwing-Aerospace and the subsequent Airbus/Triaton AG of Switzerland deals she proposed in that respect never saw the light of the day due to political power play from the presidency, national assembly and the bureau of public enterprises.

After the Executive Aviation Services (EAS) BAC 1-11 500 May, 4, 2002 plane crash in Kano which claimed the life of, Engineer Ishaya Mark Aku, the then Minister of Sports and one hundred and forty-eight others, Chikwe expressly secured the approval of the presidency banning the operation of BAC 1-11aircrafts, mostly manufactured in the early 70s and 80s, but that policy did not succeed because most of the nation's domestic airlines operate such airplanes that are already over, twenty-five years old and for those concerned, Chikwe was only ranting, since they were determined to frustrate an enforcement of the policy which affected highly connected airline owners such as Chanchangi, Marwa and the rest of them.

As passengers continue to clamour for the operation of direct flights between the US and Nigeria, the Ritetime-World Airways deal surfaced in the usual fashion, lots and lots of lobbying and power play were also involved, mention it, the Ambassador Andrew Young connection from the World Airways end; he flew on the maiden flight to attend President Obasanjo's second term inauguration. Also, President Obasanjo's eldest son, Gbenga is also being fingered as being part of the deal and we also know of Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi. Dr. Peter Obafemi was the arrowhead, any other person may be connected, it's not a sin to do business, but the truth is that Chikwe again found herself in the foggy atmosphere of political power play. She was somewhat reluctant to approve the deal, in fact the imminent approval of the Ritetime-World Airways venture and the Meteorological Agency were the last she announced to Journalists, a day prior to her handing over as the out-going Aviation Minister.

Chikwe announced to the audience that she sent the memo for the approval of the two proposals to President Obasanjo on that day and she believed they would be approved. When asked about why there was a delay in approving the Ritetime-World Airways deal, she explained that a lot of "political" considerations accompany government's decision on issues like that. Some stakeholders in the Nigerian aviation sector believe that although the LOS-NY route was wasting away and really up for grabs, but Chikwe never saw any prospect in the pending Ritetime-World Airways deal, even if she probably had no doubts about the over fifty years credibility of World Airways itself. Chikwe was famous for always finding herself in the center of the nation's political storm, when it comes to policy making. Popularly known as the "Margaret Thatcher" of the aviation industry, she towered above other ministers in media performance assessment because of her success with reforms such as ridding the airports of touts.

However, she had no choice other than to yield to pressure from powerful fronts seeking an approval for the Ritetime-World Airways proposal, especially at a time when most of the incumbent ministers were already fasting and praying to be returned for the second term. Despite all her last minute niceties, Chikwe never made it back as a minister and most of her reformist policies are promptly being upturned. While in office, she was instrumental to the sacking of the young billionaire, Rochas Okorocha from the board chairmanship of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). Rochas was alleged to have inflated a contract for acquisition of some radar equipment for NAMA and this was widely publicized. She relieved Jonathan Jiya of his job as the Managing Director of Nigeria Airways, over allegations of fraudulent practices regarding the handling of some of the airline's financial transactions.

Certainly, Chikwe did not sack both Rochas and Jiya without due approvals from the powers that be, but as at today, Jiya is back to co-ordinate the transformation of Nigeria Airways to Nigerian Eagle and Rochas is now a right hand man of Obasanjo as Special Adviser. With this double standard by the presidency, a lot may continue to go wrong in the nation's aviation sector, especially now that the same South African Airline has been chosen to serve as the technical investor with thirty percent share in the Nigerian Eagle deal.

In as much as this is not a PR effort for Chikwe, government automatically owe the Nigerian people some explanation on why most of her major decisions are being reversed so early and by the same Obasanjo administration which she served. Were those decisions taken fraudulently? Did she actually mislead Obasanjo as the National Assembly alleged in some circumstances? Whose interest was Chikwe representing? And was there ever any consideration for national interest? Since our leaders appear to be moving back and forth, by juggling decision-making in the aviation sector to satisfy their whims and caprices politically, then, there's the paramount need to resolve those puzzles in order to identify those who are actually pulling the nation backwards.

For instance, the choice of SAA for the Nigeria Eagle deal is attracting so much criticisms from stakeholders in the nation's aviation sector and that is justifiable because that same airline had earlier ditched NAL midway into a deal, so, how are we sure that the Nigerian Eagle won't suffer the same fate? Even though there will be a core investor in the deal and a percentage of the shares would be sold to the public, but the appointment of SAA as the technical investor casts so much doubts on the sanctity of the venture, considering antecedents of the recent past.

Basically, the Nigerian Eagle is obviously the next plausible hope of passengers seeking direct flight to and from the US, but the foundation of its birth appears shaky already, even though it's expected to commence operation next quarter. And in as much as very sensitive issues such as management of air travel continue to suffer under the influence of politics and other mundane considerations, then passengers would unfairly remain at the receiving end by paying dearly for the anomalies perpetrated by others.

Developments in the Nigerian aviation sector have always fallen victim of overbearing political influences and this account for the rapidity of failures usually experienced in policy execution. The full utilization of the open-air agreement between Nigeria and the US has remained almost non-existent simply because of a faulty decision making process. Also, numerous attempts to revamp Nigeria Airways have continued to hit the rock, basically because of conflicting interests who are always determined to pursue their various agenda.

In accordance with the liberalization policy of the Obasanjo administration, the aviation axis has been opened up to accommodate more players, especially local and international airlines and this is highly commendable, but when political considerations overshadow all other interests in determining participants, failures and disappointments would continue to be the reward. Nigerians were reported to have transferred over twenty-two billion naira home through the Western Union last year, this no doubt a blessing to the economy, but for whatever reason, the collapse of the Ritetime-World Airways deal, especially with the harrowing experience suffered by passengers is enough to influence a negative attitude towards their fatherland.

As the presidency okays regional and international routes for domestic airlines, the incongruities which bedeviled the success of NAL-SAA and Ritetime-World Airways joint venture on the Lagos-New York/Atlanta routes should be reviewed all over again, so that the latest move towards consolidating the liberalization of air travel wouldn't suffer another setback.

The Ministry of Aviation should soft pedal with its undue interference in the operations of its parastatals, most especially, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA.) As the referee of the aviation sector, NCAA should always be allowed to screen and determine the competence of organizations or airlines as they step forward to benefit from the ongoing liberalization in the aviation sector. As Chikwe used to say, the business of suspending about four hundred lives in the sky, is a serious one, of which every aspect must be handled with all sincerity of purpose, I don't agree less!