Omonu Nelson, Abuja
The minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika has revealed that the President Muhammadu Buhari led governmemt has successfully laid to rest, the phenomenon of ‘Bribe for License’ in the nation’s aviation sector, even as he assured that despite the push and pull, the proposed Nigeria Air will fly before May 29, when the administration is expected to come to an end.
He stated this in Abuja, on Thursday, March 23, during Aviation Stakeholders Forum 2023.
Sirika challenged stakeholders to check the way things were done by the governmemts before the current administration and see.
“The new order is that, I don’t need to meet the stakeholder concerned before a license is granted, as long as all prerequisite conditions are met. This is a radical departure from the way things were done before we came in.”
Answering questions on how this new trend of zero bribe for License can survive this administration, the minister noted that the best way to achieve this is by institutionalising best practices in service delivery, which the current administration is already doing.
“We are confident that the succeeding governmemt will sustain the current reforms because it is an APC governmemt. However, even if they choosed to go the other way, that’s the more reason why institutionalisation is key.
Hadi further clarified that inspite of the relentless court case, the Buhari led governmemt will keep it’s promise of getting the National Carrier, Nigeria Air, in the sky before May 29, 2023.
He said despite the angst of the indigenous airlines operators, that went to court to stop the process, governmemt is putting every measure in place to surmount the hurdles.
The minister described as unfair the action of the local airlines, adding that the Buhari government had supported local airlines more than all previous governments.
He accused them of constituting a stumbling block to the actualisation of the national carrier which will impact new jobs and better opportunities in the industry.
He said the Nigerian Aviation industry is the only one in the world where qualified pilots are without jobs.
He said 50 pilots had come to him complaining about their unemployment status, adding that the national carrier should be able to employ more pilots and create other job opportunities.
He said Ethiopian Airlines, the offered bidder for the national carrier is highly competent, and profitable enough to add value to the Nigerian aviation sector.