Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah,? on assumption of office promised to make air travel the preferred mode of transportation in Nigeria. In this exclusive interview with Nkechi Isaac, she speaks on measures put in place to sanitize the industry as well as make air travel safe and affordable.
Aviation fuel is scarce, and where it is available it’s either adulterated or exorbitant. How is your ministry tackling this issue?
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First of all, there’s no established case of adulterated aviation fuel. That will be suicidal, so I don’t think it exists and I pray it doesn’t exist and may God not allow it to exist.
We inherited aviation issue with regards to fuel.? The thing is not about scarcity as much as the distribution channel. What we’ve tried to do in the time frame that we came in is to ensure that we re-channeled the distribution to the extent that you have clarity on when it comes and how it gets to the airport. We have worked closely with ministry of petroleum and the minister has kindly accepted our programme that guarantees us constant supply of aviation fuel that assures us that aviation fuel is constantly available at a price that is international. For instance, we’re benchmarking it that we do not have aviation fuel higher in Nigeria than it is in Ghana, and we don’t also have it without meeting the international specification of aviation fuel.
So we have worked out a platform and a modality that will drive all these. We will unveil how that works in the next one month.
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There is this perception that airfare in Nigeria is exorbitant. Can it be attributed to the scarcity of aviation fuel or has the pricing system been hi?? jacked by a cartel in the sector?
It’s strictly a commercial decision by operators. First we cannot determine the price for operators; however, we can stop them from taking advantage of passengers and what is required is sustainable policies. What will make an operator have a price increase, we will have variable that will assure us that you can increase you price, you have this in? place, therefore you can be surcharged.
Because we also don’t want the airlines to die, we also do not want passengers to pay more than what they should pay. You have to have a balance between the passenger and the operators – all this, it is a framework and a policy that will drive that. The airline operators are in the business to make money and the passengers will like to travel in an affordable manner. Government interest is to make sure that both survive. So our policy will address both so it will be beneficial to all parties involved.
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Talking about regional imbalance in charges in travelling from Nigeria and other African countries to Europe, what is your position Ma?
Again we don’t like that; it’s an abuse and it’s totally unacceptable. If you recall – we had several confrontations with airlines that were involved in that, namely British Airways and Virgin, the case is still on, we have not put it to closure.
However, there are things we need to do as well to ensure that doesn’t happen; that includes the penalty that we’re going to impose on any airline that gets involved in regional imbalance, and also to know the factors that encourages that – one of which is supposedly the aviation fuel, which we will tackle. We will hedge it against international rate, so we’re using that as a benchmark price.
In summary, regional price imbalance is an illegal act; its offensive and we will not encourage it. We will fight any airline that participates in that. It’s one of the major reasons that we will make sure that our airports are functional and passengers are encouraged to use our airlines and aircraft operators.
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When do you plan to start sanctioning defaulting airlines?
As soon as our issue with British Airways is brought to a conclusion, and I believe that should be by the end of April – definitely before summer flights start. It is a peak period and we want to make sure that the bulk of our people travelling do not fall into that trap of paying what they should not pay.
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You just spoke of making our airports functional and I’m aware that renovation exercises are going on in some airports, can? you give us an update.
The thing about aviation is that it's something we can all monitor. We’ve gone very far. We promised Nigerians that we will give them a new travelling experience and I think we have commenced, in that I don’t want to say we have achieved that, but we’re on our way. The first stage is at about 90 per cent completion; by the second quarter of the year, we would have started the second phase, and by third quarter we would have completed the second phase, which means we’re going to do additional 11, including agro-based airports. That? means that, in all, before the end of this year the 21 airports will be functional, modernized and virtually new.
Our aim is to make sure that travelling by air is the preferred mode of transportation and we’re determined to achieve that.
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Recently you mentioned that the sector will float cargo terminals to promote exportation of agricultural produce, is it in the pipeline now?
It’s presently in the second phase right now. I’m very excited about the project because, very soon, we will have an emergence of a new class of people simply because they have access to international market. And for that fact alone, the crops that will ordinarily perish – the pepper, the onions, vegetable, that will not have the requisite revenue yield, will have huge returns.
Then you’re going to have value chain avenue within that itself: you’re going to create logistic companies, transportation and packaging companies and youths will also be employed. But the wonderful part is that we’ll have practical rural life transformation. Farmers will no longer be common farmers, but entrepreneurs that will farm and get real value for their crops.
If you go to Kenya, as tiny as they are, they dominate food supply in Dubai. As dry as Ethiopia is, they are very significant in the food chain in United Emirates. These people are, maybe, as big as one state in Nigeria or even smaller. You can imagine the dominance Nigeria will have over any continent we decide we’re going to concentrate on, in addition to feeding ourselves.
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What is the significance of a national carrier for Nigeria?
We need a national carrier that will represent who we are, that will portray us in the bright light. It will be owned by Nigerians and managed by Nigerians for Nigerians, on a commercial basis – no government involvement at all, and many companies and individuals have indicated interest in this venture.
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As the helmsman of the aviation sector, how safe is the Nigerian airspace and the aircraft we have on ground?
Our airspace is extremely safe. Our equipment is in order and well maintained. We have very skilled men and women ensuring that it is the way it is today.
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Many Nigerians are under the impression that we buy abandoned and outdated craft and refurbish for use in the country; what is your take on this?
That’s not a fair comment at all; we need to stop beating ourselves really. Our aircraft are safe, however we don’t have sufficient. We need to have more aircraft. It’s a lucrative business and we would like to encourage Nigerians to invest in aviation. The airline owners also need to be encouraged to buy some more but, of course, they need long term loan to be able to do that, and that is not currently available. We’re going to talk to Central Bank of Nigeria; we’re already talking to see how they can make it possible. Investors need long term loan with single digit interest rate to be able to acquire more aircraft.
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