The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has expressed his commitment to ensuring the Fly Nigeria Act becomes law during his tenure. He highlighted that despite the proposal’s inception over 15 years ago, it has yet to materialize.
Keyamo made these remarks at a one-day “Stakeholders’ Engagement on the Legal Framework for the Fly Nigeria Bill and Related Enabling Legislation” held in Abuja.
He noted the importance of the Fly Nigeria Act, which would require government-funded air travel for officials, contractors, grantees, and government properties to be exclusively handled by Nigerian flag carriers.
He acknowledged that although the bill had been in the pipeline for more than 15 years, it had not been passed under previous administrations. Under his leadership, Keyamo vowed to ensure its passage.
The minister emphasized his goal of addressing long-standing issues in the aviation sector, stating, “We just want to get things done. And so, when I came to the office, I saw a couple of these things hanging on my desk, like the Cape Town Convention, to the cry of the Aviation Working Group, and all the proposals that have been made to former governments to develop especially indigenous industry, a local industry.”
He continued, “One of them, of course, is the Fly Nigeria Act. Luckily Olisa Agbakoba was also talking to me about it. He had brought a proposal.”
Keyamo also touched on the broader issues affecting African aviation, particularly the dominance of foreign airlines.
“It’s a global conspiracy, but you have to be smart to see it. Look at the entire African continent. Just look at it. All the foreign airlines in the world feed on the African markets without competition from African airlines, without fair competition from African airlines. And they will ensure that this aviation market in Africa remains taunted. Especially in a big country like Nigeria, they will ensure that it remains taunted so that they will continue to feed on your markets.”
Additionally, he pointed out that while foreign airlines benefit from the Nigerian market, local airlines are left struggling. “Air France is coming here full, going back full,” he added.
During the event, Allen Onyema, the Vice President of the Airline Operators of Nigeria and Chairman of Air Peace, alongside Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, the spokesperson of the association, praised Keyamo’s efforts, calling the move a significant step forward for the country’s aviation industry and domestic airlines.
Keyamo emphasized the need for swift action on the bill. “We’ll set up a technical session. We have a pre-draft resolution here.
“The National Assembly members are waiting for the bill to get there. The senators are just waiting. It’s for us to set up a technical committee. We agreed in principle that this is good for us, good for aviation, you know, local operators especially.”
