₦airaland Forum

The federal government says that Nigeria Air will commence operations with three wet-leased aircraft.

Wet-lease is an arrangement covering the hire of an aircraft, including the provision of a flight crew and sometimes fuel.

On Wednesday, the federal executive council approved April 2022 as the take-off date of the airline.

Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, disclosed this during a press briefing on Thursday in Abuja.

Sirika said leasing would be the arrangement pending when the company ordered new planes.

He added that it would take about three to five years to get an ordered aircraft delivered.

“They will start with wet-leased aircraft and that’s how 90 percent of airlines in the world would have started,” he said.


So they will start with a wet-lease of three aircraft and then continue to expand, place orders and then get deliveries.”

Sirika stressed that the federal government would not manage the carrier, rather investors in the carrier would run the business.

Sirika further announced that from the start of next week, the ministry would send out request for proposals to investors who are keen on owning shares in the proposed national carrier, as talks with prospective investors was ongoing.

“Nigeria Air would be quoted on the stock exchange and Nigerians would be allowed to buy shares in the airline.

“We will release what is called Request for Proposals very soon, I believe next week. And this Request for Proposals will describe what and what we are asking for,” he said.

“You will now go and send us a document that you are proposing to partner us and this is what you are giving us.

“Then we will sit down, evaluate, discuss and choose a strategic partner or partners for this airline.

“So Request for Proposals are going out next week and by the grace of God we will continue to pursue that and people will show up.”

The minister also said that the 46 percent stake that will be owned by Nigerians would be acquired through shares purchase.

“It will be purchased exactly the way you buy shares in every company,” he said.

“This is because Nigeria Air is a limited liability company for now, registered under the law of the land and structured in a public-private partnership (PPP) manner.

“So you purchase it the same way you purchase shares in any company and later it is our hope that it will be listed and go through IPO (Initial Public Offering) and so on.”

He said that the maintenance, repair and overhaul facility for the carrier and others will begin operating next year in Abuja and that 12,000 hectares of land will be used for the facility.

In that 12,000 hectares of land, which all of it is a free zone, there will be the MRO facility, a second runway, new terminal building and various businesses,” he said.

“It is going to be a whole airport city.”

He said the MRO partners had been addressed and that work would start in April 2022 once approved by FEC.

Sirika said that the facility would save Nigeria millions of dollars because of the high cost of flying a plane outside the country for maintenance.

The minister said the cost range was about $250 thousand each, to and fro.

Tilmann Gabriel, the transaction adviser to the government for the national carrier, said efforts were ongoing to ensure that the airlines were certified.

“A lot of work has been done and it did not start today, rather it started three years ago. An Air Operator Certificate (AOC) is to be applied for in the next couple of days from the NCAA, which is the regulatory authority,” he said.

Men of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Fire Service are currently battling to bring under control a fire that engulfed part of the Nyanya market on Tuesday evening.

The fire which was said to have started at about 7.30pm from an unknown source has already claimed several shops before the arrival of the men of FCT fire service.

Eye witnesses told our correspondent that the fire started shortly after most of the traders had closed their shops for the day, adding that the traders were however forced to return to the market to salvage their wares upon hearing the news of the fire outbreak.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (Retd), has said that separatist agitations in some parts of the West African region were gaining global attention due to international sympathy.

Monguno stated this in paper he presented at the Nigeria International Partnership Forum in Paris, France, titled: “Combating Persistent and Emerging Threats to Regional Peace and Security in Africa: Pivotal Role of Nigeria”.

He said most of Nigeria’s contemporary security problems are influenced or heightened by external threat factors in the global environment.

Therefore, “We are also exploring the feasibility of setting up a border security force in the foreseeable future to secure Nigeria’s border areas,” he said.

He added: “The activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Nigeria as well as the activities of Ambazonian separatists in Cameroon have attracted international sympathy mainly from sympathisers in the Diaspora.

“It should however be noted that the Nigerian government has never prevented the freedom of expression or agitation; however, the violent confrontation and engagement of security forces by these groups usually translates into fatalities and other grave consequences.

“While we continue to extend dialogue as the main medium for resolving conflicts in the country, the Nigerian government will continue to discharge its responsibility of ensuring the safety of lives and property against any criminal activity by IPOB or any separatist group.”

He expressed concern that rapid population growth which puts tremendous pressure on states to compete for energy, water and food to support life and economic and societal development; a growing cyber awakening in which perceptions of inequality and other grievances are heightened, leading to social tension and conflicts; a continuation of ideological extremism, driven by religious or ethnic differences; and climate change that could prompt shifts in agricultural patterns and food production are likely to trigger humanitarian crises, if not appropriately addressed.

“All these global security challenges have the potential to undermine national security and by implication national development,” he said.

The NSA said Africa’s porous borders remain a major source of concern as this has aided smuggling of prohibited items and irregular migration as well as other transnational organised crimes.

On present efforts, he said the Nigeria Customs Service has developed the E- Customs strategy while the Nigeria Immigrations Service has equally put in place an Integrated Border Management System (IBMS).

He noted that both strategies place premium on employing technology to complement other existing physical border security arrangements

omowolewa:
Who told you the Rail was built for Economic purpose?

Lavisha:
Why are you this dumb?!

You left the first pic and kept posting the second pic..

Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backwards.

See the first pic of Kanu.

He's hard-on (Erection) simply cos of the lady lawyer.

Conji don finish NK.

Lavisha:
Eh!
Whos "US"?! it's only you who doesn't notice anything cos your head is too big to analyse.

Honestly, you're brains must be full of rocking horse shitt.

Lavisha:
The guy rep a microcosm of the challenges we have in this country.


Many of em just look they don't see..


They want everything to be spoon-feed em, they're too lazy to use their brains.


See the way he quickly brought Tunubu pics?!

dumbfuckkk somebody.

udele1:
This picture even exposes it the more.