Did you know that in the past week, the Minister of Aviation 鈥渓aunched鈥 an airline that many Nigerians, including the House of Representatives, have discovered to be nothing more than a scam? I鈥檓 going to give you the full tea on this, and at other times, the government has tried to play a smart one on us.
If you recall, in July 2018, the federal government launched a national airline, Nigerian Air, which was to serve as the second national airline after the collapse of Nigerian Airways in 2003. But unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be audio, as the only thing we saw was the logo of Nigerian Air and random pictures; no one ever saw an actual aircraft.
However, it looked like the wait was finally ending when, on May 27, 2023, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, unveiled a Boeing 737-800 aircraft at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja. He also claimed it鈥檇 begin international and local flight operations before Monday, June 5. On a norms, this would be cause for celebration, but as you very well know, things don鈥檛 work normally here. A few hours later, news reports started pouring in that the unveiled aircraft was already over ten years old and actually belonged to Ethiopia Airlines. The plane was simply painted and presented to Nigerians as an aircraft belonging to Nigeria Air.
A committee of the House of Representatives on Aviation carried out an investigation, revealing that the aircraft was chartered from Ethiopia and landed the day before. So far, the House has declared the entire launch of the national airline a fraud and has begun probing those involved. But like I said, this isn鈥檛 the first time we’ve seen this kind of situation.
In August 2022, the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) management was asked by the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) to account for how 鈧17.158 billion was spent. However, the NSITF couldn鈥檛 give a satisfactory explanation and claimed that the documents containing details of the expenditure were kept by the past management and had been beaten by rain and eaten by termites. And, of course, no one was ever penalised for this.
Do you remember the story of the money-heist snake? In 2018, a sales clerk at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Makurdi, Benue state, couldn鈥檛 account for 鈧36 million made from the sales of JAMB scratch cards. She instead claimed that her household had spiritually stolen the money from JAMB鈥檚 vault with the help of a mysterious snake. At this point, we can say that Nigeria is fighting against power, principalities, and the animal kingdom.
A sad theme around stories like this is that they usually get swept under the rug. Nonetheless, we鈥檙e going to keep an eye out to see how the Nigeria Air story unfolds, and hopefully the perpetrators are justly punished.
What else happened this week?
Edo State Government Adopts Hybrid Work
Many Nigerians haven鈥檛 found adjusting to the recent fuel subsidy removal easy. But, the Edo state government is putting measures in place to make life a little easier for its people.
On June 6, 2023, in a statement, the Special Adviser to the state governor on Media Projects, Obaseki, announced that the government had reduced the number of work days civil and public servants would have to commute to the office to three and encouraged them to work from home twice a week until further notice.聽
He also stated that steps had been taken to increase the state鈥檚 minimum wage from 鈧30,000 to 鈧40,000. Obaseki also announced that efforts were already being taken to improve the power supply to homes and the availability of fibre optic cables to aid remote work and reduce the cost of transportation.
Question of the week
Do you know 鈥渢apping鈥 electricity and metre bypass is a theft that can earn you jail time in Nigeria?
Video of the week
Ehen one more thing鈥
George Akume has been officially sworn in as the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Who is he, and what does his job entail? Find the answer here.聽
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