Experts in the aviation sector have proffered solutions to the diverse challenges facing the ailing sector. Some of them, who spoke with The Point in separate interviews, charged the government to revisit the campaign for the re-establishment of a national carrier for Nigeria.
According to them, a national carrier, as far as the country is concerned, is inevitable for Nigeria, the most populous black nation. An expert, Dr. Jobi Banjo, explained that government should emulate other developing nations and ensure that the country has its own national carrier, flying its flag.
According to him, it is a sad story that the national carrier became extinct due to some government policies and it could not do anything about it.
“The national carrier, when put in place, should not be fully dependent on government, and should not be owned 100 per cent by the government. There should be private-public-partnership in the national carrier.
Let it be run like a business and not like government organisations, where government can control the Chief Executive Officer and directors. If you run it as a business concern, put qualified people in strategic positions, it would compete with its counterparts within and outside Africa,” he said.
To consolidate the businesses of travel agencies and for improved performances, another expert, Mr. Muyiwa Keji, called for the merger of the aviation companies across the country.
According to him, merger and consolidation is good for the industry, but companies coming together too must have the same orientation and belief. “It is for them to improve their performances and take their businesses to another level.
If some of them merge, pull their resources together, they can take the travel business from the level we are now to the next level and they would even be able to negotiate more with their clients, especially airlines,” he stated.
