The ebullient Aviation MinisterPrincess Stella Oduahhas finallybowed to the pressure of the hangman.Nobody doubted her intention to bring fresh initiatives as well as give the Nigerian aviation sector the eroded self belief and the much needed transformation but in the end she became a victim of circumstance cumulative to herself destruct.
J.PaulGetty the then oil magnate, once said were the world’s riches to be gathered together, shared and then redistributed to everyone equally, the sharp gap between the rich and the poor will reappear within 5 minutes. Why? Because within 5 minutes, some would have lost theirs, some would have had theirs stolen, some would have gambled theirs away in exchange for something else they value more than riches, some would have given theirs away, and some would have hidden theirs and pretended to be poor again…… an all things consider; our ex-aviation minister sure belong to one of this unassuming groups.Since all the men and women are merely players: they all have their exits and their entrances;and one man in his time plays many parts say Shakespeare.While wishing her the very best in her new endeavor, Mr. President, Dr.Goodluck Jonathan must not let our aviation sector return to status quo pre Oduah.
If we canrecall Princess Stella Oduahwas deployed as Minister of Aviation on July 4th 2011, an aviation neophyte, she got her act together quickly, learned fast and she immediately hit the ground running and her performance has been visible with remarkable infrastructural changes in all our airports, though, those who seemed to have benefited from previous rots in the airports have kicked against her policies. Indeed, Princess Stella Oduah recorded some remarkable achievements.It is believed that some of these achievements recorded were products of her initiative the“Aviation Sector Master Plan”, otherwise known as the Aviation Roadmap, (a talking point on her road show); which cumulatively represents the President’s proactive agenda in the aviation sector.
The Airport Remodeling Project that has structurally transformed many of our airport terminals across the country, which has givenLagos, Port-Harcourt, Kano, Abuja and Enugu airports respectively a fresh look hatched by an MOU betweengovernments of Nigeria and China. Commendably, the Nigerian most notable gateway airport’s ‘E’ and ‘D’ fingers of the MurtalaMuhammed International Airport have been expanded extensively and put to use, with a full complement of facilities as conveyor belts, security screening machines, immigration counters and transit lounges, which are at various stages of completion.
Furthermore, in her watch,AkanuIbiam International AirportEnugu, was opened on August 24, 2013 for international flights from the South East geopolitical zone of the country since independence, while our many dormant BASA agreements were reactivated most especially that of the State of Israel. The concept of“Aerotropolis”;theairport cities,and perishable cargo export is a highly applauded project because of the positive impact it will bring to our economy if it becomes fully operational. A number of other proactive policies were also initiated to her credit, which includes the removal of import duties on aircraft spares and many more.
Whoever the President appoints asthe New Aviation Minister must be a person who understands or can learn quickly the aviation jigsaw, arguably, given the complexity of the aviationbusiness. He or she must be bold and fearless because of the greater demands placed on this office. Today, the world seems particularly a hostile place for legacy aviation professionals and their workforces, under siege from all directions.
The New Aviation Minister must immediately take up the gauntlet to make sure there is continuity and not allowing a lull in the current synergy. This can be done by assembling very knowledgeable aviation professionals on merit as aids with less emphasis on their political leaning to advised and inform the new minister of what is needed as priority and urgent according to the best global practices. There must be continuity in the infrastructural development beyond what PrincessOduah left, while making training a deliberate and essentialindulgence for all the key sectors and many others in the chain, so the skies wouldn’t be deadly battlegrounds for accidents waiting to happen.
The Ministershould consider introducing aviation education in our polytechnics or universities so we can produce manpower in all other areas such as managing business in aviation, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, etc, other than just flying or fixing airplanes, and this will certainly reduce the openings in the managerial space currently occupied by non Nigerians.Another area of caution for the new minister is to have a firsthand information on the competitive pressures on airlines who are his/her primary constituents have increased, growth slowed and restructuring and cost reduction became the norm, so the choice between confrontation or consensus seeking became more stark and will surely define his or her tenure.
Hopefully, Nigeria aviation history will be fair to Princess StellaOduah, and all the negatives and positives accrued to her willbe determined and seen through the actions and performance of her successor because Nigerians can be somewhat easily be nostalgic requiring a visible difference immediately.
