Allen Onyeama, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air Peace on Thursday faulted the push for a national carrier, Nigeria Air, describing the idea as moribund and a drain pipe.

New Telegraph recalls that at the tail end of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, Nigeria Air was launched by the Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport premises in Abuja on Friday, May 26.

But steeped in controversy, the national carrier was suspended by President Bola Tinubu about two months after its inauguration as the 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Onyeama insists the country does not need a national carrier owing to the difficulties of running such a business.

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Speaking on the programme, the Air Peace boss said, “Does Nigeria actually need a national carrier? It’s an emphatic no.”

“The national carrier thing connotes government ownership. The government has no business doing the business of commercial airline operations. The national carrier thing is a moribund idea that has been jettisoned several decades ago by countries,” the Air Peace chief said on the current affairs show.

According to him, several airlines that bear country names are just “flag carriers” and not owned by nations as many may have assumed.

“In the olden days, they used to be [owned by governments] but they are all divested. They are all flag carriers,” Onyema said about national carriers, asking: “Why is my country going backwards? In 2023, talking about national carrier?”

He believes the few African countries with national carriers are those “that cannot afford business entrepreneurs with the right funding”.

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