Festus Keyamo, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has revealed alarming details of the Nigeria Air agreements signed by his predecessor, Hadi Sirika.
In a viral video, Keyamo dissected the documents, exposing what he described as a lopsided deal with the Ethiopian government that could have handed over control of Nigeria’s national carrier.
Keyamo pointed out that Ethiopian Airlines, the major shareholder, would have gained full priority over Nigeria’s Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) routes, leaving Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem at the mercy of a foreign entity. “We cannot be like Togo,” he stressed.
“A national carrier should serve Nigeria, not foreign interests.” He added that the proposed arrangement would have placed all key management roles in the hands of Ethiopians and exempted the airline from Nigerian taxes.
Keyamo argued that the deal would have stripped Nigeria of foreign direct investment benefits, as the Ethiopian government planned to wet-lease aircraft and repatriate profits to Addis Ababa.
Furthermore, the documents revealed Nigeria would have been the guarantor for any financial losses incurred. “This is not a national carrier; it’s a foreign takeover,” he stated.