The chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, has denounced the harsh operating environment in Nigeria saying it stunts growth of local businesses.
He stated this in an address he delivered at the annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) held in Abuja.
He said the absence of a maintenance repair oganisation facility in Nigeria has contributed to capital flight to the extent that the airline spent N78 billion to maintain its aircraft in overseas facilities in 2022.
“Do you know the amount this country spends on aircraft maintenance through its airlines? Air Peace alone in 2022, expended N78 billion on maintenance and these funds went to foreign countries. How can local investments grow like this?”
He related how he applied to run a maintenance hangar in 2015 after paying over N100 million to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to lease land at the Lagos Airport.
However, he said the airline was yet to get the land, eight years after.
“We are yet to get that land. We are the largest carrier in West and Central Africa and the fastest growing airline in Africa. Yet we do not have a maintenance hangar. Not because we do not have funds to build one. If we had been given the land to build the hangar, by now Nigeria will have an MRO (maintenance repair organisation) they will be proud of and this will attract foreign investments because other countries will come here to maintain their aircraft,” he said.
The airline chief said the ease of doing business in Nigeria is low as local investors face a lot of statutory bottlenecks which stifle their growth.
“We are not serious in this country about encouraging indigenous investments. How do you grow your economy when local investors are being treated with levity and envy by their own ministers? How do you grow your economy when indigenous investments are overtaxed? These same investors are providing jobs for the populace. How do you grow your economy when people in government see you as an enemy, a rival, because they are beclouded by whatever sentiments they believe in, thereby making business difficult.”
He said the airline has about $14 million trapped in the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) as well as 15 aircraft stranded abroad.
He renounced the claim that Nigerian airlines lack capacity. “They do not lack capacity; what they lack is truthful government support and ease of doing business,” he added
