Mr President, Your Flame of Renewed Hope Now Smouldering Embers
By Chris Aligbe
On assumption of office in 2023, one of the lingering plights you met was the inhuman, albeit, inhumane treatment of Nigeria Airways retired staff whose severance benefits and entitlements were still not fully paid. Your Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, who came in towards the third quarter of same year picked up the gauntlet. By 2025, he had done virtually everything ministerially possible to push for the payment which you eventually approved almost nine months ago.
Mr President, your approval was for us “Hope Renewed.” Today, the flame of that hope is now smoldering embers. For the avoidance of doubt, you are not in any way responsible for the despicable ill-treatment of the retirerees. The Saga started in 2001 when Dr Kema Chikwe, the then Minister of Aviation Under President Olusegun Obasanjo empanelled the “Aboki Zawa Committee” with the charge to rationalize Nigeria Airways staff. “Rationalize”, “Restructure”, “Right size” those days were euphemisms used by Ministers to sack staff. Though Aboki Zawa, then a Director in the Ministry of Aviation, having identified close to over a thousand staff to be relieved, strongly recommended that no staff should be retired without his or her benefits paid. But the Minister ignored this aspect of the Committee’s recommendations. She proceeded to retire a crop of world class pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers and flight engineers as well as other seasoned professionals without a dime of their earned terminal benefits let alone pension. This was a prelude to the President’s tsunami which came in 2003.
At the Valedictory Federal Executive Council – FEC meeting that marked the end of Obasanjo’s first tenure, the then Minister of Aviation, Dr Chikwe presented two memos. One was for the liquidation of Nigeria Airways while the other was for the floatation of “Nigeria Global” a supposed replacement of the erstwhile National Carrier. While the first was approved by the FEC, the second was rejected. With the approval, President Obasanjo directed the liquidation in spite of the strong advice of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), that the assets of Nigeria Airways, (which was about four times its liability), were enough to refloat a new National Airline.
The assets identified were; the outstanding world class Pilots, Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Engineers as well as other highly trained professional staff of Nigeria Airways and the vast landed properties in Nigeria (Half of GRA Ikeja), West Africa, London, New York, Nairobi, Jeddah and a Villa in Rome. The last of the assets was the airline route networks.
All the landed assets including the Airline’s Maintenance Hangar, Headquarters and OBI VILLAGE, were disposed of by the President’s appointed liquidator, Babington Ashaye of Memories of Pain. If these were brazen and despicable, what was more shocking and inhuman was that in his decision to liquidate, the then President ensured that the over 4000 staff of the erstwhile National Carrier were not paid any terminal benefits let alone their severance entitlements valued at N76bn.
In line with the President’s disposition, all his Ministers, Aviation and Finance never bothered about the plights of then over 4000 staff affected by his ill-advised liquidation. So, the staff waited as it were for Samuel Beckett’s Godot. So, from Kema Chikwe, through Isa Yuguda, Prof Babalola Borishade and Femi Fani-Kayode, all Aviation Ministers, none raised a voice in sympathy. So also Finance Ministers from, Adamu Ciroma, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala through Nenadi Usman, they didn’t seem to or did not care a hoot.
Some respite came during the short-lived presidential tenure of humane Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of blessed memory who approved and effected 5-year terminal benefits only. The entire benefits was calculated for 15 years while all our colleagues in our offices overseas were paid for 25 years promptly in accordance with law of the countries and as recommended by the International Labour Organization (ILO). President Goodluck Jonathan who succeeded Yar’Adua seemed to have admired Obasanjo’s treatment of the retirerees of the liquidated national carrier as he did absolutely nothing about their plight. So also did his Ministers of Aviation; Princess Stella Oduah, Samuel Ortom and Osita Chidoka as well as his Finance Ministers Mansur Mukhtar, Olusegun Aganga, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. A great relief came under late President Muhammadu Buhari who expressed concern over the ill advised liquidation of Nigeria Airways during his campaign. Apart from his determination to refloat a national airline, he drove his commitment to redressing the plight of the retired staff to a conclusive end when he approved the payment of their entitlements valued at N76 billion. While the then Aviation Minister, Senator Hadi Sirika, got all papers and documentation ready, the sitting Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, not only sat on the approval but subjected the retirerees to unspeakable ignominy and humiliation whenever they sought her attention or engaged in protest on the issue. It was Zainab Ahmed who replaced her that effected part of the payment as was recommended by the Civil Servants in the Ministry of Finance including PICA. The problem of the balance of N36bn lingered on.
When President Bola Tinubu came as President in 2023, the push for the final payment of the balance valued at N36bn came up again. The President, without much ado in June 2025, approved the final settlement. The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, communicated the approval to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo. Keyamo did not waste time in putting together the details demanded by the Finance Minister. By August 2025, Keyamo had reverted to Wale Edun. Since then, the file has remained unattended to by the powers that be in the Finance Ministry. Everyday, it is a new story. Today, it is the Finance Minister, tomorrow it is the Minister of State, the Accountant General or the Permanent Secretary and PICA.
Mr President even when no visible conscientious effort is being made, the Ministry has been tinkering with various, if ever, ideas of payment, an approach without any justification. The Finance Ministry wittingly or unwittingly has engaged in the extension of the human tragedy that has claimed the lives of over 600 retirees and rendered families unstable with children dropping out of schools. Since your approval, to date, close to 15 ex-staff have died while some are in hospitals unable to pay for their treatment. The deaths include Captain Wekpe, C.A.T Agubama, Engr Anene, Alh. Yahaya. These are in addition to the many who died over the years, which include Captains Azike, Akinyosade, Tito Omaghomi, Shewu, Okiwelu, Akpan, Orimolade, Engr (Mrs) Wright and many professionals like Oba Femi Ogunleye, Kiki Joseph Fombo, Fatima Garbati, Ayi Idoko, Zaka, Rihmdams, Ejembi, Miko Musa, Alex Ode, Musawa, Safiyanu, Elder Kila, Nzene and Engr. Lookman Animashaun, to mention but a few.
Thanks to God many of us are still alive with the age range running from 60 to 101 years never minding the fact that some are on wheel chairs or bedridden. Leading the pack of the living are Capts. Bob Hayes (now 91, the first black African Pilot to land an aircraft in the US), Dele Ore, Jonathan Ibrahim, Alwell Brown, Unuarhumi, Ogisi, Adeola, Sunny Odidison, Engineers Ayo Lawal, Chris Kwasau, Jibodu and Ojo, Flight Engrs. Adegoke and Iyoha. Others include HRH Jonathan Jiya, Alh Abdulsalaam, Andrew Oddiri, Bose Oluwo, Ngozi Iloabachie, Olu Owolabi, BSC Anugwom, Alh. Sayi, Claire Chizea, Bello Salihu, Tessy Ashiru, Obi Aseme, Munir Bankole, Ukaonu (101 years), Mahonwu, Andrew Okunuga, Jim Airewell and Thomas Olora as well as Rosemary Ebuwa, Sidi Akharume, Rose Nzenwa and Alex Ebeh.
Mr. President, these are those who paid their dues from 1962 through 1986 when Nigeria Airways was a full parastatal and to 2003 when it was liquidated. These, along with those that died connected peoples of Nigeria linking Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Yola, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Jos, Makurdi, Abuja, Ibadan, Ilorin, Benin, Enugu, Calabar and Port Harcourt. Also, in keeping with the socio-political motive of its founding fathers which was to announce to the world the birth of a new nation called Nigeria as well as serve as an instrument of foreign policy, these staff both living and dead ensured that the new Nigerian nation was announced to the world as the airline flew and connected Nigerians to London, Rome, Amsterdam, New York, Jeddah, Dubai, Karachi. It also covered; Nairobi, Libreville, Malabo, Douala, Lome, Accra, Abidjan, Freetown, Monrovia, Banjul and Dakar. No airline or group of airlines in our country has reached such coverage in the last forty-one years of the entry of private airlines in the sector.
Nigeria Airways flew sorties to Central and Southern Africa to help implement the foreign policy thrust of Nigeria which had “Africa as Centerpiece” of its foreign policy. This was during the struggle for the liberation of Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Apartheid South Africa under the Murtala/Obasanjo military governments. The national carrier also flew Nigerian Sports men and women to Auckland, and London for Commonwealth Games and the USA for World Cup as well as rescue and pilgrimage missions to Israel and other destinations.
Dear President, these are the staff whose earned benefits are being withheld and toyed with in the Finance Ministry in blatant disregard of your approval given almost 9 months ago.
Please Dear President, rekindle and reflame the smoldering embers of Hope you gave the retirees nine months ago, and bring to an end this 25 years ordeal which started in 2001 till date.
My consolation, however, is that as one homilist said, that on our way to God’s seat of judgment all that we did will be our guard of honour. If so, then our colleagues who died would mount the guard of honour for those who held back their entitlement.
*Chris Aligbe, a Nigeria Airways Retireree, is an Aviation Consultant
