“It is the buyer’s fault if he fails to ask if the horse is blind. — Anon. VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ.
Executive lawlessness is as much a part of the Buhari administration as African time is endemic to Nigeria. When on Friday, March 24, 2023, a newspaper report announced that “FG fixes May for airport concession, Nigeria Air”, what quickly came to my mind was the falsehood published by Garba Shehu about Buhari government’s respect for the rule of law.
This is what Garba sent to the media: “Since the President was sworn into office in 2015, he has never directed anybody to defy court orders, in the strong belief that we can’t practice democracy without the rule of law; and the commitment of his administration to this principle has not changed.”
To say the least, that is drivel – which is now Garba trademark. Notice he did not state that Buhari did not defy court orders because that falsehood would have been easy to debunk. Why is Nnamdi Kanu still in detention after being discharged and acquitted by a competent court?
However, this article is not intended as a rejoinder to Garba. It is designed to warn my Fellow Nigerians about two Federal Government initiatives which could adversely affect those who might not be aware of the trap laid for them by Buhari and the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika. To begin with, the announcement by Sirika, that the FG intends to conclude arrangements for the launching of Nigeria Air and concession of international airports, is itself another example of an administration which serially defies court orders.
To the best of my knowledge, there are at least three law suits in the courts on each of these projects. Each one of these matters is still at the preliminary stage; no judgment has been rendered authorising the FG to proceed with their plans. Yet, the Minister is behaving as if he is the sole owner of the assets; instead of a transient holder of office whose term will soon expire. Because Sirika, imbued with intoxication of power, obviously refuses to listen to reason and start writing his Handing Over Notes, the next best option is to address myself to the likely victims of his rashness. He will not be around to save them.
Among the potential victims of Sirika’s refusal to obey court orders are the following: Ethiopian Airlines, Preferred managers of the airports concessioned, tenants of the airports, pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, baggage handlers, unions, contractors, suppliers, security units, insurance companies, law firms, taxi services, and, most importantly travellers – just to name a few.
Managing an airport is complex business; so is running an airline. Thousands of people are required to commit their lives to working in various positions, places and periods. They need to be sure that they have committed their careers to the right employer; especially if they are being recruited from an existing employer. That is why the warning – Buyer beware! — is important.
Take, for instance, a pilot currently with Air Peace or Ibom Air, who receives a great offer from Nigeria Air and starting on May 15, 2023. He resigns from his current employer; gets set to start flying Nigeria Air. What happens if a court order prevents Nigeria Air from flying for two or more years? The same argument applies to any staff of any operating airline in Nigeria today. Sacrificing your career for an airline that might go nowhere is a serious risk to take. It might amount to committing suicide at a time when job is hard to find. It has happened before.
Berec versus Eveready as case study
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”— GS, 1863-1962, VBQ p 93.
I once had the privilege of meeting James Reston, 1909-1995, perhaps the longest columnist of the New York Times in the Lower East Side Manhattan, New York flat of James Baldwin, 1924-1987, possibly America’s greatest writer (he hated to be called a novelist; because he also wrote plays and poems). By then, Reston had spent more than 25 years as a columnist for the TIMES.I asked him why he stayed for so long because, no Nigerian had been that long writing for a paper. He said “journalists write the early history; historians wait until forty or hundred years before writing their own. But, nations need people to remind them of what happened not too long ago. That is why I am there.”
Something happened in the late 1970s which should caution those who might be tempted to deal with the FG on airport concession and Nigeria Air. The Obasanjo military regime encouraged US-based Eveready Battery to invest in Nigeria’s huge battery market; at a time when BEREC battery was dominant in the market. BEREC was based in Lagos; Eveready had its factory located in Kano. To get experienced Nigerian staff, Eveready raided BEREC and took some of their best staff by paying a lot more – on paper. The sudden influx of Chinese Tiger brand batteries brought an end to the two local manufacturers.
The staff of Eveready worked less than six months before they were all laid off. BEREC took more than three years before folding up. Most of the Eveready Senior staff recruited from Berec were jobless for years.
There is a lesson here for experienced staff of other airlines, who might be tempted with juicy offers from Nigeria Air. You run a great risk if the airline fails to take off; or is grounded after Buhari and Sirika go. Job is hard to get.
Passengers booking online also run a risk if the airline fails to take off. Operating airlines make on refund once they are paid. An airline which does not take off has less incentive to repay – if it is prevented by court order. One defunct Nigerian airline owed me N35,000 before going belly-up. All it takes for you as an intending flyer to lose your hard earned money is an unfavourable court judgment.
Nobody can bet a kobo that it would not happen.
Pray that there is no plane crash; because, if there is, you and the beneficiaries of the mandatory insurance might not be able to receive the claims. Insurance companies expect everyone of us flying to be sure that the airline is qualified to offer services to travellers. It is unclear if Nigeria Air is one of them.
Hadi Sirika, like most lawless Ministers of the Buhari administration operates as if this is a Banana Republic where the Head of State is like Louis XIV, 1638-1715, King of France, who imperiously declared: “I am the state.”
Buhari is the out-going President of Nigeria, who will soon depart. He is subject to the rule of law; just like everybody else. Buhari cannot order any commercial airline to fly or to stop flying unless the instruction is lawful. Some Nigerian courts have ordered the FG to stop its planned actions on airport concession and Nigeria AIR. That is the law. Buhari and Sirika must obey the law in this regards because the law made one of them President and the other Minister.
Nigerians, as well as non-Nigerians must help to uphold the law by having nothing to do with the preferred clients of the FG. Those who ignore this appeal should at least realise that they stand to lose the funds committed to dealing with transient holders of power – whose time is fast running out.
I warned Sirika last year on this page, just as President Jonathan was told that he would have no PIB to sign in 2011, that, unless he puts Nigerian interests first, with those two initiatives, he would have no legacy to his credit as Minister. He will have none now. Nigerians paid for the airports; we should keep them and earn the dollars generated from managing them.
By Dele Sobowale [Lagos, Nigeria]
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