Acute observer of the Nigerian aviation industry will notice how aviation agencies, especially the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) indulge foreign airlines over the years.
Until the appointment of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo and the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, the best avio bridges and counters were always kept for foreign airlines while Nigerian carriers operating international services were directed to park their aircraft remotely at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
There was a time FAAN officials were challenged about that discretion and their excuse then was that the agency generated most of its revenue from foreign carriers. But that dovetails with a behaviour that is often criticised about Nigerians government and its officials. They tend to indulge foreigners too much, especially those from the West.
Recently, a Russian content creator (Farida Mirzebalaeva (@farielysian) observed that Nigerians tend to be hard on their own but too soft to foreigners and noted that it is not bad to be good to foreigners but you have to be better to your own people. When the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) come hard on airlines about consumer protection, they officials seem to direct their angst to domestic airlines but they tend to soft pedal when major foreign carriers like British Airways, Air France, Turkish Airlines, Delta Air Lines and others renege on such matters.
An example will suffice. Last year, British Airways aborted flight to London from Lagos because the operating aircraft suffered damaged engine. The passengers after hours of delay were eventually taken to a hotel. While the passengers were in a hotel for the next two days, the airline operated its subsequent flights as scheduled. Eventually, the airline had to “share” those passengers to other international airlines that took them to London. But in Nigeria, if an airline cancels flight, the following day those passengers in the flight must insist the airline airlift them first; if not, they would cause chaos at the airport. But in this incident involving British Airways, the passengers complied and NCAA kept mum.
Also, last year Qatar Airways dumped some Nigerian passengers, destined to Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, at Lagos airport without proper arrangement to take them to their final destination. They petitioned NCAA and the Ministry of Aviation but their petition was not even acknowledged. The passengers, who were 12 in number, narrated how they boarded Qatar Airways flight from London to Port Harcourt en-route Doha on July 13, 2024, but on arrival to Nigeria, they were routed to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, instead of Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa and after about 9 hours delay and complaints, a scrappy arrangement was done for them to fly to Port Harcourt on domestic flight.
However, it must be acknowledged that since the present management at NCAA took over the agency has been more responsive. One could recall the Nigerian passenger, Gloria Omisore, that was mistreated by Kenya Airways, which later apologised to the agency. The airline failed to take Omisore to her final destination but later was directed by NCAA to do so and it later apologised to the management of the agency.
