Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has responded to the statement by the former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, who condemned the return of Emirates Airlines to Nigeria after two years hiatus.
In condemning the return of the airline to Nigeria, Chidoka chided the federal government for showing so much excitement that the airline would be resuming flights to Nigeria by October 1, as it announced.
Chidoka said: “The gleeful announcement of the return of Emirates Airline to Nigeria by the Hon. Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, on X is a sad reminder of the deepening lack of national pride and the growing irrelevance of Nigeria in the World.”
He also wrote: “The audacity of Emirates Airlines to even consider returning to Nigeria reeks of contempt and disdain towards our nation. The actions of the government of UAE and their airline, Emirates, from the unwarranted visa ban on all Nigerians to the suspension of flights, have been nothing short of a blatant attack on the dignity of Nigerians.”
Responding via his verified X handle, Keyamo said: “Thank you, @osita_chidoka for your opinion. However, to demonstrate your patriotism, sincerity and fidelity to the touted ‘Nigerian Pride’, the big puzzle is, why did you fail to similarly advise your boss, principal and mentor Atiku Abubakar @atiku to immediately relocate from Dubai to Nigeria and sell off all his assets there in protest when the ban on visa and flights were announced? Hypocrisy has never been this audacious.
“Again, it is curious that, as a member of the think-tank of the PDP, your election strategy at a time (popularly dubbed ‘the Dubai Strategy’) was hatched in the same Dubai and not in Nigeria before the ban was announced. Why export a purely Nigerian project to Dubai if you loved Nigeria so much?
“For the avoidance of doubt, this government is focused on fostering healthy relationships with major partners around the world for the ultimate benefits of Nigerians. Considering the huge investments and interests of Nigerians in the UAE, should we continue to engage in ‘Bolekaja’ (motor park) diplomacy capable of hurting the interests of Nigerians? Will the imminent return of Emirates to Nigeria and in reciprocal manner, Air Peace returning to operating that route, not lead to better competition which will ultimately crash the present high fares on that route? Who will benefit more? How many Emiratis visit Nigeria and invest here as much as Nigerians visit the UAE and invest there? Have you bothered to ask about the lifting of the visa ban before issuing your warped statement? For your information, that has been resolved too and the announcement is imminent.”
