Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has called upon former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to take responsibility for the management decisions surrounding the defunct Nigeria Airways during the past administration in which he served.
Keyamo, in a response to Atiku’s post on X, said the airline’s liquidation and the outstanding entitlements of its former workers should form part of any assessment of Nigeria’s aviation sector and the challenges inherited by successive governments.
He recalled that Nigeria Airways was liquidated in September 2004 under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, when Atiku was Vice-President.
The airline’s closure left thousands of workers without jobs, while their pensions and gratuities remained unpaid for years.
Keyamo contrasted the situation with President Bola Tinubu’s approval and release of ₦36 billion for the settlement of outstanding entitlements owed to former Nigeria Airways employees.
According to the minister, beneficiaries have begun receiving payments, offering long-awaited relief to affected workers and their families.
He described the intervention as a concrete step towards resolving an issue that successive administrations had failed to fully address.
Keyamo argued that assessments of Nigeria’s economic and institutional challenges should take into account the decisions of previous administrations, particularly where those decisions had lasting consequences for workers and their families.
He maintained that the Tinubu administration’s intervention should be recognised as part of efforts to settle inherited obligations and restore the dignity of former aviation workers.
The minister reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to improving workers’ welfare, addressing longstanding challenges in the aviation sector and ensuring that outstanding obligations to former aviation employees receive the necessary attention.
What You Should Know
The recent exchange between Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar brings renewed attention to the long-standing grievances of former workers from the defunct Nigeria Airways, which was liquidated in 2004.
Keyamo highlighted the current federal administration’s disbursement of ₦36 billion to clear long-overdue pensions and gratuities for the affected employees, marking a major milestone in resolving decades-old aviation labor issues.
- Positive Impact: Thousands of former Nigeria Airways workers and their families finally receive long-awaited financial relief and settlement of their rightful entitlements after years of waiting.
- Potential Concerns: The political debate highlights historical governance challenges and the lengthy bureaucratic delays that often plague the resolution of former public enterprise worker benefits in Nigeria.
