In the wake of the latest dastardly xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the first batch of Nigerian evacuees arrived Lagos on September 11, 2019, That is, a week or so after native South Africans burnt and looted shops and property belonging to several African immigrants in the country.
Although initially over 600 Nigerians indicated their desire to return home, as a result of the unexpected bottlenecks, deliberately created by South African officials to prevent the evacuation, only 187 caught the first flight to Lagos. According to reports, “the South Africans did not want us to evacuate and pleaded with the Nigerian High Commission not to do it,” but, the consulate responded that “they do not have the power to stop private citizens from expressing their wish to return home.” The contrived bottlenecks, invariably, led to over 15 hours delay.
Another batch of 314 Nigerians arrived in Nigeria on September 18, 2019. However, the number of evacuees may exceed 800 Nigerians citizens, many of whom are stranded at the Oliver Tambo Airport and the Nigerian consulate, in Johannesburg.
Notably, if, per chance, free evacuation was not available, we may wonder what the fate of such hapless Nigerians would be! Indeed, prior to the evacuation, the Nigerian consulate in Johannesburg was already under siege by hundreds of distressed Nigerians. Furthermore, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, and other government officials seemed to be merely huffing and puffing in the unfolding drama of blame trading with various officials of the South African government.
Incidentally, all returnees interviewed in Lagos vowed never to return to South Africa, even when some of their spouses still remained behind to see how things pan out. However, Air Peace’s offer to evacuate these desperate Nigerians for free was probably the silver lining in the xenophobic attacks on the beleaguered Nigerian immigrants. Notably, the usual in-your-face and stupendously wealthy political and opulently successful Nigerian businessmen, most of whom made their wealth from government patronage simply kept mute, while the trauma and inter-governmental acrimony lasted.
Expectedly, the visit by South Africa’s President’s envoy to Abuja did not really help to guarantee the safety of Nigerians and other African immigrants in South Africa. Furthermore, there is still no reported discussion on compensation for those Nigerians who lost property in the wake of the September xenophobic attacks. It is improbable that the South African authorities will ultimately pay any meaningful compensation, especially if Nigeria’s government is not directly involved in determining the value of total loss by the Nigerian victims. The cost incurred by the airline, Air Peace, to evacuate these Nigerians should be factored into the total compensation.
It is indeed distressing that there was no Nigerian national airline that could promptly step in to perform the noble role as Air Peace did in this matter. In retrospect, we recall former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s lamentation, years back that the almost 30 strong Nigeria Airways fleet that were operational in 1979, when he handed over government, as a military ruler, had incredibly all disappeared by the time he returned to power in 1999 as civilian President!
As usual, there has been no serious postmortem of the collapse of the Nigerian Airways, and regrettably, also, no account of the substantial property owned by the Nigerian flag carrier in choice locations, in several cities in West Africa and overseas. Ultimately, foreign airlines have continued to dominate the aviation sub-sector. Worse still, the African Free Trade Agreement, with its open skies policy will, predictably, create serious hurdles that may thwart the growth of indigenous entrepreneurs in Nigeria’s aviation sector.
Furthermore, despite over N50bn reported annual revenue from out-bound passengers from Nigeria’s airports, existing infrastructure and services still remain archaic, and passenger-unfriendly, while the inauguration of the new Murtala Muhammed International Terminal also remains uncertain. Thus, in view of the shambolic state of Nigeria’s aviation subsector, it is a source of pride and relief that we still have a “human saviour,” in the person of Allen Onyema of Air Peace, to minimise the pains and douse the national disgrace that would have belittled our claim as the giant of Africa if almost 1,000 beleaguered Nigerians had remained stranded in South Africa.
Clearly, the 18-man air crew of the airline who unanimously agreed to forego their out-of-station allowances, as their own sacrifice to their fatherland, was certainly in locked step with the charitable inclination of their chairman. These patriots surely deserve our commendation. Indeed, on September 18, 2019, he honoured the invitation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, so that the lawmakers could express their gratitude to him! At the event, Onyema affirmed that “we are still ready to go into South Africa as long as there is one single Nigerian remaining in that country to be evacuated for free”.
Meanwhile, in his commendation, House Majority Leader, Addo Dogwua, (APC Kano) noted that what he (Onyema) did was “an exhibition of selflessness, risking his business interest to save the lives of Nigerians in the face of war”. Dogwua concluded that Onyema saved Nigeria from embarrassment and “our gratitude today is on behalf of the 360 constituencies of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to say thank you.” Ultimately, the House, unanimously, recommended that he should be given an important national award.
However, in his own response, Onyema, advised that “if Nigerians continue to fight one another as against fighting for one another, there will be no nation,” He further declared that “I believe in nationalism as against sectionalism” and also observed that “Nigeria is blessed with 370 ethnic nationalities which should actually be a recipe for strength.”
Curiously, despite the steady expansion of his airline services, locally and on some prime international routes, Onyema had never really captured the public space, until the recent evacuation of Nigerian immigrants from South Africa. He reveals that his foray into the airline business was driven by his desire to create increasing job opportunities, after he learnt that a single 140-seater aircraft, on a regular schedule, could create jobs for up to 1,000 people.
The Air Peace fleet, which, reportedly, commenced operations with three aircraft in 2012, presently, boasts seven aircraft, while orders are confirmed for 30 more aircraft in a $2.1bn (N756.5bn) deal with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer.
Although the Air Peace chairman had earlier suggested that the airlift from South Africa would erode corporate revenue by about N300m ($830,000), the unexpected, extended, delays and the related disruptions to the airlines commercial schedule, should support a substantial increase in any compensation, ultimately demanded from the South African government.
Onyema’s quest for peace is certainly not superficial, as he has been deeply engaged in transforming lives of restive youths in the Niger Delta, and has also extended his charity to the almajiri in the North. Furthermore, he has received both national and international honours and recognition for such social interventions.
Incidentally, one of those who spoke in favour of Onyema’s quest for peace, in his appearance at the House, was Julius Pondi, a House member, who over a decade or so ago was a militant, who later became a beneficiary of Onyema’s social programmes. Evidently, Onyema’s quest for peace is a lifelong commitment.
Arguably, the race of noble Nigerians is certainly not extinct. Onyema is eminently qualified for a national award, but Nigeria would probably be better served with someone like him as aviation minister. What a far-fetched dream in a country that cripples and devours its best!
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