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Nigeria Air Would Serve as Relief and A Game-Changer To Nigerians – Garba Shehu
Nigeria Air would serve as relief and a game changer to Nigerians, this was a statement made on Wednesday by Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant on Media, and Publicity to President, Muhammadu Buhari.
While praising the Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika for his doggedness in ensuring the airline becomes a reality, Shehu said many Nigerians will benefit from the project.
He stated that: “The minister has been bashed unfairly all over the place. He has been doing this, all of the commitment to put this airline in place but simply obstacles have been put on his part every inch of the way, until just a week or two ago when the thing was cleared for its resumption,”.
“I don’t blame him. He wants to make history, the minister wants to push for a new airline. So, it is honourable that he wants to kickstart it Friday, which is 24 hours from now. It would be to the relief of Nigerians, certainly, it is something that is going to be a game-changer, especially for international travel.”
Mr Garba admitted that the project had been impeded by several challenges.
“The Nigerian process has been up for a very long time. In all eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari, there is no policy memo on anything that has done the zigzag that Nigerian Air has done,” the presidential aide said.
“At least seven times, it came before the Federal Executive Council before finally it was let go.
“Just when everything was set and for the airline to start, domestic Nigerian airline operators went to court and they got an injunction that says that Nigeria Air must not fly. This held up everything until barely a week or two ago.”
According to him, the collaboration with Ethiopian Airways is in the best interest of the country.
He said, “This is entirely different because past attempts have been made to use resources from the treasury to run a business.
“Government is simply a bad manager of businesses. We would continue to fail so long as these things are run by the government.
“This realization is simply the fact that the government of Nigeria would be a minority shareholder in this enterprise, it is going to be essentially business run and that would mean that it would succeed,” he said.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has returned to Nigeria following a successful two-day state visit to the United Kingdom, arriving in Lagos alongside First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
The President is expected to spend the upcoming Sallah break in the city.
He received a warm welcome at the airport from senior government officials, including Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, with applause from gathered supporters and well-wishers.
The visit, hailed as historic and the first full state visit by a Nigerian president to the UK in nearly 40 years, aimed to deepen diplomatic, economic, and trade relations between the two countries.
Key engagements included a royal reception and state banquet hosted by King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle, as well as high-level bilateral talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Downing Street.
A major achievement was President Tinubu witnessing the signing of a £746 million financing agreement backed by UK Export Finance (UKEF).
The deal, involving Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance, the Nigerian Ports Authority, Citi Bank, and other partners, will fund the modernization and refurbishment of two vital Lagos seaports: the Lagos Port Complex (Apapa) and the Tin Can Island Port Complex.
The project is designed to reduce congestion, improve efficiency with modern systems, boost Nigeria’s role as a leading maritime hub in West and Central Africa, and include commitments to sourcing components from the UK.
The engagements highlighted strengthened bilateral cooperation, record trade levels, and mutual interests in infrastructure development and sustainable growth.
News
Twining Boosts UK’s Investment in Nigeria By £24mn Ovaltine factory
Located on Wempco road, Ogba, Lagos, Ovaltine has been available and popular in Nigeria since the 1930s via imports.
The manufacturing facility marks the commencement of direct, local manufacturing of the brand by Twinings.
British beverage maker Twining Ovaltine is pumping a fresh £24 million into its Lagos manufacturing facility in an efforts to strengthen the bilateral trade between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
This is disclosed in a statement a statement issued by the UK’s Department of Business and Trade.It said that the investment will create over 100 direct jobs and boosting the company’s exports across West Africa.
Peter Kyle, the UK’s business and trade secretary, said that with bilateral trade now at an all-time high of £8.1 billion a year, the UK and Nigeria are showing how countries grow faster when they grow together.
He emphasised that as the two economies continue to enhance cooperation and trade relations, the investment plans will provide jobs for both countries while transforming lives.
“With Nigerian firms creating jobs across the UK and British businesses expanding into one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, our partnership is strengthening both economies and delivering real benefits for people in both countries,” Kyle said.
Meanwhile, located on Wempco road, Ogba, Lagos, Ovaltine has been available and popular in Nigeria since the 1930s via imports.The manufacturing facility marks the commencement of direct, local manufacturing of the brand by Twinings.
News
Insecurity: PDP says Nigeria’s Safer in 2015 Than Today
In the statement signed by Comrade Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary, the party sympathise with the families who have been affected by bombing and calls on the federal government to move beyond rhetoric in security matters.
Opposition party -The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has beaten it’s chest saying, “There is no one, including the President, who will not agree that our country was safer in 2015 than it is today.”
In a statement on Tuesday, the opposition party referenced the recent multiple bombings in Maiduguri, resulting in at least 23 deaths and injuring more than 100 people, alleging that “it was another incontrovertible piece of evidence of the inability of the APC-led federal government to curb the growing insecurity in the country.”
This bombing is an unfortunate addition to the numerous acts of grave insecurity that have occurred under the watch of President Bola Tinubu, who was the loudest campaign voice for the APC, promising to end insecurity immediately if his party is elected. Sadly, 11 years later, insecurity has not only increased significantly in the Northeastern part of Nigeria; it has spread almost uncontrollably to many other parts of the country that were hitherto very safe and peaceful.
Despite this glaring failure, the APC-led Presidency has devoted more time, energy, and resources to the task of political genocide against the opposition, instead of deploying the same to combat the growing insecurity that has become the lived reality and new normal of Nigerians.
In the statement signed by Comrade Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary, the party sympathise with the families who have been affected by bombing and calls on the federal government to move beyond rhetoric in security matters and engage strategic stakeholders, especially community leaders, as part of a whole-of-society approach to combating insecurity.
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