Aviation
Why Stella Oduah must be punished
ABUJA – It is highly outrageous to buy two vehicles, any kind of vehicles for N225 million. It is also highly outrageous for mainstream media to rely on reports of online media, which most of the time are laced with gossips and rumours, for serious aviation reports.
Now that Nigerians are outraged about the exaggerated reports on the purchase of the vehicles, the facts of the matter have been eclipsed as the first report always finds a listening ear.
But it is good to deliberate on the motive behind the report and preceding reports before this last one. Princess Stella Oduah as Minister of Aviation has jolted the apple cart. In her strive to make desired changes in the sector she has excavated the status quo.
There are certain trends that have defined the aviation sector. There are always since 1999 those who use lopsided agreements and contracts to milk the aviation agencies. There are also those who use aviation related associations to sustain their lives and the aviation union executives rely on agency heads and succeeding ministers to make money in the sector.
Stella came and changed all that. These people were denied their source of material life by Stella and these are people behind the forces that coalesced against her.
It is said in the industry that two people before 2011 made noticeable changes in the sector. One was Peter Igbinedion who was the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, during the Abacha years. In retrospect also, kudos goes to Mrs. Kema Chikwe who was also the Minister of Aviation in the first tenure of Chief Obasanjo as Nigerian President. Story had it that she was pressured to leave, just as Stella is being pressured now and that when she was eased out broom was used to sweep out her footsteps from her office. But when she left, the same people acknowledged and still acknowledge that before Stella, Kema Chikwe was the best performing Minister of Aviation since civilian rule in 1999.
When Oduah was appointed there were three subsisting agreements that were controversial. One of them was Maevis which was managing the revenue of FAAN. FAAN said that the agreement was lopsided against the agency to the extent that the agency did not know how much that accrued in its coffers as Maevis every months gave it a hand out, a situation where a principle is being handed over money by its contractor. The agreement, to the agency was obnoxious and it was eating its revenue and hampering development of the 22 airports under its management.
Three Ministers came when the agreement was enforced, including Felix Hyat, who just witnessed its unveiling, Babatunde Omotoba who was there when FAAN workers started crying out against the agreement and alleged rip of FAAN by the agreement. He did nothing. Felicia Njeze came and smiled away few years later without doing anything about it. Stella came and did something. She revoked the agreement!
She was attacked with all kinds of arsenal, including media and court scud missiles. She remained unshaken. Other Ministers did not have the courage to do anything because of the Giant Eagle that facilitated the agreement and the agreement was aimed to rip off the agencies and empower some individuals.
Another agreement was the Pan Express agreement which gave the company the right to collect revenues from cargo and pay FAAN certain amount of revenue every month. That agreement was easily eased out because it did not come from the Big Eagle. Ironically that was the only decent agreement that was drawn not to strip FAAN its revenue; in fact, before the company started work, that source of cargo revenue for FAAN was in limbo, but it was done away quickly as soon as contrived agitation against it started.
Then the big masquerade of agreement which is still subsisting…the Bi Courtney concession agreement to build the domestic terminal in Lagos which initially was given for 12 years and was later extended controversially for 36 years without the expected approval of the Federal Executive Council, as Obasanjo recommended when the letter for the extension was presented to him by the then Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. In the letter requesting for the extension, Obasanjo responded, “No.” That it should be taken to FEC for approval. The approval never took place and since then Bi Courtney has done everything possible to use the courts to get the extension and it remains at best controversial.
How did Oduah cross the way of Bi Courtney? The company realising that it did not have enough apron to park aircraft MMA2 claimed that the General Aviation Terminal, GAT, belonged to it and pointed out a clause in the agreement that said no other domestic airport terminal should be built in Lagos without deferring to Bi Courtney. Oduah defiantly made it clear that GAT which she dismantled and rebuilt under one year, did not belong to Bi Courtney.
Then there was the AIC Limited which claimed that many years ago a portion of land meant for expansion of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos terminal was given to the company to build hospitality facility. But for years nothing was done at the portion land and recently with terror threats and the inevitable need to have another terminal at the Lagos airport, it became unrealistic to build such facility at that portion of land. Stella Oduah overruled that quest.
The highly placed, powerful people behind these companies have been injured by the Minister. But her purpose is obvious: that for the aviation industry to develop and progress there must be an end to these rip-offs and that the assets that are meant for Nigerians should not be coveted by a few highly placed people at the expense of over 160 million Nigerians. The war has been drawn. Stella Oduah must go!
As stated earlier, the labour union leaders and some association executives rely on aviation agency heads to sustain their existence. A former Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, kept the Aviation Round Table, ART, leaders on a payroll. Other agencies like FAAN, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, give them contracts. But these contracts stopped when Oduah became the Minister. In protest, the attacks against her came in torrents to the extent that the President of ART, Captain Dele Ore at one time alleged Oduah threatened to kill him. Some aspects of the media made a savoury of it.
– VANGUARD
Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) has welcomed efforts to promote safe helicopter services across Africa in a proposed Regional Action Plan (RAP).
The plan, according to a company statement, is the highlight of a workshop organised in Lagos within the week by the Aviation subcommittee of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) in partnership with London-based safety advocacy group, HeliOffshore.
Biztellers reports that the two-day Offshore Helicopter Industry Safety Workshop (OHISW) with the theme “Developing a Regional Action Plan,” followed on from a similar session last year which SNEPCo sponsored.
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It also provided administrative and logistical support for this year’s conference which was sponsored by ExxonMobil. SNEPCo, which pioneered Nigeria’s deepwater production at Bonga in 2005, relies on helicopter shuttles for operations and supports the workshop as part of its contributions towards safe services in Nigeria.
In an address at the opening session delivered by General Manager Contracting and Supply Chain, Charles Oranyeli, Managing Director SNEPCo, Ronald Adams said: “By developing a regional action plan, we can move beyond dialogue to alignment, ensuring that the safety leadership, industry standards, and collaborative approaches championed last year are embedded in a common roadmap for collective improvement. The most effective solutions will come not from isolated efforts, but from partnership, standardization, and coordinated action across the region.”
The workshop was attended by more than 80 representatives from oil and gas companies, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), helicopter operators and original equipment manufacturers.
The event concluded with participants deciding action items for the proposed Regional Action Plan including Search and Rescue (SAR) initiatives, implementation of IOGP Report 690 standards and establishment of formal industry leadership forums.
The IOGP has been active for over 50 years, supporting its more than 90 members around the world to promote “excellence in safe, efficient and sustainable energy.”
The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has declared that airlines operating in Nigeria have come under financial pressure following a sharp increase in the price of Jet-A1, also known as aviation fuel.
According to the group, the price of aviation fuel, has surged to about N1,800 per litre in many parts of the country, from about N1,000 per litre two weeks ago. This amounts to almost an 80 per cent increase within a short period.
Aviation fuel remains the largest cost component in airline operations, accounting for about 30 to 35 per cent of total operating expenses.
Industry stakeholders have linked the latest spike to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has pushed up global energy prices.
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Speaking on Channels Television on Friday, the spokesperson for the Airline Operators of Nigeria, Prof Obiora Okonkwo, said the surge had placed airlines under severe financial strain.
According to him, most carriers have so far refrained from immediately transferring the additional cost burden to passengers, despite the pressure on their operations.
“Two weeks ago, we were getting Jet-A1 at about N1,000 per litre, which today is about N1,800, and even more in some stations. We have experienced an increase of about 80 per cent. That’s quite a spike,” Okonkwo said.
He explained that airlines were currently absorbing the losses in order to avoid worsening the economic burden on the travellers.
“We are not in a business where you can easily adjust your ticket price. Right now what we are doing is that we are bleeding. We are taking the blow. We are selling tickets at very non-profitable prices. We are losing a lot of money,” he said.
Okonkwo warned that the situation might not be sustainable if fuel prices continue to rise without government intervention.
“Obviously, adjustments will be expected anytime soon. But again, we are very sensitive to the economic situation of Nigerians and our travellers,” he added.
He noted that developments in the global oil market, particularly the recent release of reserve crude oil, could influence fuel prices in the coming weeks.
Okonkwo also urged the Federal Government to explore engagement with the Dangote Refinery as part of efforts to stabilise aviation fuel supply locally.
“We were more hopeless in a situation where there was no refinery in Nigeria in the last two years. Now that we have a refinery, we are hopeful that we can find a solution around it,” he said.
According to him, if the spike persists, some airlines may struggle to continue absorbing the losses associated with the rising cost of aviation fuel.
Meanwhile, the AON spokesperson also reacted to the decision by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to sanction about five airlines over alleged price fixing.
Okonkwo said while the commission has regulatory powers, the aviation sector remains deregulated, making coordinated price fixing unlikely.
“There is no meeting of airlines where they agree to fix prices. Fixing prices would mean operating as a cartel, and that is not the case,” he said.
He explained that airline ticket pricing varies widely because different aircraft types attract different operating costs.
“Each airline determines its fares based on its own operational costs,” he said.
Okonkwo added that airlines must also demonstrate financial viability to regulators as part of the conditions for maintaining their operating licences.
“At every point in time, you must prove to the regulators that you are financially viable and capable of sustaining operations,” he said.
He urged regulators to take into account the fragile nature of the aviation industry when making policy decisions affecting airlines.
An Air Peace flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt has suffered a disruption, after the aircraft was affected by a bird strike on arrival at the Port Harcourt International Airport.
The airline made the disclosure on Thursday in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Osifo-Whiskey Efe.
He added that the incident necessitated safety checks on the affected aircraft and the deployment of another aircraft to convey passengers on subsequent flights.
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“We deeply empathise with passengers affected by this unforeseen incident and are working diligently to minimise disruptions,” Efe said.
The latest incident adds to the growing challenge of bird strikes faced by local airlines.
In December 2025, Air Peace disclosed that it recorded 49 bird strikes across Nigeria between January and September, stressing that even a single strike could ground an aircraft for weeks.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Allen Onyema, had said on Arise TV that bird strikes constituted a major operational challenge, often leading to costly repairs and serious disruptions to flight schedules.
“One bird strike could cripple your aircraft for the next month. At that moment, there is no two ways about it. These bird strikes often lead to costly delays and serious disruptions in flight schedules,” he said.
He added that losses from such incidents compound other challenges facing Nigerian airlines, including heavy taxation and operational constraints.
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