Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, on Thursday, said former President Olusegun Obasanjo inherited the Nigeria Airways “mess” when he assumed power in 1999.
Fani-Kayode, who was the Minister of Aviation under Obasanjo, made the remark in response to comments by the current Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.
Keyamo had claimed that Obasanjo’s administration liquidated the Nigeria Airways without duly compensating its workers, thereby creating a mess.
The minister was reacting to the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar’s claim that Tinubu made life expensive for pensioners and Nigerians in general.
Reacting, Fani-Kayode insisted that the mess in Nigeria Airways was not Obasanjo’s making.
Posting on X, the ambassador wrote: “My dearest brother @fkeyamo,
“Permit me to share the facts with you on this matter for posterity’s sake. In fairness to President Obasanjo the Nigeria Airways “mess” as you have described it, was established before he came back to power in 1999.
“And it was indeed a mess but it was not of Obasanjo’s making. He met it there after he was sworn in and what he found broke his heart.
“I, as Minister of Aviation from 2006 after being redeployed from being Minister of Culture and Tourism, can confirm that.
“The facts are as follows. When Obasanjo left power as Military Head of State in 1979 Nigeria Airways had a total of 32 functional planes, excellent pilots and crew members, a first class management team and an accountable Board of Directors.
“Nigeria Airways, at that time, was indeed the pride of the nation. By the time Obasanjo came back to power in 1999, 20 years later, there was only one plane left and it was not functional.
“The rest had vanished together with virtually all of the company’s assets. Everything in the company had gone to the dogs. Worse still it was plagued with debts.
“Through those 20 years all forms of corruption were committed by the various management teams and Board of Directors of the company and it was literally gutted.”
Obasanjo inherited Nigeria Airways mess as President – Fani-Kayode replies Keyamo