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Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has defended former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the liquidation of Nigeria Airways, arguing that years of corruption, mismanagement and mounting debts had crippled the airline before Obasanjo returned to power in 1999.
Fani-Kayode, who served as Minister of Aviation in 2006, said Obasanjo inherited an airline that had virtually collapsed and had little choice but to liquidate it in 2004 after efforts to revive its operations failed.
He stated this in a post on his X account on Thursday while responding to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, who had criticised former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over comments on Nigeria’s economic hardship and insecurity.
Keyamo had accused Atiku of distancing himself from controversial decisions taken by the administration in which he served, particularly the liquidation of Nigeria Airways in September 2004.
The minister said the decision left thousands of former workers without their pensions and gratuities for years, adding that some died while waiting for their entitlements.
Keyamo also disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had approved and released N36bn to settle the outstanding obligations, with beneficiaries already receiving payment alerts.
Why Obasanjo liquidated Nigeria Airways
Defending the former president, Fani-Kayode said the airline’s decline began long before Obasanjo returned to civilian rule in 1999, insisting that the crisis was not caused by his administration.
“In fairness to President Obasanjo, the Nigeria Airways ‘mess’, as you have described it, was established before he came back to power in 1999,” he wrote.
Fani-Kayode recalled that when Obasanjo left office as military Head of State in 1979, Nigeria Airways had 32 functional aircraft, experienced pilots and crew members, a competent management team and an accountable board of directors.
He described the airline at the time as the pride of the nation, but said its fortunes had deteriorated significantly over the following two decades.
According to him, only one aircraft remained by 1999, and it was no longer functional, while virtually all the company’s assets had disappeared.
He blamed successive management teams and boards for the airline’s decline, alleging that corruption and mismanagement between 1979 and 1999 contributed significantly to its collapse.
Fani-Kayode added that the company had become chronically insolvent and operationally unviable, while attempts to revive it, including privatisation advice from the International Finance Corporation, failed.
He therefore maintained that the Obasanjo administration was justified in liquidating the airline in 2004 rather than continuing to commit public funds to an operation that had become difficult to sustain.
“There was nothing left to save, even though it was a painful decision given the fact that he was one of those that had done so much for that company when he was Military Head of State,” he said.
Fani-Kayode backs payment of former workers’ entitlements
The former aviation minister also explained his involvement in efforts to pay the outstanding pensions and gratuities owed to former Nigeria Airways workers.
He recalled that a committee chaired by the then Head of Service of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed, recommended that funds be released to settle the pensioners’ entitlements.
Fani-Kayode said he subsequently presented a memo to the Federal Executive Council in 2006, advocating the payment of the outstanding benefits.
However, he said the proposal was rejected because some members of the council believed that former management teams and board members responsible for the airline’s collapse did not deserve to receive pensions.
He said he disagreed with that position but was in the minority during the deliberations.
According to him, the issue was later revisited under the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, which paid most of the pensioners, while the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari also made payments.
Fani-Kayode commended Keyamo for ensuring that the remaining obligations were settled under the Tinubu administration, describing the payment as a necessary step towards addressing the prolonged suffering of the former workers.
“It is gratifying that under your leadership the remainder of the pensions have been paid. I only wish we had done that when we were in office,” he wrote.
He added that the pensioners had suffered immensely over the years and maintained that paying their entitlements was the right thing to do.
On Atiku’s position during the Federal Executive Council deliberations on the pension payments, Fani-Kayode said he knew the side the former vice-president took but declined to disclose it publicly.
He explained that the decision eventually reached was collective and that members of the administration shared responsibility for its consequences.
Fani-Kayode concluded by commending Keyamo for completing the payment of the outstanding entitlements owed to former Nigeria Airways workers.
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