Britain has been playing this game for centuries: they come to you pretending they care about your economic advancement. But any day you show signs, they will throw obstacles. If you check, they might have told Nigeria why it must have private sector airlines in a dossier 40 years ago. But now that Air Peace has shown it can do just that, Britain suddenly does not have space for the airline in Heathrow:
“The simmering tensions between Nigeria and the United Kingdom over Air Peace’s access to Heathrow Airport slots have reached a boiling point, with Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, formally lodging a complaint with the UK government. The dispute, which has been escalating over several months, centers around what Nigeria perceives as unfair treatment of Nigerian-based airline, Air Peace, in its efforts to secure landing slots at the UK’s primary airport, London Heathrow”
For all the evil of Abacha, he did one thing right, and we must borrow some of his tactics: tell Britain that Nigeria is a sovereign country and does not need to lodge a complaint. Simply, revoke 100% slots assigned to BA in Lagos, and then return to your village. By the time they get the memo, they will do the needful. Of course, it is also possible that Nigeria does not want to help Air Peace (the scene with Dangote Refinery tells you that anything is possible).
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Good People, I do not understand why we have WEAK leaders in Nigeria. Britain is a weakening country that does not really have much leverage against Nigeria. Festus Keyamo: Give them 7 days, and if they do not make the slots available, revote all the slots in Lagos and Abuja! And if you people cannot run Nigeria, make way – I am tired of this leading with weakness we see in Nigeria daily!
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