Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has defended former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the liquidation of Nigeria Airways, insisting that years of mismanagement, corruption and mounting debts had crippled the national carrier before Obasanjo returned to power in 1999.
Fani-Kayode, who served as Aviation Minister in 2006, said the former president inherited an airline that had virtually collapsed and had little option but to liquidate it in 2004.
He also commended the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, for facilitating the settlement of outstanding pension obligations owed to former Nigeria Airways workers under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Fani-Kayode made the remarks in a post on his X account on Thursday while responding to Keyamo’s criticism of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over his comments on Nigeria’s economic challenges and insecurity.
Keyamo had accused Atiku of distancing himself from controversial decisions taken during the administration of Obasanjo, in which he served as vice-president, including the liquidation of Nigeria Airways in September 2004.
The aviation minister said the airline’s closure left thousands of workers without their jobs, pensions and gratuities, with some reportedly dying before receiving their entitlements.
He added that Tinubu had approved and released ₦36bn to settle the outstanding obligations, saying beneficiaries had started receiving payment alerts.
However, Fani-Kayode argued that blaming Obasanjo alone for the airline’s collapse overlooked the years of deterioration that preceded his return to office.
“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,” he wrote.
Recounting the airline’s history, the former minister said Nigeria Airways was in a strong position when Obasanjo left office as military Head of State in 1979.
According to him, the airline then had 32 functional aircraft, experienced pilots and crew members, a competent management team and an accountable board of directors.
He described the national carrier at the time as the pride of the country.
Fani-Kayode, however, said the situation had deteriorated dramatically by 1999, when Obasanjo returned as a civilian president.
“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,” he alleged.
He blamed successive management teams and boards between 1979 and 1999 for the airline’s decline, citing alleged corruption, mismanagement and the erosion of its assets.
According to him, the airline had become chronically insolvent and operationally unviable, while efforts to revive it, including privatisation advice from the International Finance Corporation, failed to produce the desired outcome.
Fani-Kayode maintained that the Obasanjo administration was justified in deciding against continued public funding for the struggling airline.
“This is why Obasanjo liquidated it in 2004 and I believe that he had no choice,” he said.
“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.”
The former minister also recounted efforts to secure the payment of outstanding pensions and other entitlements owed to former employees following the airline’s liquidation.
He said a committee chaired by the then Head of Service of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed, recommended that funds be released to settle the workers’ outstanding benefits.
Fani-Kayode disclosed that he subsequently presented a memorandum to the Federal Executive Council in 2006, advocating payment of the entitlements.
However, he said the proposal was rejected after some cabinet members argued that former management officials and board members held responsible for the airline’s collapse should not benefit from pension payments.
“I did not share that view but sadly I and those that supported me were in a minority and we lost the debate,” he said.
He added that subsequent administrations continued efforts to settle the outstanding obligations, with the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua paying most of the pensioners, followed by further payments under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Fani-Kayode praised Keyamo for ensuring that the remaining obligations were addressed under the Tinubu administration.
“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 said former Nigeria Airways workers had suffered for years while waiting for their entitlements, adding that paying them was the right thing to do.
On Atiku’s position during the Federal Executive Council deliberations on the pension payments, Fani-Kayode said he was aware of the former vice-president’s stance but declined to disclose details publicly.
He maintained that the decision ultimately taken by the council was collective and that members of the administration shared responsibility for its consequences.
Fani-Kayode’s intervention comes amid renewed debate over the liquidation of Nigeria Airways, the fate of its former workers and the responsibility of successive administrations for the collapse of the country’s national carrier.
