Former NAL Workers Back FG On National Carrier

L-R: Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, an APC chieftain, retired Gen. Buba Marwa and another cheiftain, Mr Markus Gundiri, at the Yola International Airport, during the visit of APC national executives to Yola recently.
Photo: NAN.

Workers of the defunct
Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL), have thrown their weight behind the plan of the federal government to float a national carrier.
The former NAL workers said the decision would stop the current exploitation of the Nigerian air transport market by foreign airlines.
The workers stated that the manpower development in the aviation sector especially in the technical areas in the industry came to a standstill with the  demise of the former national carrier that was liquidated in 2004.
According to them, today, the sector is dominated by expatriates while Nigeria is losing huge resources in capital flight.
The NAL workers said that government could go ahead to set up national carrier, expressing the hope that it would pay them the N70.8 billion as outstanding severance benefits.
The vice chairman of Nigeria Airways Pensioners Association, Mr. Segun Feyisistan, said the government had paid some former workers and pensioners of the liquidated national carrier in London, Rome, New York and Abidjan, adding that those in Nigeria were yet to be fully paid 10years after the closure of the airline.
Speaking at a public presentation of a book in Lagos, by the former rector of the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Mr Folashade Odutola, another former cabin crew member with the liquidated carrier, Mr Austin Njoku said there was nothing wrong in government setting up a national carrier provided labour issues surrounding the former staff of NAL were resolved in good time.
Mr. Njoku who is secretary of Congress of Aviation Unions and Professionals Association (CAUPA), said “we are aware that government through the Ministry of Aviation has called on labour to seek its contributions on how to float a national carrier”.
According to him, we are not opposed to this but we insist that before government sets up a national carrier, it must address issues concerning the pay off of Nigeria Airways workers and pensioners before the national carrier is set up.