You see Nigeria, is one of the most blessed nations in the world but its citizens are japaing abroad in search of greener pastures.
Do you blame them? There is hardship in the land, the economy is not rising, infrastructures are absent and nothing is developing.
This among so many other factors is why the Naira is performing poorly against most other currencies of the world.
Nigerians are left with no better option than to go on a search for the US dollar, in the hope that their living situation will get better by earning in dollars or pounds
However, a stakeholder in the aviation sector has appealed to Nigerians against stigmatising the nation and its currency.
The Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, said workers earning ₦200,000 a month in Nigeria, are better than those making £2000 in London.
Onyema in his explanation said with £2000 a month in London you are not different from a pauper.
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This is because what £2000 can afford in London is summarily not different from what ₦2000 can buy in Nigeria
He said the naira has more value than it’s been projected and called on Nigerians to have more faith in their national currency.
The Air Peace boss made this known during an interview on TVC News. He said, “I support what Mr. Cardoso said.
He once said that the whole thing is artificial and that the naira has more value than it’s been projected, and I believe him.
“Go to London, if you earn £2000 a month, you are a pauper. What you can buy with £2000 in London, is not different from what ₦2000 can buy in Nigeria.
But a Nigerian will sit down here and calculate ₦2000 to a pound and think he can have N4 Million.
“The person earning ₦200,000 in Nigeria is better. You can have a maid, you can have a driver.
“What I am trying to say is, we should stop stigmatising our country, we must love our country, we must fight for it, and must support private investments.”
Furthermore, Onyema asserted that airlines needed free access to dollars, saying that the government needed to make that more realistic.
He said, “We need government support for Nigerian airlines.
Everything about aviation is dollars. If you don’t have access to dollars, you cannot move forward.
Remember, these airlines we are competing with abroad, they accessed loans in their countries at 3% In Nigeria, I am getting my loan at 30%.
“At the same time, the Nigerian airline is dead on arrival when it comes to insurance.
They stigmatise my country because insurance is done abroad.
So what we use in ensuring one aircraft is what those bigger airlines all over the world will use to ensure about eight aircraft.
“Another way of supporting the airlines is the removal of the city hopping we’re doing in this country. We’re putting a strain on the naira.
President Tinubu knows that the multi-city hopping of foreign airlines into his country is creating problems for him.
“The president should call for immediate review of these bilateral air services agreements (BASA).
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It is not even supposed to be a part of BASA. Countries don’t do it.
“In my country, they do city hopping, and at the end of the day, these foreign airlines amass a lot of money and put a strain on the dollar and the naira, and they start blackmailing the country.”
