Aero-Legal Framework for a National Carrier in the Aviation Industry: Lessons for Nigeria as a Developing Economy
| Author | Ademola O. Ojekunle |
| Date | 01 September 2016 |
| Published date | 01 September 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/2277401720160104 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
AERO-LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR A NATIONAL
CARRIER IN THE AVIATION INDUSTRY: LESSONS
FOR NIGERIA AS A DEVELOPING ECONOMY
Ademola O. Ojekunle*
In the aspect of transport, Nigeria has for long, underestimated the
huge spin-os that accrue from a legally and eectively managed
national airline. This aeronautical neglect has in particular,
robbed her of the prodigious gains aorded by the Yamoussokrou
Declaration, an African air transport initiative aimed at the
liberalisation of the civil aviation market among African nations.
The reason for the neglect is ostensibly impregnable- the Nigeria
Airways, the nation’s predecessor-national carrier, suered an
ineluctable liquidation due partly to bad management. In spite
of this sad reality, this paper presses for a robust and solid legal
framework for the establishment or resuscitation of a national
airline in Nigeria, modelled after the Ethiopian Airlines. This aero-
legal framework will save the management of the carrier from the
vagaries of politics and sabotage. The result, denitely, will be a
better civil aviation system, enhanced national image, well-trained
and equipped aviation personnel, necessity for the procurement of
a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility for aircraft
maintenance checks and a rejuvenated economic life, among
others. Even though there are many models of airline ownership
and management ranging from a wholly owned state model, a state-
citizen model, a fully owned citizens’ model, a substantial citizens’
holding model to a ag carrier model, the paper strongly argues in
favour of a Nigeria-wholly owned model, which is a wholly owned
state model like the Ethiopian Airlines. The paper concludes that
unless enough attention is paid to the establishment of a national
airline in Nigeria within a well-crafted legal framework, coupled
with the readiness to learn from the experience of an established
African air carrier like the Ethiopian Airlines, Nigeria may remain
long in economic doldrums.
* Ademola O. Ojekunle is a lecturer at Faculty of Law, Bowen University, Nigeria
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