Managing The Brand ‘Nigeria Air’

“Management by objectives works if you first think through your objectives. Ninety percent of the time you haven’t”- Peter Drucker

From the apt saying by Peter Drucker, one can see the emphasis on thinking through one’s objectives.

There wasn’t a debate on the possibility of a Nigerian national carrier in recent times because it has been accepted that the Nigerian government has proven to be bad managers of such business enterprise until a fortnight ago when the Federal Government unveiled the brand, ‘Nigeria Air’

The term refers to a new national carrier as planes for new national carrier are expected to arrive in December this year; the rhetorical questions would be – has the Aviation Ministry thought through its objectives to have a national carrier? Is this a desperate move to gather electoral votes as the 2019 general elections edges closer?

There is no doubt that the national carrier which could be great public relations as airplanes emblazoned with the national flag and coat-of-arms flying to all corners of the globe. However, it is pertinent to note the possible challenges especially those factors that led to the demise of Nigeria Airways.

Problems such as; corruption, mismanagement and overstaffing, led to a steady decline of Nigeria Airways from the 1980s as the carrier had accumulated significant debts that outstripped its revenues from the mid-1980s to the extent that aircraft were detained or impounded for unpaid debts.

While the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, remains confident that the nation would have a efficient national flag carrier that is a global player, competitive and compliant with international safety standards and one which has the customer at its heart; the dangers of political interference in terms of its recruitments and operations should be stifled.

Sirika has disclosed that the Federal Government investment wouldn’t exceed $300 million which would constitute 5% equity interest as the project would be financed through a tripartite arrangement of government budgetary provisions, private equity debt arrangement and finance syndication from a consortium of regional and international banks.

The national carrier should be managed fully by the private sector and run on a purely commercial business basis as the Minister has assured.

The Federal Government should learn the lessons from the experience of the defunct Nigeria Airways, and not repeat the mistakes that led to its demise.

The Ministry said the branding and naming of the new national carrier came after a social media campaign that was undertaken by the Ministry of Transportation (Aviation) as it invited Nigerian youths for their input in order to come up with a name for the new flag carrier, adding that the ministry’s Facebook page and website engaged over 400,000 people.

The ministry said extensive market research was carried out, which involved focus groups across the country and over 100 interviews with aviation stakeholders and professionals, politicians as well as business owners.

The Federal Government has selected 81 routes for the commencement of operation of Nigeria Air; even as it hopes the establishment of the airline communicates the essence of the nation’s beauty.

Let’s be optimistic about ‘Nigeria Air’