Fani-Kayode Reveals Why Obasanjo Shut Down Nigeria Airways

(Femi Fani-Kayode. PhotoCredit: BBC News)

Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode has defended former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the liquidation of Nigeria Airways.

He said the airline was already badly run down before Obasanjo returned to power in 1999, and that Obasanjo had little choice but to liquidate it in 2004.

He made the claim in a post on Thursday, replying to Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo.

Keyamo had accused Atiku Abubakar's administration of liquidating the airline and leaving workers without pensions.

Fani-Kayode said that when Obasanjo left office in 1979, Nigeria Airways had 32 working aircraft and a strong management team.

By 1999, he said, only one plane was left, and it did not work.

e blamed corruption and mismanagement between 1979 and 1999 for the collapse.

He said the liquidation was painful but necessary, since the airline had no real chance of recovery.

He also said a 2006 memo he wrote to the Federal Executive Council, asking for the pensions to be paid, was rejected by cabinet members who believed former managers and board members did not deserve them.

He said later governments paid most of the pensioners, and he praised Keyamo for finishing the remaining payments under the Tinubu administration.

e also said he knows Atiku's position in those council debates but will not share it publicly, because the decision was made collectively.

My dearest brother @fkeyamo, Permit me to share the facts with you on this matter for posterity's sake. In fairness to President Obasanjo the Nigeria Airways "mess", as you have decribed 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. I, as Minister of Aviation from 2006 after being redeployed from being Minister of Culture and Tourism, can confirm that. The facts are as follows. When Obasanjo left power as Military Head of State in 1979 Nigeria Airways had a total of 32 functional planes, excellent pilots and crew members, a first class management team and an accountable Board of Directors. Nigeria Airways, at that time, was indeed the pride of the nation. 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. Everything in the company had gone to the dogs. Worse still it was plagued with debts. Through those 20 years all forms of corruption were committed by the various management teams and Board of Directors of the company and it was literally gutted. The company was liquidated primarily due to chronic insolvency, operational collapse and mismanagement in its operations which took place between 1979 and 1999. The formal winding-up process culminated in 2004. The decision followed years of decline and failed rescue attempts, including privatisation advice from the International Finance Corporation which later withdrew. The 2004 liquidation was the endpoint of long-term structural failure driven by mismanagement, debt and operational collapse with the Obasanjo Government, rightly in my view, deciding against further public bailouts. This is why Obasanjo liquidated it in 2004 and I believe that he had no choice. 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. After liquidating the company the only issue left was pensions. After a commitee that was Chaired by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, the then then Head of Service, recommended that money should be released and paid to the pensioners, as Minister of Aviation in 2006, I presented a memo to the Federal Executive Council for that purpose and argued strongly that this was the right thing to do. Sadly the memo was not approved because there were elements in the cabinet that were so angry with the the former Boards and management teams of the defunct Nigerian Airways that they opposed my memo vehemently. They believed that none of those that were part of Nigeria Airways deserved a pension because, as far as they were concerned, they ALL contributed to the destruction of what was once a great source of pride to our nation. I did not share that view but sadly I and those that supported me were in a minority and we lost the debate. The matter was deferred and taken up again by the Yar'Adua administration when they came to power two years later. They paid most of the pensioners which was the right thing to do. The Buhari administration followed suit and also paid. 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. The pensioners suffered immensely over the years. I have always maintained that paying them was the right thing to do. As for His Excellency Waziri @atiku I know what side of the divide he was during that debate in council but I will not share that publicly because whatever decision was finally taken was a collective one. We bore and still bear the consequences of that decision together as a Government. I commend you as Minister of Aviation for finally settling the pensions that were still due. (FFK)

— Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK) October 15, 2026