Nigeria's long-promised national carrier took a visible, if disputed, step toward existence on 26 May 2023, when a Boeing 737-800 painted in Nigeria Air livery was presented to government officials and journalists at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The presentation, led by outgoing Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika, came just three days before President Muhammadu Buhari's administration handed over to President-elect Bola Tinubu on 29 May. Sirika had championed the national carrier project since 2016 as part of a wider "Presidential Aviation Roadmap" that also envisioned new cargo hubs and a domestic aircraft leasing company.
A Chartered, Not Owned, Aircraft
Nigeria Air's then acting managing director, Captain Dapo Olumide, later confirmed that the aircraft shown at the event was not owned by the airline but had been chartered from Ethiopian Airlines, which held a proposed 49 percent equity stake in the venture under an ownership structure that also allocated 46 percent to a consortium of Nigerian investors and 5 percent to the federal government. The aircraft itself was reported to be more than a decade old and had previously flown for Ethiopian Airlines and Malawian Airlines.
The unveiling was framed by the outgoing ministry as evidence that the airline was on track to begin commercial operations, but it drew immediate scepticism from the Airline Operators of Nigeria, which had already filed legal action against Sirika seeking to halt the national carrier deal and revoke the air transport licence the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority had issued to Nigeria Air.
A Contested Legacy
The timing of the event, coming at the very end of an eight-year administration, meant responsibility for Nigeria Air's future would fall to the incoming Tinubu government. Within days, the episode would draw formal scrutiny from federal lawmakers over how the project had been run and whether public funds had been properly accounted for.
