The Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika has said the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air, is still on the aviation roadmap and will be implemented.
Sirika spoke on Wednesday at the Ministry of Aviation when he was being received by the staff and unions in the aviation sector, who had thronged out to welcome the returnee minister.
“Nigeria Air is still on the road map. So, we need your support. For one aeroplane that comes into the country means 300 jobs. More than that is the catalyst for the economic growth of our country. It also adds to our gross domestic product,” he said.
He also said he will pursue other growth areas of the ministry.
“What we have done is that we have raised the aviation contribution to GDP from 0.4 to 0.6. I believe that in the coming year, we will get to 1 percent at least,” he said.
“I do believe that the aviation has a lot for Nigerians, it connects people, countries, continents, markets and be that catalyst that is missing to rejuvenate our economy. 200 million people in the centre of Africa is a huge advantage,” he noted.
According to him, now that he is back, he will still continue to work together with the staff and the unions in harmony.
“If there is need, we will re-tweak what we have done before to make it better in the interest of Nigeria and the aviation industry,” he assured.
“Nigerians should know that, we drew a road map and we will follow the road map. We will continue with it and if need be, we will tweak it so that it will serve the industry better and be pro-people” he said.
