•Festus Keyamo
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo is holding a crucial meeting in Abuja with workers of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) who are protesting over poor working conditions.
The meeting aims to address the workers’ concerns over the non-implementation of the new national minimum wage, ignoring requests to include omitted staff in past allowances, and neglecting key training programmes, among other issues.
The meeting is being attended by Director General, NiMET, Officials of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the National Union of Transport Employees, and other key stakeholders.
A brief opening session took place, after which members moved into a closed session.
Other unions present at the ongoing meeting are Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, National Union of Air Transport Employees, among others.
Flight activities are being disrupted at local airports following the strike by NiMET workers.
The strike, which has lingered into day 2, sees passengers on scheduled local flights stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and others.
Air Peace informed its passengers that the airline had made the decision not to fly due to safety issues.
In a video obtained by our correspondent yesterday , Air Peace’s Chief Executive Officer, Allen Onyema, was heard ordering for cancellation of flights nationwide.
“If NiMET has not called off the strike, cancel every Air Peace flight now with immediate effect. People’s lives and the safety of our equipment and our crew are foremost.
“I don’t care if other airlines are flying. Suspend every Air Peace flight nationwide. Look at the thunderstorm everywhere. Look at the kind of weather we are going into, and NiMET, which is supposed to provide these things, is on strike, and we are flying. Suspend all flights with immediate effect, until further notice, until that strike is over, safety first,” Onyema was heard instructing one of his managers over the phone.
