•Bankole Bernard
Group Managing Director (GMD) of Finchglow Holdings Ltd, Mr. Bankole Bernard, in this interview speaks on the absence of verifiable data in the Nigerian aviation industry, reduced passenger traffic, the planned airport concession and high airfares on the Nigerian routes by foreign carriers, among others, reports Daily Independent.
Excerpts:
Sir, some countries like Egypt, Ethiopia, Brazil, Indonesia and others are recording increased passenger traffic annually, while the reverse is the case for Nigeria, why is this so?
Well, first of all, it is difficult for us to establish the fact that Nigeria passenger traffic is not growing. And why is it difficult to establish the fact that we are not growing? It is simply because of the lack of a database. Any organisation or country that pays little or no attention to data is not willing to grow because data is what will help you determine whether you are growing and the percentage at which you are growing. This will help you to forecast and do projections for the future.
But unfortunately, our government has paid little or no attention to that. And I have said it in my previous interview, until the government pays attention to creating a data centre, then, the whole world will know we are in for business. There is a lot happening around the globe. Aviation is not what it used to be. A lot has changed. Has the Nigerian Government or the industry even spoken about the scarcity of aircraft in the aviation industry globally? I hope you know there is an implication of that.
For every situation, there is a challenge and there is an opportunity. The foolishness of man is not even knowing that there is a situation because when you don’t know that there is a situation, how do you now know the opportunities, not to talk of the challenges? But it is known globally that there’s scarcity of aircraft.
They have got to look at the entire aviation ecosystem. What new things have we introduced other than we renovated our glorified airports? Who has published the figures of any of these parastatals? Charity begins at home. Why can’t we hold ourselves accountable? We are telling the airlines, ‘we want to see that you are economically viable, so submit your financials to us.’ Who holds the parastatals accountable? Do we know how much the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is earning on a daily basis for instance? Do we know how much the agency earns monthly?
There is a nation that is growing in Africa astronomically. It is Morocco. They don’t have our population. They are very rich in agriculture. Their airline is the fastest growing in Africa at present. You can check the records. At every point in time, they are growing their tourism. Significantly, they came to Nigeria to take a lot of Nigerian travel agencies to Morocco. They do daily flights and it is always filled to capacity.
The question is what did they do? They used data to position themselves and they’ve been able to grow their country. Their airline is doing very well. They are growing tourism simply because these people did not joke with data. They will give you the figures. The facts and figures are with them. What have we done with ours? They are selling beyond Casablanca. Casablanca, Marrakesh, there is a place called Fez.
They are selling all these places, which means that for every time a dollar moves into them, it is developing their country. For every time a dollar is leaving your country, you are losing out. What are we doing? How well are we promoting and positioning our flag carriers? I think it is high time that we woke up and tell ourselves the truth. Are we here for serious business or we are just here to pay lip service? If it’s about lip service, then let’s continue like this. There is nothing wrong with that.
But if we want to change the narrative, then we need to start speaking the truth. And the truth is that what data do we have? Why can’t that data be made public? Is there anything wrong with it? How many passengers? Who is the target? If you ask FAAN to give you the data of passengers, it will be different from what the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will provide for you. The NCAA’s figure will be different from what the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) will give you. Why should it be like that? Why? Because it will reveal a lot of things. So, they would rather not do it. If you are really going to do anything in this industry, we have to start by paying a lot of attention to data.
Is the sector’s challenge about absence of data or verifiable data?
What you consider as data is that you have a central point where you have all this data, filter them and present them to the public. You should reflect reality. If the data that are being received from the same industry differs from one organisation to the other, then it shows a fundamental problem. And only one body can make that happen – the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development. Why can’t we create a data unit? Because as I am running this organisation, I have a data officer. I comply with data. If I don’t comply with data, the federal government will sanction me. Why can’t the government tell them to comply? Or is it because they are the government? That is where the issues are. Nobody holds anybody accountable.
In 2024, data received indicated that Nigeria recorded about 15 million passengers locally and internationally, whereas in 2023, the figure was over 16 million. With about 15 domestic scheduled operators, what is your say on this?
And that brings me back to what I said earlier. When you are setting up an airline, you want to do financial projection. And when you are doing your financial projection, you are doing this based on data – the number of passengers. So, which means automatically, as an investor, if I rely on the data that is coming from the NCAA, I might fail. Because I will get into that industry and I will see something else.
So, something is fundamentally wrong. Because we don’t like to keep records. Because there’s either one thing or the other that they are hiding. Go and look at the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) figure, the figures are growing. Why are ours reducing? And to the best of my knowledge, the figure revealed by IATA does not speak to what you are saying.
Air travellers originating from Nigeria have over the years lamented the high airfares charged by foreign airlines on the Nigerian routes, what is the current situation?
Personally, I will say that there has not been an astronomical increase in airfares over the years. It is just that our currency has become weaker. Airfares used to be at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) rate. But now, everyone has moved to a central exchange rate. So, the rate of exchange for tickets is not standard anymore. The issue of blocked funds has disappeared.
Gracious, somebody was thinking enough to come with a policy that supports that. Not only that, even the airlines now can plan. They no longer worry about anybody holding on to their money. They can plan effectively and that has helped them to say we could invest more. Now, the question you as a journalist should ask yourself is: Why will British Airways go to South Africa and establish a regional flight there? And here, there are no regional flights. Does that stop the domestic carriers from competing? It means that they could synergise, they could collaborate.
Will the concession of the airports bring out the best in our facilities?
When we are talking of the concession of the airports, we have to look historically. The concession that we have made in the past, what is the outcome? Is there any legal implication to it? I know that there are still legal battles between the federal government and the Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) on the concession that was granted. So, you think I as an international financier will want to come into that environment?
All these things that we are talking about airport concessioning, I think we are just dancing to the gallery. The government before now, spoke about concession for eight years and it’s gone. This government too is talking about concessions, in the next few weeks, it will be two years and in the next two years, you won’t talk about concessions again because it will be all about elections, except the election is now concessioned.
As a travel company, are you enthusiastic about selling local destinations?
If you are going to sell a local destination, you will do it in conjunction or partnership with airlines. So, basically, the airlines will position themselves as ambassadors to those other destinations to be able to woo people into your country. But, do we have any of that? The answer is no. Is Air Peace interested in bringing foreign travel agencies to come and see Nigeria? Or what benefit is that to them? This can only be done by the government in partnership with local investors or airlines, but, unfortunately, nobody is taking that initiative. How do you think that sector will grow?
Are Nigerians now more inclined to travel to African destinations compared to the past especially with the various visa restrictions?
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) visa policy restriction became an eye-opener for a lot of Nigerians to explore other African countries. And in exploring other African countries, they have seen that there is no need for them to travel to Europe because some of these African countries have what it takes. If you go to Cape Town in South Africa, you will not even know that you are in Africa. There are places you go in Morocco that you will not even know that you are in the continent because they have developed their country and they have created some international standards.
What is your projection for 2025 Detty December?
Detty December will continue to grow. As far as they are concerned, our currency rate remains very weak. And we are fun loving people. So, it is very easy for anybody to come here and spend their Christmas and really enjoy themselves. Because when you are talking about Detty December, it is about going to places where you will have fun. It is like me saying I am going to Rio in Brazil because of the Rio Carnival. So, they know that in December, everywhere in Lagos is going to be fun. If you change $1,000, that is N1.6 million. Tell me how you will not enjoy yourself? In two weeks, you would have had a fantastic holiday.
Now, the question is this, as a nation, are we prepared for such? The opportunities are there, but we are not ready. Take for instance, Ogun State that is sharing a border with Lagos, are they even taking advantage of the opportunity of being next to Lagos? Do you know that you can live in Ijebu Ode and come to Lagos to work? It is a 45-minute drive if the road is good.
