“Keyamo?” Or “Keyamo!”

Of course, Barr. Festus Keyamo is the Minister of Aviation Aerospace Development of Nigeria. The name Keyamo has a deep meaning among the Uvwie people of the Urhobo Ethnic Group in Delta State, where Keyamo hails from. The rest of the Urhobo use another word, Kesiena. Keyamo and Kesiena mean the same thing. We shall go deeper into the meaning later.

The aviation sector in Nigeria has been bedevilled by a myriad of problems over time. At a point, planes were dropping from our skies like very sick and exhausted birds. A few air mishaps have been recorded recently, but not fatal as it used to be.

Our airports were eyesores at a time and some still are. On getting to our arrival hall at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, stench from the toilets welcomed you, followed by irritating toilet cleaners who were busy offering travellers tissue paper for tips, instead of keeping the toilets clean, the job they were employed to do.

That was a real anomaly because all over the world, travellers use hand dryers or paper towels to dry their hands without human interaction.

Further down you had some immigration officials asking returning Nigerians and foreigners “what did you bring for me?” Before you exited the terminal, customs officers took their own pound of flesh. But that is not all. You exited the arrival hall into very chaotic scenes: disorganised transportation system, rowdy touts, money changers who exchanged both genuine and fake money; thieves and people loitering around the airport for God knows what reasons. It was a nightmare for a first timer and other travellers. Departure was just as embarrassing. The departure hall was like an open Nigerian market place. The customs, immigration officials were not much different from the ones at arrival. That was the situation was as at May 29, 2023. I have not travelled abroad since then to know the current situation.

The aviation sector is a landmine. That made many Nigerians to question the choice of Keyamo as the aviation minister. They wanted an “aviation expert” as the minister. I am not vast in that sector, but I know that businesses and sectors that are international in nature like aviation and marine are steep in law. I felt a lawyer and a senior advocate of Nigeria, for that matter, should do well in the Ministry of Aviation. Beyond that, anybody who wants to reform the Nigerian aviation sector needs to have balls. He needs courage because of the changes, reversals and bold decisions that need to be taken. Over the years, Keyamo has shown that he is a man of immense courage.

Soon after he came in, the Federal Government suspended the Air Nigeria project. It was a deal that was deep in so much intrigues and secrecy. That was the right thing to do. Keyamo has just ordered the relocation of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) headquarters from Abuja to Lagos State. In a country where ethnic colouration was read into such relocations of government agencies from Abuja during the Obasanjo government, that is a courageous decision, but the dust is yet to settle. Some Northern elements say the relocation of the FAAN Headquarters to Lagos is anti-North. I find this thinking very disturbing because Abuja was conceived to be for all Nigerians. Anything anti-Abuja should therefore be seen as anti-Nigeria, not anti any part of the country. Abuja belongs to all Nigerians, its location, notwithstanding.

Anyway, even stake holders within the aviation industry hold divergent views on the relocation order. As a lay man, I feel that the initial relocation of FAAN headquarters to Abuja was ill-advised because over 60 per cent of FAAN’s activities are in Lagos. FAAN also left an owned-accommodation in Lagos to become a tenant in Abuja. FAAN has stated that the relocation will “stop waste of public resources and rip-off on the public purse.” I am for that, but time will tell.

Before the order for the relocation of FAAN, government had relieved the MD of FAAN and heads of three other agencies under the ministry of their positions and replaced them with new hands. Such changes do not really excite me until I see positive results of the changes, so time will also tell. There are many other issues Keyamo will confront and conquer many challenges to determine how his tenure as aviation minister will be judged.

Keyamo knows the challenges in his ministry more than I do and I have no intention of telling him what he knows more than I do. But for some time now I have become addicted to Songs of Solomon 2:15: “Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards…” In Nigerian parlance this verse simply means: “na small sh*t dey spoil yansh.” Another way to look at it is paying attention to seemingly insignificant but important little details. I will give an example as a prelude before I get back to the aviation sector. Why is there sand on our roads? It is not so in Europe, America and even emerging powers like Dubai, Singapore and others. Their roads are spick and span.

Back to aviation, I spent part of my early working life as a public relations/advertising person. I still see things from that angle. On arrival at our international airports, the first set of people foreigners meet are the immigration people. Consequently, they must be patriots with innate public relation skills and be great ambassadors of Nigeria, because the visitors get their first impressions of Nigeria from contact with them.

If they need to be intentionally and deliberately trained, so be it. I know the immigration staff are not under the ministry of aviation, but Keyamo must ensure that the Nigerian Immigration Service sends only the best hands who are driven by patriotism and professionalism, not pecuniary gains. No one has asked me for tips in Europe and America; even in some parts of Asia. The airports are the turfs of Keyamo and when in Rome, officials of other agencies must do as the Romans do. That should not be negotiable for Keyamo. Nigeria cannot be different from the countries it seeks to measure up to.

I have not used the new wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, but the toilets in the old were strategically located just before the entrance of the arrival, but they were an eyesore. I have never seen a smelly or dirty toilet in all my travels. The only time I encountered a smelly toilet was at LaGuardia Airport, New York. Our airport toilets should be spick and span at all times. They should smell good.

Flight delays and cancellations are still the norm rather than the exception. The narrative must change during your time, Hon. Minister. There are many other issues, some of which you have already talked about. The task is huge and I wish you success for the sake of the Nigerian Aviation industry.

Now back to the name, Keyamo. Keyamo can be interpreted in two ways in Uvwie. When it carries a question mark, it means that the person talking is not impressed, but when Keyamo goes with an exclamation, it means joy or contentment (this is, this what we have been expecting). Well-meaning Nigerians will take that decision, but it is minister’s performance that will determine if it is “Keyamo?” or “Keyamo!”

Francis Ewherido is a Saturday Vanguard columnist.

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