Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has fired back at a former counterpart, Osita Chidoka, over his statement about the resumption of Emirates Airline operations in Nigeria.
In a statement released on Wednesday, May 22, Osita Chidoka condemned the United Arab Emirates government and Emirates Airline for their “blatant attack on the dignity of Nigerians” through the unwarranted visa ban and suspension of flights.
Chidoka said the unwarranted visa ban on all Nigerians to the suspension of flights have been nothing short of a blatant attack on the dignity of Nigerians. Chidoka said the gleeful announcement of the return of Emirates Airline to Nigeria by Keyamo on X is a sad reminder of the ‘’deepening lack of national pride and the growing irrelevance of Nigeria in the world.”
In a response shared on his X handle on Wednesday evening, Keyamo likened Chidoka’s position to ‘’Hypocrisy that has never been this audacious.”
He said if Chidoka wanted to display patriotism, he should have advised his principal, Atiku Abubakar, to sell off his assets in Dubai and relocate to Abuja in protest, when the ban on visas and flights was announced.
‘’Thank you, @osita_chidoka for your opinion. However, to demonstrate your patriotism, sincerity and fidelity to the touted ‘Nigerian Pride’, the big puzzle is, why did you fail to similarly advise your boss, principal and mentor ATIKU Abubakar
@atiku to immediately relocate from Dubai to Nigeria and sell off all his assets there in protest when the ban on visa and flights were announced? Hypocrisy has never been this audacious!
Again, it is curious that, as a member of the think-tank of the PDP, your election strategy at a time (popularly dubbed ‘the Dubai Strategy’) was hatched in the same Dubai and not in Nigeria before the ban was announced. Why export a purely Nigerian project to Dubai if you loved Nigeria so much?
For the avoidance of doubt, this Government is focused on fostering healthy relationships with major partners around the world for the ultimate benefits of Nigerians. Considering the huge investments and interests of Nigerians in the UAE, should we continue to engage in ‘Bolekaja’ (motor park) diplomacy capable of hurting the interests of Nigerians? Will the imminent return of Emirates to Nigeria and in reciprocal manner, AIRPEACE returning to operating that route, not lead to better competition which will ultimately crash the present high fares on that route? Who will benefit more? How many Emiratis visit Nigeria and invest here as much as Nigerians visit the UAE and invest there? Have you bothered to ask about the lifting of the visa ban before issuing your warped statement? For your information, that has been resolved too and the announcement is imminent.
Rather than craftily resorting to the card of false nationalism in pursuit of cheap political points, you should have told Nigerians the economic disadvantages Nigeria stand to suffer, if any, as a result of the commendable effort of the Tinubu administration to straighten our relations with our friends in the UAE.
I will advise your PDP to work harder to regain power in 2027 and maybe resume your hostilities with the UAE authorities thereafter”.
