After failed attempts to float national carriers in the past, President Bola Tinubu has mandated Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, the newly appointed Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development,  to revive the Nigeria Air Project.

Tinubu also directed the civil servants to use his positions to sanitise Nigerian airports. Kana disclosed this during a meeting with heads of agencies of the aviation ministry and members of staff in Abuja.

He said he has been given the mandate to accomplish the two objectives of the current administration. “While receiving my deployment letter, I received very clear instructions, with two tasks to achieve within this period, by His Excellency, Mr. President, as well as the Head of Service of the Federation,” Kana said.

“One, to ensure that the Air Nigeria comes to be. Two, sanitize our airports across the country. All of us will agree that there is no better time to have an Air Nigeria than now.”

The Permanent Secretary stressed that his priority day and night was to work with his Minister Festus Keyamo, to achieve the renewed hope agenda of the President, to satisfy Nigerians.

He assured that the Nigeria Air project would be achieved within a very short period, adding that they would also intensify efforts, to sanitize our airports so that they can operate in line with global best practices.

“We want our passengers in the airports to feel at home to operate and move seamlessly, transiting from one point of the airport to another,” Kana said.

“Our dream is to give birth to a national carrier within the administration of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.

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