• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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PDP chieftain seeks FG intervention in aviation sector

Aviation sector

Segun Adewale, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has urged the Federal Government to open up airports in the country for international flight after the resumption of local flight last week.

In a statement to journalists in Lagos State on Wednesday, Adewale called for the intervention of the federal government in the aviation sector to save it from collapse due to the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in suspension of air travel for several weeks.

He said since the lockdown started in March due to the Covid-19, the travel and tours industry which has over 20,000 direct members and employees running into hundreds of thousands have not had it good.

The former governorship candidate in Ekiti State stressed that it was good that the government worked very hard to contain Covid-19 pandemic which is a global phenomenon, but while the airspace was locked down, that, it did not inhibit private jets and chartered aircrafts from moving in and out of Nigeria, which negates the need for lockdown of our airspace in the first instance.

Adewale stated further that, most of the countries, who were severely hit by Covid-19, are now opening their economy, calling on the federal government to consider a quick opening of the airports for international flight.

According to him, “A lot of families that depends on their daily bread, working in our industry, have been going through severe pains, as the promise of Federal government’s loan/palliative, through the designated Micro Finance bank, aimed at cushioning the effect of the lockdown was not accessible by employees of our industry.

“A lot of families that depends on their daily bread, working in our industry, have been going through severe pains, as the promise of Federal government’s loan/palliative, through the designated Micro Finance bank, aimed at cushioning the effect of the lockdown was not accessible by employees of our industry.”

“The reality is that, we cannot lockdown forever, and we must not also allow our economy to collapse, but must manage to strike a balance,” he said.