Leader of the Senate, Most Distinguished Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, alongside his colleagues in the upper legislative chamber, has firmly rejected calls to revive the defunct Nigeria Air, demanding instead that the Federal Government urgently renegotiate and enforce Nigeria’s Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) with China to enable indigenous airlines to fly directly to the Asian economic giant.
Championing the push for balanced aviation terms, Senator Bamidele and the Senate underlined the severe imbalance in flight operations between both nations, emphasizing that Nigerian carriers must be granted reciprocal slot allocations at Chinese airports.
The lawmakers cautioned that Nigeria may be forced to reconsider the aviation privileges currently enjoyed by Chinese airlines if equal operational access is denied to Nigerian flag carriers.
The resolution, sparked by a motion from Senate Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Monguno, highlighted that with over one million Nigerians residing in China and over 500,000 Chinese nationals living in Nigeria, the demand for direct air connectivity is overwhelmingly critical to boost trade, shorten travel duration, and conserve scarce foreign exchange.
While contributing to the debate, lawmakers including Senator Abdul Ningi noted that Nigeria continues to shortchange itself in its trade relationship with China, a sentiment underscored by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who dismissed an additional prayer by Senator Ned Nwoko to resurrect the long-defunct national carrier, remarking, “We can’t revive what is already dead.”
Consequently, the Senate called on the Ministry of Aviation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to initiate high-level diplomatic talks with Beijing to secure fair slot allocations for local airlines and streamline business visa facilitation for Nigerian merchants.
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