I HAVE taken pains and indeed strong courage to call the attention of government to the misguidance of the NCAA Director General on the ethics of practice in the travel and tourism industry, especially NCAA’s repeated misguidance of government as to the truth and facts of existing factors surrounding the legitimacy of their claims over international airlines.

Where it is right for us to fight for justice, we should not relent but where it is unjustified, we should not also be shy to face and point out the fact.

While this situation lingers, it is unfortunate that no one can yet see the political ambition and advancement involved in the persistence of this issue. I believe it is high time we had a change at the NCAA so as to have alternative opinions on the issue at hand.

After all, no one is Mr- Know- All and no one is indispensable. At this critical time of our nation we need people who should help to develop better relationship between us and other nations such as Great Britain and not those who will distant us in the cordial relationship with them.

For all that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have been going through in the hands of NCAA, the silence of the British Government which indeed allocated the two airlines to Nigeria route should not be seen as a sign of weakness.  When the British Government is pushed to the walls and their reactions begin in all spheres, it should be so remembered that an individual triggered the mess.

Many accusations of the NCAA boss on the international airlines have not only be debunked but have been proved to be totally untenable. I believe these should have been enough to prove him morally and professionally incompetent to hang on to the position of Director General of NCAA in the time being.

Let me say, and with all sense of humility, that  I have known nothing other than this all my almost four decades of service to the nation. I have also with vigour taken my country’s name to the greatest heights possible all over the world in other to see the country properly positioned in the global travel and tourism industry. However, as we take two steps forward, we are drawn 10 steps backward as a result of the ill winds always propelled by the negative people.

The NCAA Director General at a point claimed that the international airlines were not paying landing fees. This was proved to be blatant lie. He also accused British Airways for applying insecticide on board without necessarily qualifying this allegation as a directive from the World Health Organisation. His ignorance of the fact was displayed when he later admitted the action as having been a directive of the World Health Organisation.

Meanwhile, both the Ministry and the public had been misadvised and misinformed and the damage had been done on the airline. This situation should not have gone without severe reprimand on him. Recently, he has pulled the Ministry in to a lock jam with the airlines as to the compulsory reduction in their fares.

In the first case, could anyone dictate the price or regulate the price of a product he does not produce?  This is simple economic factor which cannot in anyway be dispelled anywhere in the world. I feel ashamed that anyone could even accept this as a factor for contention from NCAA.

The comparison being made between Nigeria and Ghana is not tenable as different conditions apply in the two countries in the areas of landing fees, fuel cost taxes, etc. The Ministry of Aviation and  senators who are currently being fed with wrong and unsubstantiated information should please look into the matter with caution and with a view of the differences that exist between the two countries.

NCAA  imposed a heavy tax as security tax on passengers without the concurrence of the National Assembly. This is unconstitutional and this forms part of the burden of the travellers.

Hitherto, nobody has queried NCAA on this and nobody has even seen this as part of the problem. Taxes on travels on the Nigerian route must be investigated and published for the public to know the truth. This is one of the ways we can clear our consciences as to whether we are pursuing the right policy or merely aggravating enmity between Nigeria and Great Britain. While I sincerely advocate for justice to be done in a rational situation, it will be unfair to adopt a wrong judgement on a wrong advice. Such will surely boomerang internationally and as long as Great Britain still remains the second home of most Nigerians, the situation may not be palatable when Britain hits back.

The issue of fuel tax is also ongoing. I presume none of us buys fuel into our cars without having paid the required VAT within the pump price. It is therefore not tenable that airlines had not paid taxes on fuel.

If NCAA is not trying to  pull the government into unnecessary controversy with the governments these international airlines represent here in Nigeria, there should be no basis getting our government involved in this type of nasty situation which in fact has occurred many years before the DG got into post. We must first ascertain the legitimacy of his allegation as well as the legitimacy of his claim without prejudice.

We need some peace in our country to be able to re-engineer the country’s fledging reputation. The airport is in a mess, complete mess; we are not able to run a national airline, we embezzled the funds, we destroyed the management, and we turned our airline to personal property and abused the polity with reckless abandon. We simply just have to face the reality of life rather than pursuing those doing their legitimate business.

If we do not want any foreign airlines in Nigeria, let us jettison all of them and we all stay in our homes which may be more appropriate. Let us first behold the beam in our eyes before seeing the mote in others eyes.

The country is definitely not presently in the best of position to attract foreign investment in many areas, including travel and tourism industry. I have been attending an investment forum recently in East Africa where I had attempted to attract some investment into Nigeria.

Much as my colleagues respected my position and acknowledged the historical efforts made by the erstwhile President, Chief Olusugun Obasanjo in the sphere of tourism, they did not waste time in pointing out to me their opinion on the threats on foreign airlines in Nigeria.

This comment came as a surprise to me but in reality it was an indication or proof of our inconsistency. Some of the investors opted to establish in Ghana which offered better conditions and conducive business atmosphere.

This is the reality and this is the position Nigeria now stands. We must stop listening to people with inordinate interests; we will achieve nothing from their advice but hatred and apathy.

Dr. FRANKLIN ADEJUWON, a former federal minister & Technical Adviser to the FG on Tourism Matters, wrote from Lagos.