Nigerian business magnate/politician and founder of Silverbird Group, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, OON, has called on the federal government to “commit to purchasing no less than fifty per cent of all outbound seats on each Air Peace flight to Brazil until such a time when passenger traffic naturally peaks.
“Without such support, he said, “the airline, being a private enterprise, may be compelled to withdraw if profitability cannot be sustained.”
The Senator was reacting to the recently signed Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and Brazil, describing it as “a laudable milestone which holds immense potential for commerce, tourism, and diplomacy between our two nations.”
The “Common Sense” exponent added that “it is imperative that patriotism guides our choices. All public officials, at both federal and state levels, should be required by law to patronise Nigerian carriers wherever such carriers operate, both domestically and internationally. We cannot claim to support local growth while turning to foreign alternatives.”
Writing on his Facebook page and copying the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, the Bayelsa-born politician/businessman said that “Charity must begin at home.
To be Nigerian is not merely a matter of birth but of duty. Patriotism is not negotiable. If we truly believe in our nation, then our actions, especially in the skies, must reflect that belief.”
He expressed satisfaction that the nation’s largest carrier and West Africa’s leading airline, Air Peace Limited, has been designated to pioneer scheduled flights between Lagos and São Paulo and said that every effort by both government and the people must be made to encourage and sustain it.
A member of the People’s Democratic Party, he was elected to the Senate of Nigeria in March 2015, where he represented the Bayelsa East Senatorial District, in Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
The 69-year-old politician cum business magnet is the founder of Silverbird Group, a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and was elected to the Senate in March 2015, where he represented the Bayelsa East Senatorial District, in Bayelsa State.
-Chukwuelobe, FNIPR.
