Chairman of Air Peace, Barrister Allen Onyema, has been recognised and conferred with a National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) Award by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR,
The event held on Thursday May 12, 2022, at the 19th National Productivity Day ceremony in Abuja.
The award, in the Employers of Labour category, is in recognition of Onyema’s giant strides in entrepreneurship, massive job creation and overall economic achievements. Other distinguished personalities in the same category are Mike Adenuga, Jim Ovia, Abdul Samad Rabiu and Chinedum Okereke.
Receiving the award, the aviation cognoscente thanked President Buhari and the Ministry of Labour headed by Senator Chris Ngige and reiterated his commitment to the Nigerian project. He said he would continue to use his entrepreneurship to impact Nigera’s economy and carry out more social impact initiatives, adding that ‘Nigeria is our country and we all must do all we can to take her to greater heights’.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja at an event to herald the NPOM Award ceremony, Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said the conferment of National Productivity Order of Merit Award was a positive step by government to institutionalise productivity consciousness and excellence in service among workers and organisations in Nigeria towards redirecting their efforts to the growth and development of our economy.
Other objectives of the Award are to reward the most productive workers and organisations in both public and private sectors for diligence, high performance, high productivity and research achievements; encourage and foster the spirit of healthy competition amongst workers, firms and companies in Nigeria, and encourage the spirit of self-reliance.
Onyema who is well-burnished businessman, established Air Peace in 2014 and in less than 10 years the airline has the largest fleet in West Africa and has employed over 3000 Nigerians.
Onyema is a renowned entrepreneur who came into the consciousness of Nigerians in 2019 when he evacuated hundreds of Nigerians from South Africa during Xenophobic attacks when South African blacks were killing other blacks in their country.
Since then he has made other interventions for the country’s citizens.
During the lockdown, Air Peace evacuated many Nigerians from different parts of the world who were unable to pay for tickets to take them back to Nigeria.
The airline evacuated Nigerians from India, Thailand, Malaysia and some other African countries.
Onyema has been involved in many social investments, which have impacted Nigerians in various ways, especially the deployment of aircraft for rescue flights during lockdown in 2020, corporate philanthropy, massive employment, and other social impact initiatives.
Before the establishment of Air Peace, Onyema started the peace initiative that led to the end of violent militancy in the Niger Delta through his Nonviolence Transformation Programmes and he is unequivocally a firm believer in the oneness and unity of Nigeria and nationalist who is constantly using his God-given resources to promote the harmonious co-existence of Nigeria’s diverse ethnic nationalities.
He has also made successful strides in advancing Nigeria’s aviation industry, including being the launch customer of the Embraer 195-E2 airplanes in the whole of Africa.
Other business moguls honoured by President Buhari honoured include Chairman of Globacom, Chief Mike Adenuga, Founder of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, the Founder of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu, and a renowned farmer and currently the Chairman of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu.
Also the Secretary to the Federal Government, Boss Mustapha was also recongised with National Merit Award for the roles he played during the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria.
