A Nigerian aviation entrepreneur and philanthropist, Dr. Allen Onyema has urged Nigerians to commend and shower praises on Nigerian indigenous investors instead of condemning and bullying them.
He asserted that these investors have shown highest level of patrotism for the country by investing their hard aerned resources to develop infrastructures and establish industries which provide job opportunities for the nation’s teeming youth population and overall development of the economy.
Onyema added that these indigenous investors had on many occasions stood in the gaps to assist the government at meeting some critical demands when the need arose
Onyema made the call during a media parley to present the impressive growth the carrier has recorded since it was launched 10 years ago in 2014..
The Air Peace boss who also spoke on a wide range of issues, assured that, with the encouragement from the current President Tinubu-led administration, his airline and many other indegenous investorshs will continue to be patriotic to the countrry.
“Don’t equate indigenous businesses with the ownership of those businesses. Don’t look at the fact, that this business is owned by an Ibo, Hausa or Yoruba man, therefore, let’s break it down. That is the thinking of people who are very myopic. If you destroy any business that is providing massive jobs opportunities for the people, you don’t know where the next suicide bomber or armed robber will come from. And you don’t know who will be the next victim. It could be your brother, mother, sister or parents. Nigerians should begin to do things that will promote the image of indigenous investments. Anything other than that, it is an aberration
“Whether you like him, hate him, this country should be grateful to Aliko Dangote, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Tony Elumelu, Mike Adenuga and Allen Onyema. I say it without any regrets. If you hate Dangote and you try to destroy him, you are destroying your country. Take his business down, million of Nigerians will suffer. What Dangote has contributed to the nation is unimaginable. Look at the millions of lives he is touching and employing. Look at what he has set up. If Nigeria is going to import all those things Nigeria will collapse.” he said..
Onyeoma who asserted that indegenous investors are not investing just for people of their tribes, but entire Nigerians and foreigners to benefit from, admonished Nigerians to do desist from any cultural practice that promotes hatred for the protection of investments of people who are not from their culture or tribes.
According to him, “Nigeria should begin to jettison this ‘Pull Him Down” syndrome of their own things both from the government and citizenry. It has become a culture, that people destroy when they are supposed to protect their own. Nobody is God almighty. When you hate someone, it is like taking poison. At Air Peace, we don’t care where you come from. That is why Air Peace is like a mini Nigeria. We have over 4,000 staff irrespective of their tribes.”
Onyema said the airline will continue to be patriotic to promote the wellbeing of every Nigerian because government cannot do everything for the entire citizenry.
“We will continue to do that and nothing will stop us from doing those things that will promote the wellbeing of every Nigerians. Government cannot do it alone. Nowhere in the world has government done everything for its citizens. Patriotism demands that every citizen must play its own role. Air Peace has been playing its patriotic role for this country.
He explained that Air Peace came on board to operate international flights to ensure that Nigerians pay the right fares on the routes.
“Nigerians were paying through their nose to undertake international travels. This airline came in till date, we made flying to UK affordable to Nigerians. Without Air Peace, that wouldn’t have arose. Today, we are happy Nigerians could fly other airlines. You don’t need to fly Air Peace but we want you to fly other foreign airlines at the right price. Whatever you pay to a foreign country depletes our reserves. So when you overpay, it is hurting the nation. We should begin to fight for our own,” he asserted.
Giving insight into the latest development in the operations of Air Peace on its international routes, Onyema disclosed that Nigerians who have been clamouring for the airline to operate to Heathrow , London cab now heave the sigh of relief as tthe airline has secured the approvals of authorities in UK to operate scheduled flights from Abuja to Heathrow.
While he insited that the daily flights from Lagos to Gatwick London continue without any barrier, he disclosed: “from October, we will start Abuja -London flights as the British Authority has granted Air Peace access to Heathrow directly.
“We appreciate President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo for their support.”
The Air Peace boss however said that tthe airline’s safety record played very vital roles in its admission to the busiest airport in UK.
“If our safety record is dented, there will be problems. We have represented Nigeria so well. On the Abuja-London route, we shall be running , three flights per week to Heathrow from Abuja. However, Lagos- Gatwick remains seven times a week. If you are not good, foreign airlines won’t allow you to fly there commercially,” he explained.
On the issue of flight delays and cancellations which the airline was almost getting stigmatised on, Onyema said the management has evolved a mitigation strategy which has started yielding excellent results for the airline.
“Overtime, it was as if we are seeing Air Peace, we are seeing delays, cancellations and all that. But let the truth be said, no airline cancels or delays flights for the fun of it because you are losing money. No airline will gain from cancelling or delaying flights.
“Since May 10, 2025, when we introduced the buffer system where aircraft are set aside to serve as a standby to support in situations of flight delays and cancellations, we have noticed our operations improved as regards on-time performance. “Currently, we are recording 85 percent one-time departures daily.,”
“Air Peace has zero tolerance for unsafe practices. What we sell to Nigerians is our safety protocols, and we are very proud of this. We’ve not been validated alone by Nigerians. Air Peace has also been validated to be the pride of this nation by one of the most stringent Civil Aviation Authorities all over the world.
“Today, Air Peace is still operating to London. The British and European authorities came here and audited our airline, and we passed in excellent colours. That is why they approved us to come. And over the last one and a half years, Air Peace has proved its ability on international routes.
On its operations on the Lagos- London route, Onyema averred that the airline performs excellently well without having to cancel any flight since its inaugural flight on the route.
“To the admiration of those who gave us that validation, we never cancelled any flight to the Lagos- London for one day. The only time we delayed were the times the airport itself called on us, telling us to delay our departures from here because they were doing runway repairs.”
On the Dubai, and South Africa operations, he explained, “We stopped going to Dubai because of the visa ban, but the traffic is not like it used to be. So we are studying the route and gathering data on how the traffic is doing. We are, however, in partnership with Emirates now.
“As for South Africa, the visa regime there is frustrating, even our pilots are being denied a Visa to South Africa. Also, we stopped the Dubai route because of the Visa ban, but now, it has been lifted, and we know there is no traffic currently, but we will continue to monitor the situation. We are going to do a direct flight to the Caribbean nations, starting with.”
He however stated that the airline is making a foray into the Caribbean beginning with Antigua.
“A few days ago we flew to St. Kitts and Nevis. I’m sure some of you have seen the stories. We came back on June 12. We flew to St. Kitts and Nevis. We came back the same day. And yesterday we went to St. Kitts and Nevis again and came back this morning. This is a 20-hour flight, 10 hours going, 10 hours coming. We landed in St. Kitts and Nevis, we tried our cargo, our passengers.
On his most memorable moment in the aviation industry within the first decade of launching Air Peace, the unassuming philanthropist said: “My proudest moment being involved in Air Peace was when we deployed all our aircraft to the service of this country free of charge during the Covid-19 era. Most nations in West Africa wished they were Nigerians. We went to Turkey and brought medical supplies for over 220 million Nigerians free or charge. We deployed to India 20 times. In the wake of that bringing Nigerians to their country. We deserve to be apllauded by our nation by everybody including government agencies. We deserve it. Anything other than that, should be questioned. Chief Allen has paid his dues. I repeat my proudest moment being involved in Air Peace was when we deployed all our aircraft to the service of this country free of charge during the Covid-19 era.”
