By Dr. Joel Ademisoye, United States
Wow! The Governor of Akwa Ibom, Umo Eno, is leading a delegation of state Executives and Ibom Airline officials, to undertake a pre- inspection of an acquisition and purchase of Airbus A220, by the Ibom Airline in Canada. Note: This is the third in the fleet of Airbus aircrafts owned by Ibom Airlines (Source: “Eno leads delegation to Canada to inspect Ibom Air’s third Airbus aircraft,” Our Heritage Reporters, August 15, 2026.). First and foremost, imagine the number of delegates in the Governor Eno’s entourage, who will accompany him on the Canada trip just to witness the inspection of one Airbus aircraft! I think that Governor Eno will have a plane load of delegates- cabinet members, prominent elected political leaders and supporters of the governor, and traditional rulers in the state, who will accompany him to Canada for the ceremonial jamboree event of inspecting the Airbus aircraft. I am of the impression that the Governor Eno government will bear the flight, lodging and feeding costs of the army of delegates to the inspection of a Airbus aircraft event in Canada.
Out of curiosity, is this the prudent approach or way to spend the Akwa Ibom State revenue and taxpayers’ money?
For this writer, why is Governor Eno making the decision to spend and invest the huge state government funds into the establishing, managing and operating of the Ibom Airline project in Nigeria? Where is the feasibility study of the Governor Eno’s decision to invest the humungous sums of money into the establishment of Ibom Airlines? Is Ibom Airline the solution to the Akwa Ibom State development and Infrastructure Problems? In my information gathering, I found out that 1 Airbus A220 costs roughly $81 million to $93.5 million in Canada. And Ibom Airlines is 3 Airbus A220 aircrafts in its fleet of aircrafts. You do the calculations for the 3 Airbus A220 aircraft owned by Ibom Airlines.
How many Akwa Ibom citizens are going to benefit from this huge financial investment in the Ibom Airline company owned by the state? What is the air market for the Ibom airline in Nigeria? What are the employment generation / opportunities of the Ibom airline? Why is the Eno government having the interest, preference and apetite for the acquisition and purchase of the Airbus A220 aircraft?
Going down the memory lane with my knowledge, exposure to and experience of the defunct Nigerian Airways, a National Carrier, owned and operated by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), it wasn’t a palatable story and something to write home about, before it went out of business in May 2003.
Nonetheless, there are many lessons learned from the collapse of the Nigerian Airways and its closure, but more importantly, the Nigerian government was a colossal embarrassment and failure to own, operate and manage an airline, because it was bedeviled by the lack of transparency, accountability and integrity, which gave rise to the culture of corruption, poor management, misappropriation of public funds, heavy debt and the declining number of aircrafts owned by the airline.
Against this backdrop of the history and precedent of the federal government’s failure with the ownership of the Nigerian Airways, why would the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno, have the impunity and unilaterally took the decision, to invest, establish a state enterprise in the ownership of Ibom airline, which is consuming a huge share of the Federal Allocation to the state, used to acquire and purchase of the fleet of 3 Airbus A220 aircrafts from Canada?
Without mincing words, I raise the question about the Governor Eno’s appropriate economic thinking, rationale, policy and priority in the allocating of the state funds for the establishment and operation of the Ibom Airline at the expense of the other important infrastructure needs by the state, such as roads, public transportation, educational and health facilities and housing in the state. What about the development of the rural roads and electrification project in the Akwa Ibom’s villages? Hence, I consider the establishment and operation of the Ibom Airlines as part of Governor Eno’s personal, political pet, grandiose and lofty projects in Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria. Arguably, it is indicative of the state governors’ practice and pattern of mode operandi involving the frivolous, reckless and irresponsible government spending behavior in the country. You might recall recently that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu challenged, criticized and asked the state governors, to stop building the unnecessary flyovers, that go into no where in the country.
