𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮’𝘀 𝗔𝘃𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺

𝗕𝘆 𝗘𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻

The Austrian writer Stefan Zweig once observed that “the only thing that makes history worth writing is the moment when the individual, against all odds, bends the course of events.” Today, the Nigerian aviation sector, which was almost a graveyard of good intentions three years ago, has become a talking point in the international aviation community.

If there is one lesson President Bola Tinubu will take away from his first term, it is to trust his instinct. When he appointed Festus Keyamo (SAN) as Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development in 2023, the critics scoffed. They saw a political enforcer, a spokesman, and wondered if a senior advocate could navigate the technical complexities of Nigeria’s troubled aviation sector.

Yet, as we look back from the vantage point of 2026, less than three years of unprecedented turbulence and triumph, it is clear that the President’s instinct did not just pick a minister; it picked a catalyst for national transformation.

Let us be honest about where we were coming from. Before 2023, Nigerian aviation was a crying shame. Our airlines could not keep planes because foreign lessors saw Nigeria as a legal jungle. The Cape Town Convention compliance score was stuck at 49.5 percent, meaning international financiers would rather lease to a no-name airline in Kyrgyzstan than touch a Nigerian carrier. Our safety oversight was decent on paper, but nobody outside believed it. Every few months, some European agency would threaten to ban Nigerian flights. Ticket prices were insane because every airline was burning dollars renting planes with foreign crews. It was humiliating.

Fast forward to April 2026. Three years. That is all it took.

The headline achievement is the ICAO safety score. In April 2026, President Tinubu announced that Nigeria had scored 91.45 percent in the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme. To put that in perspective, the global average is just 70.4 percent, and West Africa’s is 61.1 percent. But let me tell you what that really means. It means when a Nigerian airline lands in London or Atlanta or Johannesburg, aviation authorities do not reach for the rubber stamp of suspicion anymore. It means insurance premiums are finally dropping. It means the era of treating Nigerian carriers as second-class citizens in the global sky is ending.

But Keyamo’s real genius has been going after the root problems, not just the symptoms.

First, he fixed the leasing nightmare. He brought together the Chief Justice, the Attorney-General, and the aviation community to issue clear practice directions: no more frivolous court orders holding aircraft hostage. Within months, Nigeria’s Cape Town score jumped from 49.5 percent to 75.5 percent. That is not a bureaucratic stat. That is the sound of a country being removed from a global watchlist. It sent a signal to the world: Nigeria is finally safe for asset financing. The result? Air Peace just took delivery of a dry-leased Boeing 737-700 NG from AerCap, Nigeria’s first dry lease in nearly a decade.

Second, with that credibility restored, Keyamo went to Afreximbank and sealed a deal for 25 aircraft through a new leasing subsidiary. He also led a delegation of airline CEOs to the Airline Economics Growth Frontiers Global Conference in Dublin, telling global lessors that Nigeria is open for business. For an industry that has watched struggling airlines fold for lack of fleet expansion, this is oxygen.

Third, he cleared the Bilateral Air Service Agreements mess. Nigeria now has new routes to Algeria, Cameroon, Brazil, and expanded access to the UAE. The Minister signed an agreement with Canada covering code-sharing arrangements. Intra-African routes have more than doubled, and the Single African Air Transport Market is no longer just a sticker on a minister’s laptop; it is actually working.

Then there is the MRO story. In September 2025, Air Peace broke ground on a N32 billion maintenance facility at Lagos Airport, the largest in Africa. Why does this matter? Because Nigerian airlines currently spend billions in foreign currency maintaining their planes abroad. Air Peace alone spent N180 billion on overseas maintenance in 2024. That money was leaving the country, creating jobs in Dubai and London. When that MRO opens, those billions will stay home. It is basic economics. The airline owners themselves have been the loudest cheerleaders. Allen Onyema said his airline would never have embarked on that project without a government that believes in them.

Keyamo also went after fuel costs, brokering a deal to source Jet A1 from the Dangote Refinery on a naira-for-crude basis. He revised insurance regulations to stop the bleeding of foreign exchange. He mandated that international airlines must patronise local caterers starting January 2025. That sounds small, but that directive alone keeps millions in the local economy.

We saw the first-ever Nigeria International Airshow in Abuja recently, an event that drew global attention and made us look like a serious aviation hub. President Tinubu honoured Keyamo for that milestone. It was a signal to the world that we are not just passengers in the global aviation industry; we want to be pilots.

You might think the international community has not noticed, but you would be wrong. Just last week, at the IATA Focus Africa Conference in Addis Ababa, the International Air Transport Association unveiled its list of Africa’s top four most prominent aviators. There, standing shoulder to shoulder with Teresia Mbaika Malokwe of Kenya, Poppy Khosa of South Africa, and Mesfin Tasew of Ethiopian Airlines, was Festus Keyamo. The same man dismissed as a mere political spokesman three years ago is now ranked among the continent’s aviation elite. Kamil Alawadhi of IATA specifically cited Keyamo’s “bold reforms” for Nigeria’s jump in safety and compliance. This is not Nigerian propaganda; this is global validation.

Has Keyamo done it alone? Of course not. President Tinubu gave him room to work. The judiciary cooperated. Private sector players took risks. But leadership means creating the conditions for success, and on that score, Keyamo has delivered.

Keyamo is not stopping at infrastructure. He is currently pushing the Fly Nigeria Act to the National Assembly. The idea is simple: mandate that all government-funded travel must use Nigerian flag carriers if the route exists. The Americans have the Fly America Act. The Indians have similar protections. Keyamo’s argument is solid: why spend taxpayers’ dollars on foreign airlines when our own carriers are dying for patronage? It is a bold, nationalistic move that could define the next phase of this recovery.

Few days ago, the Federal Executive Council announced the approval of a comprehensive settlement ending the two-decade legal war between the Federal Government and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited over the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two in Lagos. Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, disclosed that Bi-Courtney wrote off a N132 billion judgment debt with interest dating back to 2009, relinquished the exclusivity clause that had blocked the Lekki Airport project for years, and handed back the MM1 terminal to the government. In return, the government returned a five-star hotel concession to Bi-Courtney, agreed to relocate regional flights to MM2, and will now begin earning its share of revenues from the private terminal. Keyamo described the agreement as a win-win that finally unlocks the full potential of the facility after nearly two decades of litigation.

The council also approved the establishment of a Nigerian Aircraft Leasing Company, structured as a special purpose vehicle run and funded by the private sector, with the federal government holding an equity stake in return for providing sovereign guarantee backing. Keyamo said investors are already queuing up, and President Tinubu has directed him to work with the Finance Minister, the Attorney General, and the Trade Minister to formally configure the SPV. It is designed to solve the long-standing inability of local airlines to secure aircraft on stable, long-term leasing terms — a structural weakness that has forced carriers to rely on expensive short-term wet leases.

Look at the totality of the wins. The NCAA is stricter, keeping the skies safe. The airports in Lagos are getting facelifts, with new E-gates and concessions underway for Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt. The African Aviation and Aerospace University is finally taking off. Several state-owned airports have received commercial operating licenses for the first time, turning neglected assets into potential revenue generators. Even the visa process is automated, making it easier for tourists to come see what all the fuss is about.