Nigeria’s latest airline, First Nation, has collapsed less than a year after it began operations.
Owned by former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, First Nation started operations early last November but ran into trouble shortly after.
Sources say Tinubu’s management style ran the airline into a ditch. Same fate, it is feared, may befall his newspaper, The Nation that is being used as the media wing of the Action Congress.
The Ondo election exposed the newspaper, as misinformation, and atimes, utter falsehood were peddled about opponents. Even after the election, the paper published false results that favored the AC candidate
“The staff who didn’t leave on their own were asked to go on compulsory leave; so, in effect, there are no more operations,” an authoritative source close to First Nation disclosed.
It was learnt that the airlines has also lost its fleet of three A320s to the lessor, Aviation Capital Group.
“The aircraft (5N-FNA, -FNB and -FNC) are likely repossessed; they were re-registered to the US FAA register as N409AG, N466AG and N997AG earlier this month. First Nation Airways suspended its flight operations in June 2012, and ferried at least two A320s to Istanbul for maintenance,” according to the blog Aviation in Nigeria.
First Nation, which started operations early last November, is already contending with serious managerial issues capable of impacting negatively on flight operations and safety.
Already, the alleged mismanagement has sparked staff exodus in First Nation, which is believed to be owned by former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to a First Nation staffer who resigned his appointment with the company recently “The place was a nightmare for most of us. “Within the last week of May and the first week of June, four key staff resigned and many more had left earlier.”
Additional report from News Express