Deploying the stern, unswerving focus of early aviators, entrepreneurial spunk of the Elon Musks and Bill Gates and compassion of the Dangotes, Prince Arthur Ezes and Tony Elumelus, founding Chairman/CEO of Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema, cuts a swathe through the tough forest of industry challenges, quirky ‘aero-politics’ and curious detractors to sustain one of Africa’s biggest flyers, writes Louis Achi
At the level of small talk, you could hardly get the better of Chief Allen Onyema, the founding Chairman and CEO of Nigeria’s aviation behemoth – Air Peace. But for the plucky, unassuming lawyer and entrepreneur more at home with analysis and action, this trend of dialogue could pall easily. He certainly needs these traits.
The modern aviation industry is certainly not for the lily-livered. With the ever-increasing demand for flight and innovative new technologies on the horizon, the coming years are set to be very exciting. Nevertheless, to achieve its potential, airlines, airports and subsidiary companies need to overcome the challenges of the aviation industry sooner rather than later.
Increasing volatility in the energy, geopolitical and economic environment, security, digital transformation, tweaking customer experience, fluid national and international regulatory operating environments, realignment of information management from different data bases, implementation of IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard targeting improvement and enhancement of how customers make bookings are just some key arenas that forward looking operators must navigate to survive. Besides effectively managing and retaining talent in the industry, the new normal birthed by the disruptive COVID-19 pandemic which almost stifled the sensitive sector of course cannot be left out of the laundry list.
According to Ernst & Young, a multinational professional services firm, understanding the aviation industry’s biggest challenges and issues in 2019, 2020, and in the future, will enable companies to gain a competitive edge in the race for sustainable, profitable growth. It is against the backdrop of these tough hurdles that Air Peace is clearly setting the standards for airline operation in Nigeria, while expanding its international footprint.
Air Peace, flying domestic and international routes, is a private Nigerian airline founded in 2013 with its headquarters in Lagos. Within seven eventful years, the carrier has grown its fleet to over 30 wide and narrow-body aircraft with four more on order or planned.
Waylaid by detractors
Curiously, since Chief Onyema delved into the challenging business of aviation by floating the Air Peace Airlines, a business he conceived to create jobs to the teeming unemployed citizens, so many negative stories have trailed this vision. Some of the allegations range from the ordinary through the bizarre and to the absurd.
His words: “Suddenly, everybody became interested, ‘how did he get money? Who is he fronting for? So, this is Nigeria where we belong. I’ve done things for this country that I deserve to be given one of the highest awards ever. It was my programme that led to the amnesty being given to the militants; it led to relative peace everybody had in Niger Delta today. When Shell discovered what I was doing, they came in and started bankrolling it in millions; Chevron and other oil companies joined.”
From THISDAY checks, since 1992, Chief Onyema had become successful in business, real estate and law practice. By 1995, he had already owned estates in Lagos and other cities in the country. This was before he veered into the business of Nonviolence Conflict Management with which he contributed majorly to the peace in the volatile Niger Delta.
Initially, some allegations held that Air Peace was owned by the former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, with Onyema as a front. Eventually, the former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah’s name also came up.
Apparently leaning on the wisdom that the more the merrier, Timi Alaibe was also named as the owner of Air Peace. Then, Kingsley Kuku name was dragged in. Both were co-ordinators of the Amnesty Programme that helped end the Niger Delta militancy.
Pretty few know that long before Kuku’s appointment, Onyema had already been a major player in the programme. There is no other organization on the continent that is involved in the Kingian Nonviolence Transformational Training of violent people except Allen’s Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN). His organization has always been the obvious choice because of its track record of expertise in handling people of violent disposition.
It could be recalled that he made history in Obubra, Cross River State where for over a year he held the place down for his nation, ensuring no life was lost there. He handled the transformational programme of the entire 30,000 ex-militants registered under the Amnesty in Obubra. The role played by his group was attested to by the international community that visited there. These services were of course handsomely paid for.
By as far back as 2005, Onyema had decided that violent militancy must give way to intellectual discourse. He started training youths all over the country in nonviolence principles and practices. He took the philosophy to the Niger Delta and started training youths and militants. He took them abroad for further trainings. It’s worth noting that at this time, there was no amnesty programme.
It was not until 2006 that Shell, on noticing the impact being made by one man for his country, contacted Allen to allow them bring militants from their host communities for this training. Chevron, also on noticing that the programme was making waves and changing lives of hitherto violent persons, keyed into Allen’s world too. They were all paying for both the local and foreign programmes of Allen running into millions.
As a result of the reports reaching the Presidency under Yar’Adua then about the impact of Onyema’s programme in the region, Timi Alaibe was instructed to appeal to the militant leaders to allow their wards go for this transformational programme and this happened. Willy-nilly, these moves foreshadowed the critical role Onyema was to play in Yar’Adua’s novel amnesty programmed that reined in militancy in the region. The rest is history.
