Aviation Featured

Nigerians are better-off living as one, Onyema preaches to in-flight passengers

Nigerians are better-off living as one, Onyema preaches to in-flight passengers

 

By Yunus Yusuf

The Chairman, Air Peace, Allen Onyema has called on Nigerians not to be discouraged by recent events, which has given vent to calls for separation, insisting that Nigerians are better off living in one, united nation.

Onyema gave the advice on Wednesday when he addressed passengers onboard Flight 7120 operated by the airline’s Boeing 777 from Lagos to Abuja.

The chairman told them that with the natural and human resources abound in the country, Nigeria would make a great nation and would be the envy of the world.

He said that the current challenges could be the key that would unlock the full potential of the country to rise to its greatness if the citizens could work together to make the country better.

Onyema added that the country’s population was a huge advantage and blessings for her.

“Nigeria is for all of us. The bigger Nigeria is the best thing ever that can happen to Nigeria. We don’t need to balkanise this country; we don’t know what we have got having this country called Nigeria.

“Our diversity should be our strength and not our Albatross. The diversity we have is the best thing that can ever happen to this nation. Let us make it work.

“Let us stop engaging in blame games. Let us stop engaging in the stigmatisation of ethnicities, let us work as Nigerians,” he said.

Onyema told the passengers that the United States was a conglomeration of people from diverse nationalities who worked together to build a great nation.

He said America was the melting pot of all ethnicities in the world where they had Igbo America, Fulani America, Yoruba America, and Anglo American from England, from Russia also and all over the world.

Onyema added that yet when they get the passport, they profess America.

According to him, however, in my country with all our capacity the first thing we profess is our ethnicity, I am an Igbo, Yoruba, I am Hausa. Can we stop this? This country can be better than it is.

He said it was not the fault of government, and it was not their fault but it was the collective effort of all of then that could make it work not just government alone.

“I want you to have hope in your nation; do not lose hope. Don’t feel that the worst has come to happen.

“We have passed through this stage before, let our diversity be our strength and this country will remain great,” Onyema who rescued Nigerians from South Africa during Xenophobia violence in 2019, told the passengers.

Related posts

FG suffers N15tn revenue shortfall in six year

Our Reporter

Apapa gridlock: Importers want Eastern ports open for cargoes

Editor

COVID-19: Presidency rejects money for hand, back for ground demand from governors

Our Reporter

GenCos seek transparency, infrastructure amid planned tariff hike

Our Reporter

40 million Nigerians engage in fuelwood collection, charcoal production, says Report

Our Reporter

EndSARS: No plans to stop operations in S/East —IPMAN

Aliyu DANLADI