Nigeria Airways Workers Finally See 23-Year Wait End

After more than two decades of waiting, former workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways are beginning to receive outstanding retirement and severance benefits from the Federal Government.

About 2,700 former employees are reported to have received payments totalling N18 billion, marking a major development in an issue that has remained unresolved since the national carrier was liquidated in April 2003.

The development has brought relief to beneficiaries who spent years seeking payment of entitlements earned from their service to the country. Some former workers have already confirmed receiving their money, while the exercise is expected to continue until the outstanding claims are addressed.

The Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria said the payment represents progress on a matter that had caused considerable hardship among the former employees. Its National President, John Ogbe, said he was confident the process would be completed shortly.

Ogbe also commended President Bola Tinubu, Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo, the Ministry of Finance and the Accountant-General of the Federation for their roles in moving the payment process forward.

The Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative also welcomed the development but urged the government not to stop with the beneficiaries who have already been paid. The group called for the remaining living former workers and the families of deceased employees to receive their outstanding entitlements without further delay.

Nigeria Airways was once the country’s national carrier before its liquidation more than 23 years ago. The prolonged delay in settling its former employees became one of the enduring labour grievances connected to the collapse of the airline.

For many of the former workers, the latest payment is therefore more than a financial settlement. It represents the fulfilment of an obligation that had remained outstanding for a significant part of their retirement years.

Stakeholders in the aviation sector are now calling on the Federal Government to complete the process and ensure that every verified beneficiary is covered. They argue that concluding the payments would finally bring closure to one of the country’s longest-running outstanding workers’ entitlement disputes.

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