The President, Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative, (ASRTI), Air Commodore Ademola Onitiju, (RTD), has said proposed price caps on aviation fuel are not a sustainable solution in a deregulated market, though they may serve as a temporary measure to prevent a potential nationwide airline shutdown amid rising operational costs.
“That is not the best solution in the circumstances. But in order to address the immediate emergency that has arisen, I think we can commend the efforts of the present Minister of Aviation and, by extension, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Recall that following rising aviation fuel costs in Nigeria, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), reportedly held emergency talks on April 24, 2026, where a proposed price-capped band for jet fuel was introduced as a measure to stabilise the market and avert a possible airline shutdown.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, Onitiju noted that while the intervention is commendable as an immediate response, it is not sustainable and must be properly structured with full institutional consultation to avoid long-term disruption in the aviation sector.
“There is much more to do. It will be disruptive. It has to be well-structured and all the necessary institutions will have to be consulted too. But as an immediate measure to arrest the possible shutdown by the airlines, it’s a commendable effort” he noted.
He revealed the industry has long anticipated the current fuel shock and has consistently urged government to take deliberate steps to protect aviation from sudden market disruptions.
“We had anticipated this, and the immediate shock now and the disruption of prices—the astronomic increase. But prior to now, we had advocated that the federal government should, as a matter of course, address the critical pricing of aviation fuel. We had also advised that several steps be taken to intentionally grow the sector and insulate it from shocks of this nature.”
Criticising past aviation financing and policy, retired Air Commodore Onitiju said unresolved debts and shocks were poorly handled, calling for proactive planning to avoid recurring airline crises.
“We had also advocated the financing structure. It is not a question of absorption of past debts, because the debts have been there. Consequences of the US-Iranian war that brought to the fore the artificial scarcity, as it would seem. What happened before now? We had advocated that look, face this thing head-on. Aviation is an important contributor to Nigeria’s economy, you must be deliberate”, he stressed.
Onitiju further called for reforms in the Ministry of Aviation, urging that experienced industry professionals be integrated into policy formulation and implementation.
“When you look at the ministry itself, the composition, they need to do more. The people who are administering in terms of policy formulation, decision, and implementation, they should be people who are focused, people who knew about the industry,” he advised.
Warning that excluding technical experts in favour of politically appointed administrators undermines efficiency and weakens decision-making in a sector that requires specialised knowledge, Onitiju said:
“We have had instances when people who are well-experienced in these various segments of the aviation sector are allowed to go to waste because you bring in politicians who do not really have any stake in that industry to come and head critical departments. What you could have done is to transfer the services of those experienced hands into the mainstream of the Ministry of Aviation. The experience they will be bringing is invaluable, and such persons would know what policy to initiate and for implementation, for the collective good.”
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