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Onyema in his statements in an address he delivered at the
Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) held in Abuja decried
the ease of doing business in Nigeria, saying local investors face a lot of
statutory bottlenecks which stifle their growth.
“How do you grow your economy when indigenous investments
are overtaxed? These same investors are providing jobs for the populace. How do
you grow your economy when people in government see you as an enemy, a rival,
because they are blinded by whatever sentiments they believe in, thereby making
business difficult.
“Air Peace has about 14 million USD stranded in the Central
Bank of Nigeria. It is not hidden. We also have about 15 aircraft stranded
abroad. Afterwards, people will say Nigerian airlines lack capacity. They do
not lack capacity; what they lack is truthful government support and ease of
doing business.
“Do you know the amount this country spends on aircraft
maintenance through its airlines? Air Peace alone in 2022, expended 78 billion
naira on maintenance and these funds went to foreign countries. How can local
investments grow like this?”.
The Air Peace boss went on to recount how he applied to run
a maintenance hangar in 2015 after paying over 100 million naira to FAAN to
lease land at the Lagos Airport but added that Air Peace is yet to get the land
even eight years after.