Towards closer Nigeria/Israel ties. The signing of a Bilateral Air Services Agreement between Nigeria and the Republic of Israel, on October 28, 2013 is indeed a milestone in the country’s aviation history. Although the BASA is coming several decades after the two countries established diplomatic relations and enjoyed strong economic and other ties, a new era of closer economic and other ties is anticipated, as direct flights begin between the two countries. At their meeting in Tel Aviv, on Friday, October 25, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan and the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Shimon Peres, spoke about the relationship between both countries and their areas of common interest which include trade, agriculture and security. The journey to the signing of the bilateral agreement has been a long one. Several months before the President’s visit, aviation officials of both countries had been working behind the scenes to ensure that a solid BASA that would benefit both countries had been drafted and agreed upon. And unsurprisingly, the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, and some senior officials of the ministry and aviation parastatals were in the President’s entourage to ensure that the agreement signing went on smoothly. Also in the President’s team were the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, and the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Viola Onwuliri, among others. According to diplomatic protocol, due to the fact that it was the Israeli deputy foreign minister, Zeer Elkin, who signed the agreement on the Israeli side, Mrs. Onwuliri, his Nigerian counterpart, was mandated to sign the BASA on behalf of the country. The aviation minister expressed optimism that direct flights would soon start between the two countries. She noted that the BASA would open a new business opportunity for Nigerian airlines that can now fly directly from Nigeria to Israel. Already, Arik Air has said it has passed Israeli security audit which would clear the way for it to start flights between Lagos and Tel Aviv, when given approval by the Nigerian Aviation authorities. After the signing, Prof. Onwuliri said that BASA would “augur well for movement of persons, our pilgrims, our businessmen, academics, the civil society and students.” Israeli expertise in agricultural technology, IT and security is well-known. There are several Israeli-owned businesses in Nigeria that have been providing services mostly in the areas of agriculture, agro-allied machinery, consumer goods and IT services, for several decades. Thus, having direct air flights between the two countries would go a long way to further ease logistics and help grow business and other activities between them. Another key element of the relations between the two countries is the fact that Israel is the birth place of Jesus Christ, and is home to major Christian historical places and artifacts which usually draw Christians worldwide on pilgrimages to locations like Jerusalem, Christ’s birth place which is in Israel. This includes the more than a thousand Nigerian Christians who visit Israel every year on pilgrimage. About half of that number visits the country on business trips every year and vice versa. In recent times too, the Nigerian aviation authorities have approved direct flights between another Middle Eastern country, Jordan and Nigeria such that in August, the Royal Jordanian Airline began direct flights between Lagos and Amman, which is the first since our independence that such flights would occur between the two countries. Undoubtedly, opening up and expanding the frontiers of the Nigerian aviation industry has been a key objective of the Aviation Master Plan and the current administration’s agenda for the aviation sector. Therefore, the historic signing of the BASA between Nigeria and Israel is expected to, once again, open a new area of business opportunity for Nigerian airlines, aside from the benefits accruable to other areas of the economy, especially agriculture. With the Nigerian-Israeli BASA in place, certified Nigerian airlines can now land directly at Tel Aviv airport and other approved locations in Israel. It is definitely, another landmark for the country’s aviation industry.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 17:41:11 +0000
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