Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council has finally approved the ratification of the Air Transport Agreement between Nigeria and the United States to strengthen cultural and economic ties that exist between the two countries.The ratification was made after Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, presented a memo to the council on the approval for ratification of the air transport agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United States of America.The decision of the Federal Executive Council was disclosed during a press briefing with statehouse correspondents, by the Minister for Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and the Minister for Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.During the press conference, Hon. Mohammed explained that the air transport bilateral agreement is aimed at strengthening economic and cultural ties between Nigeria and the United States.Mohammed further revealed that both the United States and Nigeria are parties to the Chicago Convention of Dec. 7, 1994.According to Mohammed, Article 6 of the convention urges parties to sign air services agreement with member states to improve social, political and economic ties.“The US has ratified its own and Mr President and council graciously accepted today to also ratify this agreement,” Mohammed said.Mohammed further noted that the air transport agreement would be of great benefit to Nigerians particularly now when it is working towards establishing its own national airline.“So, we will now take advantage of this air transport bilateral agreement to strengthen economic, social, and cultural ties between the two countries,” Mohammed said.The air transport agreement is expected to promote an international aviation system based on competition among airlines from both countries, with minimum government interference and regulation.The agreement will also facilitate the expansion of international air transport opportunities between both countries and will benefit eligible Nigerian airlines.
For now we are working hard to establish our own national airline, this air services agreement can really help us a lot, and it can also strengthen the cultural and economic ties between the two countries. However, what worries me is whether the timing of the implementation of the agreement takes into account the current COVID-19 factors, especially considering that after the implementation of the agreement, with the exchange of trade and tourism, it will put a lot of pressure on my country's epidemic prevention.