Air Peace is a Nigerian project, and every Nigerian should be proud of their prowess. Our government must do everything to ensure that this national project succeeds. It must not fail, like Arik. And, it must not sail like the Titanic. Air Peace must succeed and go ballistic for the sake of Nigeria.
However, the biggest threat to Air Peace is not the foreign airlines that have now launched a price war against the airlines, no the Nigerian bureaucracy that is not always well oiled. No.
The peril in overshadowing Air Peace today is Allen Onyema, its CEO. Mr. Onyema talks too much for a CEO. In fact, he is more of a spokesperson and a brand ambassador than a CEO, and he is wearing himself too thin and making unforced errors that will arm his enemies.
In an interview with Arise TV on Monday, April 1. 2024, Mr. Onyema said “We are planning to hit New York or Houston towards the end of the year, because we are bringing in more 777s. As I speak to you, my staff, they’re in California, the engineering technical services department, they’re in California inspecting some three 777s we want to acquire, we want to buy. So, if we could get them in the next two or three months, then of course, we are good to go anywhere.”
For a man who is taking on the big global airlines and complaining that they are trying to run him out of business, Mr. Onyema is somewhat naive. Why talk about your plans?
I love Air Peace. I want them to succeed. But, how many 777s can he buy from Boeing? Maybe five. Probably ten. Those he is accusing of fighting him order hundreds in a tear. In 2022 alone, British Airways ordered 50 Boeing 737 MAX for $6.25 billion, as well as 11 Airbus A320neo aircraft and three A321neos worth $1.7 billion. That is just for one year alone. And from one airline.
Collectively, this European cartel of airlines can approach Boeing or Airbus to frustrate Air Peace. What was the point of Onyeka’s revelations? The public is already happy with you for the Lagos-Gatwick feat. Why expose your plans? Onyema and Air Peace are already popular. What they need now is a vision to attract provision and avoid division.
And again, a week ago, Mr. Onyema was on television, again. And this time, he says:
“When you say what has it been like, right from the day we published our fares, even that inaugural flight got sold out within days.
“It got sold out in days and even up to September.
Then, four days later he was at the same station crying to the government and Nigerians to stick with him as the foreign airlines cabal had launched a price war against him for recent flights on the Lagos-London route. Well, if his first assertion were true, then Air Peace would not be bothered about a price war for ticket prices in April-May. They would have already sold out those tickets.
Perhaps Mr. Onyema may want to learn how to defeat foreign exploiters from Dr. Mike Adenuga.
How many times have you seen Dr. Adenuga in the news? Or giving an interview? Or defending himself or his brand? Or even accepting the Silverbird Man of the Year award when he won? The answer is never.
But no corporation in Nigeria advertises like Glo. Nobody. Bar none. And Glo’s adverts can’t be ignored. They are unputdownable! They grab you by overwhelming your senses.
And if you come after them, the way some have tried and failed, they launch a blitzkrieg of well articulated narratives that will make you regret the day the devil put the thought of fighting Adenuga into your mind.
That is how you do it. If your opponents and rivals cannot preempt you, then they cannot forestall you.
Dr. Adenuga had bragging rights when he was launching the first of its kind in Africa and the developing world Glo 1 submarine cable, which ran from Bude, a seaside rural town in north Cornwall, England and traversed seventeen countries, including Ghana, before terminating in Nigeria.
And what was the result? When EVERY other network was down due to the Red Sea submarine cable sabotage, ONLY Glo was up. While MTN is declaring a major loss, Glo is celebrating a major profit.
If Dr. Adenuga had gone on CNN to brag that such a wonder was in the offing, it would have been just too easy for his competitors to frustrate the project. By the time they knew about it, it was already too late.
The summary of what Mr. Onyema can assimilate from Dr. Adenuga is this: Build in silence and let your actions speak for themselves, or you will deliver activity instead of productivity.
Mr. Onyema may want to be seen more and heard less. Perhaps he could consider separating ownership from speakership.
Air Peace may consider hiring a professional PR person. Nigerians may have noticed the abrupt and positive change from the propaganda of the Buhari administration to the proper agenda of the Tinubu government. The reason is not far-fetched. Lai Mohammed is gone. The new Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris Malagi, is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, as well as a leading newspaper publisher.
Onyema should stop talking too often before he becomes a Lai and get a qualified spox.
Mr. Onyema must know by now that he is in the crosshairs of the foreign airlines mafia, and when you are soaked in petrol, you must not hug the limelight, lest a spark set you on fire.
And one final thing Mr. Onyema should emulate from the Bull is branding. Onyema believes he is the big picture, so he is not seeing the big picture. Follow the Glo template. Spend on advertising. Use Nigerian stars. Project them on CNN. Stop thinking locally and acting erratically. Instead, think globally and act strategically.
I have never met Dr. Mike Adenuga, yet I have been mesmerised by the emancipation of the Glo brand tight from inception and conception. And now I know why.
I launched the #FreeLeahSharibu campaign at Boris Johnson’s office at Parliament in Westminster. While there, I met one of the finest brand specialists on Earth. ‘You are from Nigeria?’, he asked me. I responded in the affirmative. And then he tells me how Dr. Adenuga flew him into Nigeria 48 times to brainstorm, sometimes till 3 AM, about how to take the Glo brand into orbit.
Now( that is dedication! Onyema should take a cue and move from glorification to dedication.