Not quite two weeks ago, some Media Aides of our Governor, Senator Ben Ayade, went to town again to announce that the Ultra Modern Rice Mill in Ogoja has commenced test-run operations. This was following massive pressure on Government to loose the chains on the industries the Governor claims to be building.
But you see, the Governor doesn’t need to always rush to impress. This has been his biggest de-merit from the onset. Let him take his time and do these things properly. Let him be calming down with those announcements. When the rice milled in that facility enter Abakpa and Igoli markets and Udama market and we can all take our rice there and clean up, we will all become Ambassadors of the Ayade Rice Mill wonder with our selfies and Facebook and Twitter posts. It will become undeniable.
The premises of the mill will get very busy and the surroundings will become crowded naturally. The rice mill is near the highway, even passers by will snap from the road and promote it and tell the world that we now have the best rice mill in Ogoja.
Yesterday again, one of the long awaited CallyAir planes that have been parked at the Aero Contractors hanger at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, embarked on what Government House sources called “inaugural flight” from Lagos to Abuja.
It turned out that not only was “Air” removed from the CallyAir logo we have been inundated with, no one knew exactly how any passenger booked a ticket on CallyAir, which has neither a website nor a ticketing counter at the airport.
After our (CrossRiverWatch) interaction with officials at Aero and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, we were told clearly that, there is no such entity known in the Nigerian law as CallyAir. It is not a registered business. Cally Air or Cally aircraft is just the aircraft owned (or leased) by Cross River State Government but used by Aero Contractors Airlines. Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, is insisting that the airplanes can’t fly with the CallyAir logo because CallyAir isn’t a registered airline and does not have an Air Operating Certificate, AOC.
Aero only begged to fly the planes yesterday because they will soon be ready for another round of maintenance having been parked since their arrival from Europe without flying, after incurring demurrage and parking cost. Passengers who flew in the plane yesterday were booked and checked in as Aero passengers.
But in April 2020, in a letter I have attached here, the Governor approved and removed N250million each, totalling N4.5billion, from the accounts of the eighteen LGAs in Cross River State, to float an Airline called CallyAir. The N4.5billion was supposed to be the equity contribution of the LGAs in the CallyAir Airline and the Obudu International Airport.
What happened to CallyAir?
Why has “Air” been removed from CallyAir logo?
Is CallyAir an airline or a conduit?
What happened to our LGA funds invested in a supposed CallyAir airline?
Is CallyAir airline still undergoing registration?
The “Cally” aircrafts have received the traditional water salute in Abuja and Lagos. When will they arrive their host airport in Calabar?
Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo is the publisher of CrossRiverWatch and writes from Lagos State.
NOTE: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Agba Jalingo and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.