He asked Chidoka why Atiku was not advised to sell his
assets in Dubai as a protest to the ban on visa and flights.
UAE and Nigeria have been engaging in a diplomatic row over
issues involving flight allocations and travel bans since 2021.
On December 13, 2021, UAE issued a travel restriction on
passengers from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, citing a surge in
the countries’ COVID-19 cases from passengers of the two African nations.
The travel ban might not be unconnected with the diplomatic
row between Nigeria and UAE, over Air Peace’s flight frequency to the Arab
country.
Air Peace had requested a slot of three weekly flights from
Nigeria to Sharjah Airport in UAE, but only one was granted by the country’s
General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
GCAA said Air Peace should not expect to retain its flight
frequency after pulling out of Sharjah Airport — the Nigerian airline, however,
denied the claim.
In retaliation to Air Peace’s treatment in UAE, the federal
government dropped Emirate’s slots from 21 to one — leading to the Dubai-based
airline suspending all its flights to Nigeria.
Speaking further, Keyamo questioned why Chidoka “fail to
similarly advise” Atiku as he has done regarding the Emirates Airlines’
resumption announcement.
“To demonstrate your patriotism, sincerity and fidelity to
the touted ‘Nigerian Pride’, the big puzzle is, why did you fail to similarly
advise your boss, principal and mentor Atiku Abubakar to immediately relocate
from Dubai to Nigeria and sell off all his assets there in protest when the ban
on visa and flights were announced?” Keyamo asked.
“Hypocrisy has never been this audacious!
“Again, it is curious that, as a member of the think-tank of
the PDP, your election strategy at a time (popularly dubbed ‘the Dubai
Strategy’) was hatched in the same Dubai and not in Nigeria before the ban was
announced. Why export a purely Nigerian project to Dubai if you loved Nigeria
so much?”
Keyamo said the effort by the current administration is
focused on fostering healthy relationships with major partners around the world
for the ultimate benefit of Nigerians.
“Considering the huge investments and interests of Nigerians
in the UAE, should we continue to engage in ‘Bolekaja’ (motor park) diplomacy
capable of hurting the interests of Nigerians?” he asked.
“Will the imminent
return of Emirates to Nigeria and in reciprocal manner, Air Peace returning to
operating that route, not lead to better competition which will ultimately
crash the present high fares on that route?
“Who will benefit more? How many Emiratis visit Nigeria and
invest here as much as Nigerians visit the UAE and invest there? Have you
bothered to ask about the lifting of the visa ban before issuing your warped
statement? For your information, that has been resolved too and the
announcement is imminent.
“Rather than craftily
resorting to the card of false nationalism in pursuit of cheap political
points, you should have told Nigerians the economic disadvantages Nigeria stand
to suffer, if any, as a result of the commendable effort of the Tinubu
administration to straighten our relations with our friends in the UAE.”
Keyamo also said Chidoka should advise the PDP to work
harder to regain power in 2027 so they can resume the hostilities with the UAE
authorities.
