Alhaji Mohammed Tukur, who still sees himself as the spokesman of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), is a good example of an interloper.
He is neither an aviation administrator; a pilot, an aircraft engineer, a technician nor even an educated man.
But, credit must go to him for his staying around and learning the ropes about how to sell air tickets and board passengers, which was what qualified him to become chief operating officer of Chanchangi Airlines.
Unfortunately, his limited knowledge of technicalities of airline operation contributed to the failure of the airline, with such great promise. Not giving up, he stuck tenaciously to operators who had Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and he was rewarded with the post of assistant secretary of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON)because of his mastery in distributing press releases.
But today, Tukur is in a hurry to forget his past. Despite his inadequate academic qualification and lack of sound knowledge of the aviation industry, he smiles from ear to ear when ignorant people refer to him as an aviation expert, an appendage he least deserves.
A good interloper, Alhaji Mohammed Tukur must be cherishing the fact that he deceives Nigerians with the parochial and unprofessional statements he releases through his media friends, who attribute these releases to AON. The good news, however, is that genuine aviation stakeholders know the facts.
Such fictitious statements that are credited to AON are what have kept Tukur relevant in the industry. The real airline operators usually looked the other way when they read those statements because such releases did not hurt their business but the latest release in which Tukur said that the operators had decided to stop paying charges to the aviation agencies for whatever reason hit them hard and compelled them to officially complain that Tukur was neither an operator nor an official of AON, which executive had been dissolved many months before the release and a caretaker committee set up. They also clarified that Tukur was not a member of the caretaker committee.
They warned that an individual like him should not allow his personal interests to interfere with their business because they never contemplated nor imagined ever going to stop paying charges that are internationally recognised and paid by other airlines all over the world.
The media has kept Tukur relevant in the industry to carry out his illicit propaganda, which he uses sometimes to fight against the interest of the airlines. He is a paid propagandist who goes for the highest pay cheque and who has exploited his friendship with journalists to sustain his livelihood in the aviation industry.
The transformation going on in the aviation industry is sweeping people like Tukur out of the sector. It is creating room for serious minded people who have skills and resources to invest in the sector. Airline operators should sanction Tukur for using the name of the association to create confusion in the industry.
Mohammed Babayaro, is of the Aviation Stakeholders Squaretable
