By Bola BOLAWOLE

FCCPC airline pricing investigation reveals alleged festive fare hikes, prompting sharp response from Airline Operators of Nigeria

By Bola BOLAWOLE

David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark, remember him? This man was the military governor of Niger state between 1984 and 1986 (straddling the military juntas of Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida).

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He, therefore, must have been a prominent member of the group that staged the coup that ousted the country’s first (though, fraudulently?) elected civilian president, Shehu Shagari, thereby truncating democracy in Nigeria.

It is a measure of the forgetfulness of Nigerians, their I-don’t-care attitude to public probity and rectitude, and the fact that there is no consequence for bad behaviour here, that the same man, after pulling off his uniform, was not only elected a senator of the Federal Republic, representing Benue South constituency from 1999 to 2019, he was also the longest-serving president of the upper chamber from 2007 to 2015.

Currently, he serves as the chairman of the opposition conglomerate called the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Those who truncated democracy at home now tout themselves as African democrats! Their charity begins not at home but abroad! So, like Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, Mark is another topnotch beneficiary of the same democracy they had truncated.

Mark was also Nigeria’s Minister of Communication (during the military junta of Babangida) between January 1988 and June 1990.

He will forever be remembered for his statement that telephones are not for the poor; never mind the spirited efforts made later to white-wash and whittle down the impact of that statement!

Maybe we should digress a little to put that ignoble effort at re-writing history to the sword straight away.

Here is what they said: “In Nigeria, myths always are garnished and promoted to facts. Up till tomorrow, Nigerians will quote David Mark as saying telephone is not for the poor. But what he said as Minister of Communication was that NITEL would disconnect the lines of its debtors. He said they could not claim that they were too poor to settle their bills. Poor people, he added, didn’t own telephones. The headline the following day was ‘Telephone is not for the poor – David Mark’”.

Now, judge! What can you infer from that statement by David Mark? How do you interpret it? Since you own a telephone line, you are not poor; so pay for it.

If you are poor, you cannot own a telephone line because you cannot pay for it! To own a telephone line, you must be rich, not poor! Wetin poor man dey take find telephone? Who dash monkey bananas? Ask any sub-editor worth his salt to cast that headline, it will still be “Telephone is not for the poor!” The inference is clear and direct.

In all modesty and with a deep sense of humility, I have been editor many times over, and the same headline is what I will cast!

Talking seriously, however, David Mark was correct. Those were the days when telephones were really not for the poor. People had to keep vigil at NITEL offices to make calls.

The telephone box was a status symbol. At PUNCH newspapers at the time, only three of us carried the Mobitel 090 luggage of a phone – the Chairman, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola; the MD, Demola Osinubi; and my humble self, Bola Bolawole, as the editor.

But, today, how does David Mark feel seeing that telephones are no longer for the rich but every Tom, Dick, and Harry carries a phone?

Those who were in positions but offered nothing to improve the life of the people, who again gallivant seeking leadership positions, we should ask them what they did with the opportunities that came their way!

That is one reason for this digression. The other is to hope that one day, air travel, which today is not for the poor, will also become available and affordable to the poor as well!

How many Nigerians can afford air travel today? Except you are a political appointee. Top government official. You work in an organization that foots the bill.

You live and luxuriate on the proceeds of crime. Very few people spending hard-earned money can still afford air travel.

To complicate matters for the citizenry are the twin evils of bad roads and insecurity.

You must pray, do vigil and commit your ways into the hands of God before travelling on our roads these days.

When people complain about the proliferation of airports, the hazards of road travel account majorly for it.

Those in leadership positions taking the decision to build all sorts of phoney airports under all manner of guises simply want to avoid the road.

And they can afford it because they fall within the categories listed above of those who can still pay the cut-throat air fares charged by shylock airlines.

Hence, my interest when I read of the efforts of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to investigate the way airlines inflate and skyrocket air fares like the typical Lagos “molue” and “danfo” drivers.

Once there is a crowd at bus stops and at airports, fares flare! During festive periods when people have to travel, they hike fares to collect “owo odun!” Once buses or aircraft scarcity is experienced, passengers and travellers must pay triple fares.

There is hardly any noticeable difference between the motor parks and our nation’s airports!

I also read of the intransigence of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, trying to rubbish the FCCPC initiative. The FCCPC must not buldge but should carry the initiative also to the foreign airlines like it has vowed.

Some of the preliminary findings of the FCCPC are damning enough. A report that I read had this to say:

“A review undertaken by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has uncovered patterns of price manipulation perpetrated by some local airlines during the last festive season.

The findings are contained in the interim report released … by the Commission’s department of Surveillance and Investigations…

“The report compares domestic airline pricing from the December 2025 festive period with post-peak January 2026 fare levels.

Preliminary analysis indicates that fares recorded during the December peak were materially higher than those observed in the post-peak period across several routes despite relative stability in critical operating variables like fuel price, government taxes and foreign exchange.

The differences observed in fares therefore appear to reflect airlines’ arbitrary pricing decisions, including yield management and capacity allocation, rather than any variation in regulatory fees…

“Commenting… the Executive Vice-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Mr. Tunji Bello, said the review is part of the Commission’s statutory responsibility to promote competitive markets and safeguard consumers. ‘This assessment is intended to provide clarity on pricing behaviour during predictable peak travel periods. The Commission’s role is not to disrupt legitimate commercial activity but to ensure that market outcomes remain consistent with competition and consumer protection principles under the law’”, Bello was quoted as saying.

Yes, consumers rights must be protected. This is a country under law, and not one governed according to the whims and caprices of buccaneers.

As would be expected, the airline operators have responded, albeit hastily, to the FCCPC, shipping it off as ignorant! A news report that I read put it this way:

“Domestic airlines, under the aegis of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), have strongly dismissed allegations of price manipulation and fixing brought by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC)… Reacting, AON raised concerns over the agency’s interference in ticket pricing, saying it is detrimental to the survival of domestic operators. AON, which dismissed the outcome of the probe, said FCCPC lacked knowledge about the economics of airlines and did not possess the professional expertise to engage in how airlines fix prices.”

Really! Is airline operation rocket science? Or are the AON re-inventing the wheel as far as airline management is concerned? Professor Obiora Okonkwo, who spoke for AON, said he was yet to read the details of the FCCPC report; yet, he had gone ahead to dismiss it as hogwash!

“They don’t know the economics of airlines and do not possess the professional expertise to dabble into how prices are fixed. They don’t understand airline operations and as far as the AON is concerned, they are playing to the gallery and should not be taken seriously”, he said.

Waooh! Some professors! Someone who was yet to avail himself with the full details of a report; yet, felt comfortable enough to disparage the organization and thrash its report – just like that!

Back to my question as we draw the curtains: Is air travel also not for the poor? I am sure you know this question is hypothetical and the answer is not one dangling in the air.

Air travel is not for the poor as we speak, just like telephones were not for the poor in 1989. In this, David Mark and Professor Okonkwo appear as kindred spirits.

But in future, possibly in our own lifetime, one of two things will happen: Either air fares will descend from its high horse and Olympian height to meet the poor or Nigeria’s poor would have been taken out of poverty – like Chinese leaders have taken hundreds of millions of their people out of poverty within a generation – to a point where air travel, like telephone, will no longer be the exclusive preserve of the rich.

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Let the FCCPC keep holding their feet to the fire!