The Board of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Monday settled for Finidi George, former Nigerian international as the new Head Coach for the Super Eagles, replacing José Santos Peseiro the Portuguese who left the job after leading Nigeria to the silver medal in the just concluded African Nations Cup (AFCON) in Cote D’Ivoire.

The choice of the former Super Eagles’ ace winger, who helped Ajax Amsterdam to win its first Champions League trophy, during the 1994-1995 season, was announced in a statement on Monday, following what the NFF Board said was the approval of the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee.

Finidi, 52, who also played for Real Betis, had taken full charge after of the Super Eagles after the voluntary exit of Peseiro with whom he spent 20 months as an assistant before the voluntary exit of the Portuguese, during which he took the team to the two friendly matches in Morocco last month, where he beat Ghana 2-1 in the first match, ending an 18-year winless streak against the Black Stars, but lost 0-2 to Mali in the second game.

George, a member of the so-styled ‘Golden Generation’ that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Tunisia and emerged the second most entertaining team in Nigeria’s debut at the FIFA World Cup finals in USA the same year, won 62 caps for Nigeria, including featuring at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals. He also won gold, silver and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2002 AFCON tournaments.

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The 52-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Real Betis (Spain) forward, who made a scoring debut for fatherland in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Burkina Faso at the National Stadium, Lagos on 27th July 1991, also featured for Calabar Rovers and Sharks FC in the domestic scene before heading to Europe. He assisted Rashidi Yekini (of blessed memory) to score Nigeria’s first-ever FIFA World Cup goal against Bulgaria in Dallas, USA on 19th June 1994.

George had actually scored the goal that took Nigeria to that FIFA World Cup debut, when he put Nigeria ahead against hosts Algeria in a crucial qualifier in Algiers on 8th October 1993. The match eventually ended 1-1 and earned Nigeria a ticket to the finals in America.

George’s immediate task will be to guide the Super Eagles to victory in two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and Benin Republic in Uyo and Abidjan respectively, in a little over five weeks. The matches are must-win encounters, with the Super Eagles lagging behind in third place in Group C of the African campaign behind Rwanda and South Africa.

Before the football house announced the choice, there had been high speculations that Emmanuel Amuneke, Barcelona FC winger and Finidi’s team-mate was highly speculated as replacement for the Portuguese.

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The much-awaited flight on Abuja-London route for Air Peace, the Nigerian-owned entity, which recently began operations on the Lagos-London space, will soon commence as the airline has secured the nod of the Federal Government to go full blast with the operation.

Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, who gave the indication, when he appeared as a guest on Politics Today a current affairs programme on Channels Television, on Thursday, said the competition that would arise from the development was good for not only the industry, but Nigerians, billed to benefit from it.

A palpably upbeat Keyamo, told his host: “Just yesterday (Wednesday), I approved Air Peace for the Abuja-London route, not only Lagos-London route. British Airways also come to Abuja. So, let Air Peace block that path and start a war. It’s all for the good of Nigerians.”

Keyamo, who argued that there was no reason to restrict the Nigerian airline to Gatwick, its current destination, maintained that in time, it would also be flying into Heathrow Airport, acing that the current situation was just a low-hanging fruit and a starting point for now.

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In fact, Keyamo, who spoke against the backdrop of many complaints by Allen Onyema, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the airline about attempts to frustrate the operation, stated that Nigeria was currently reviewing its Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) with the UK and Nigeria, to address all issues, adding that some decisions would be made at the conclusion of the review.

On March 30, 2024, Air Peace reciprocated the lopsided Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Kingdom when the local airline began direct flight operations from Lagos to Gatwick Airport in London.

The development has been applauded by many industry observers, with more local airlines being encouraged to commence international flights to profitable routes.

The price of an international flight ticket on the Lagos-London route was as high as N3.5 million, but with Air Peace pegging a return economy class ticket for N1.2 million, foreign airlines such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Qatar Airways have been forced to slash their prices to stay competitive.

The entrance of Air Peace on the London route has sparked a price war, with foreign carriers now underpricing to stay in business. On this, Keyamo said the government has been observing the unfolding events and would support Air Peace with all federal might.

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No fewer than 10 brand new aircrafts have been ordered by the Akwa Ibom State Government, owners of Ibom Air, one of the operators on the Nigerian domestic air business, in what Umo Eno, Governor of the state, said was an effort to expand its operations.

Eno, who was a guest of Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, on Thursday, was speaking on the efforts the government was making to improve and expand the operations of the entity, the only state-owned airline in the country.

The governor, who said the first batch of the order had since arrived and would soon resume operation after passing all the checks by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), explained that the state was not yet looking at drawing money from the airline but rather reinvesting all profits to expand the airline, he added: “You have to know that Ibom Air keeps expanding. So, for the government, we are not setting up right now to begin to earn naira and kobo. When we make profit, we will put the profit back to keep expanding operations.”

Against the backdrop of an incident involving one of the planes belonging to the airline in Lagos at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos on Thursday, the governor maintained that safety had remained the major priority of the airline, adding that none of its planes was allowed to take off without comprehensive safety checks carried out.

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In a post on his X account, a former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Joe Abah, had narrated how a ground engineer saved travellers including himself on an Abuja-bound Ibom Air flight from a “potential disaster.”

Abah, who had narrated how the aircraft was already taxiing before a loud knock from outside by the ground engineer forced the pilot to halt the aircraft, said the ground engineer told the pilot that he could not leave because his landing gear was bad.

But Eno, in a quick riposte, said: “For us in Ibom Air, we do all our checks before the aircraft departs and all of the approvals are always done. So, what you are talking about right now (the Lagos incident), I think it is as a result of the checks they did.

“I don’t have the full details but we will not (allow) the departure of any aircraft if we don’t follow all of the procedures. All the engineers and everyone sign off before the aircraft departs.”

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