After 20 Years of Waiting, FG Begins N18bn Payment to Ex-Nigeria Airways Workers
For more than 20 years, former workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways have waited for severance benefits they earned from years of service.
Now, the long wait is finally coming to an end, as the Federal Government has commenced payment of N18 billion to 2,700 former employees of the liquidated national carrier.
For many of the beneficiaries, the payment is more than money. It represents the fulfilment of an obligation that had remained outstanding for more than two decades.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja, describing the payment as an issue of dignity, trust and the responsibility of government to honour legitimate obligations to its citizens.
Oyedele said 2,100 former workers in batches one to seven had already received their payments, while another 600 beneficiaries in batches eight and nine were undergoing final processing and would be paid within the next few days.
The Minister acknowledged that no amount could fully compensate the former workers for more than 20 years of waiting, but said the administration was determined to resolve long-standing obligations rather than allow them to remain unresolved for another generation.
The payment covers former Nigeria Airways workers across all ranks, while entitlements belonging to deceased beneficiaries would be paid to their next of kin in line with documented legal provisions
Oyedele explained that the government carried out extensive verification, including biometric capture and validation of personnel and bank details, to ensure that the payments reached genuine beneficiaries.
He said a mop-up exercise would also address cases involving outdated records, incorrect bank details and deceased workers whose next of kin still need to complete the required documentation.
The Nigeria Airways workers’ payment is part of a wider effort by the Federal Government to clear verified obligations owed to citizens and businesses.
Oyedele said the government was also addressing pension arrears owed to retirees and outstanding payments to indigenous contractors and small businesses.
On contractors’ debts, he said the government had adopted a priority system, starting with contractors owed N50 million or less, before moving to those owed up to N100 million.
More than 12,000 indigenous contractors have so far been paid, according to the Minister, who said the government was working to ensure that future capital projects are supported by realistic funding provisions.
For the former Nigeria Airways workers, however, the immediate significance is personal: after more than two decades of waiting, money owed for years of service is finally reaching their hands.
