It will be nine years in February 9, 2026 since the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria took over the management of Nigeria's foremost airline, Arik Air, under the receivership initiative. But the airline continues to decline despite the hopes raised at its takeover, writes Chinedu Eze
When Arik Air was taken over on February 9, 2017 by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in a commando manner and with truck filled with security operatives, the government agency painted a rosy picture of its intervention and raised the hope of quick revamp of the airline.
The take-over ceremony demonized the former management chaired by the airline Founder, Sir Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, and it painted a picture describing the former managers as chronic debtors. The new managers also justified the take-over of a private-sector driven on-going concern with about 3, 500 workers. But the court had since exposed that the alleged debt was a farce.
The Receiver Manager then, Oluseye Opasanya, obtained ex-parte order from the Federal High Court on February 8, 2017 and the airline was taken over the following day. The former Managing Director of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru said the objective of AMCON was to rescue the company. The ex-parte order ideally lasts for 14 days under which AMCON was supposed to issue a motion on notice to sue those running the company at the time. But the order was eventually struck out after four years.
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Again, there was conflicting report on the number of aircraft which AMCON inherited after the takeover. While the former management insisted that it left 19 operating aircraft and total of 23 aircraft in the fleet, AMCON said that it inherited 9 airworthy aircraft. But document from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) confirmed that the aircraft in the fleet of the airline when it was taken over was 23.
But as at February 4, 2026, only two aircraft are being operated by the airline and the fleet has also shrunk.
The Genesis
When Arik Air was established, it pioneered some firsts. It was the first privately owned commercial airline that acquired brand new aircraft after the demise of Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL).
It was founded in 2004 started operation in 2006 with unprecedented growth; that by 2010, the airline had become West Africa's largest airline with over 20 aircraft, 120 daily flights, connecting Nigeria to London, New York, Johannesburg, west and central Africa while dominating domestic routes from its Lagos and Abuja hubs. It stimulated employment, tourism, trade, aircraft maintenance activity and airport development. By the time it was taken over in 2017 by AMCON, Arik Air had about 3, 500 staff.
What was remarkable about Arik Air was its international credibility and goodwill. Because of the way it was established. Its aircraft acquisition was financed by international financiers, a rare privilege for a Nigerian business concern and the institutions that financed the airline include, US EXIM, European Export Credit Agencies, PEFCO, Afreximbank, and global commercial banks such as HSBC( local guarantees by some local banks including Union Bank)--institutions that rely on legal predictability and transparent enforcement.
These international supports collapsed on 9 February 2017, when AMCON assumed control. Its later opaque operations indicated lack of sincerity in the take-over, as the new management under receivership could not sustain the aircraft in the fleet, pay suppliers owed by the airline or carry out fundamental policies to revamp the airline as it claimed it would do.
AMCON cut back international operation. Arik Air's suspension of its New York route led to the delisting of Nigeria from the United States Federal Aviation Administration Category One Status (USFAA CAT 1) and International Aviation Safety Assessment Programme (IASA). This means that no Nigerian registered carrier can operate to any US destinations until Nigeria returns to the status.
It was Arik Air's operations that sustained Nigeria's membership, since FAAN recognised Nigeria as a Cat 1 country in 2010. It was also Air Air's aircraft, Operation Control Centre and expertise in air operations that were used to audit Nigeria before it obtained the FAA Cat 1 Safety Status.
Personnel Losses
Some staff of the airline started leaving the company immediately AMCON took it over, especially the technical expatriate staff. Limited capacity forced management to push out many others. Many pilots, engineers, cabin crew, ground staff and support workers lost jobs or careers. Many were forced to retrain, relocate or abandon aviation entirely.
"Institutional knowledge built over a decade evaporated, route networks broken, markets connectivity vanished etc. Aviation goodwill--painstakingly built and earned since 2006--was squandered. Today Arik barely operate 20 flights and reportedly operate only two aircraft," an insider told THISDAY.
Nigeria's Image
Nigeria's image was further damaged when reports exposed the forceful way a government agency took over a company built by private investment. It was reported that export credit agencies and global lenders observed a troubling pattern: "impunity as emergency judicial powers converted into prolonged control, receivership and morphing into de-facto ownership".
What benumbed hopes in the industry was the way Arik Air was allowed to deteriorate. The ever vibrant labour unions never protested against the sack of the workers or the emasculation of once the biggest airline in West Africa; rather, experts analysis leaned on subtle sympathy with AMCON.
The federal government agency failed to revive the airline after nine years.
"Under AMCON's receivership, Arik Air did not recover; it steadily declined. Aircraft were grounded in large numbers without any coherent, time-bound technical recovery plan. Strategic domestic, regional and international routes--painstakingly built over years at enormous cost--were shut down. Valuable airport slots were lost, bilateral traffic rights lapsed, and brand goodwill evaporated. Skilled aviation professionals were rendered idle or displaced. A receivership that should have preserved value instead oversaw its systematic destruction.
"One of the most damaging decisions of this period was the installation of an airline captain as a figurative Chief Executive Officer. While technical flying competence is admirable, it is no substitute for the commercial, financial and strategic expertise required to restructure a distressed airline. Airlines survive only when aircraft fly productively. Yet the receivership era under receiver managers who have no verified track record of running any successful business in all their careers became defined by grounded fleets, shrinking schedules and managerial paralysis. The result was predictable: loss of relevance, loss of revenue and loss of confidence," the insider also told THISDAY.
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Highhanded Govt Officials
The Arik Arik story exposed increasing tendency of public officers to weaponise statutory powers to protect institutions, shield colleagues or advance personal narratives rather than pursue justice, value preservation and the public good.
"When extraordinary laws are applied without competence, humility or transparency, they cease to be tools of reform and become instruments of destruction. Arik Air is one of the clearest casualties of this culture," an industry observer noted.
In other words, public servants who play critical roles in government agencies use their position to push for personal gains at the detriment of the organisations they serve. Also, the case of Arik Air, a privately-owned company, where government officials under AMCON were given access to a company built by the sweat and vision of a Nigerian, were romped on a self-serving mission and at the end it was left in tatters.
The Chief Executive Officer, Arik Air in receivership, Captain Roy Ilegbodu, did not answer calls made to him by THISDAY to review the nine years of Arik Air under AMCON, but referred THISDAY to the Receiver Manager in response to a message.
