Antigua Airways – Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor

I have deep and worrying concerns with the government’s venture with establishing Antigua Airways with Mr. Mike Marvelous,  which incidentally is not his real name.

Nigeria’s aviation has a poor record with health and safety with domestic flights and there have been many crashes.

Additionally, Nigerians have an international reputation with humans, drugs, banking fraud,  money laundering, and scamming and trading with human body parts.

ALP should look into the problems that Trinidad and Tobago have with them: https://newsday.co.tt/2020/05/19/nigerian-man-held-for-allegedly-scamming-82-year-old-woman/

There are numerous incidents of Nigerians committing heinous crimes in Trinidad and the incidents occurring in Trinidad should be regarded as a learning curve.

I have been to Nigeria several times, it is a beautiful country, but it does not have a thriving tourist industry as is been promoted. Nigerian politicians have no interest in tourism, as it is not a lucrative industry for them.

Tourists do not regard Nigeria as a safe tourist destination. I tried to establish a tourism business in Nigeria, but could not progress because tourists’ safety against kidnapping and robbery could not be guaranteed.  I visited Badagry, Nigeria’s slave town to visit The Point of no Return, in the process of visiting the museum an unofficial ‘tour guide’ tried to rob in broad daylight.

Visiting the slave museum is highly risky for visitors, as the so-called ‘tour guides’ are all fraudsters. The museum is housed in an old dilapidated building in desperate need of repairs.

It is positively not a safe tourist destination.  I was fortunate to get redress from the robbery ordeal because I have a friend who knows the Oba, the local king of Badagry.

ALP has painted a cosmetic picture justifying its involvement with this venture, but I would urge fellow Antiguans to exercise extreme caution.

The emotive language used to describe Nigeria as the “motherland” is insidious, as Antigua’s slave ancestors were predominantly  Ghanaians, Sierra Leonians, and Gambians.

I fear that the outcomes from this venture will have far-reaching negative impacts on our homeland worse than what occurred with Standford.

Most airlines would not allow a pregnant lady to travel within 28 weeks of pregnancy, what is this airline’s policy regarding pregnant women traveling,  more specifically what is Antigua’s policy regarding this?

Is our immigration service an open door for abusers to enter the states to have a baby and then claim  Antigua’s nationality? That approach could not work in the UK so why should Antigua be different?

Sob Browne