Tinubu Moves to End 22-Year Wait as FG Pays ₦18bn to Ex-Nigeria Airways Workers

After more than two decades of uncertainty, thousands of former Nigeria Airways workers are finally receiving long-awaited severance benefits as the Federal Government begins a ₦18 billion payment exercise.

For many former employees of Nigeria’s once-proud national airline, the wait has stretched across generations.

Now, after more than 20 years, the Federal Government has commenced the payment of outstanding severance benefits to 2,700 former Nigeria Airways workers, bringing renewed relief to beneficiaries and families who have spent years pursuing the money owed to them.

₦18bn payment begins

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed that the government had commenced payments covering 2,700 former employees of the defunct airline.

According to the figures released by the government, 2,100 beneficiaries in batches one to seven have already received their payments, while another 600 beneficiaries in batches eight and nine have been cleared for payment.

The total value of the exercise stands at ₦18 billion.

The payment follows President Bola Tinubu’s directive to resolve the long-standing obligation owed to the former workers.

A wait that lasted more than two decades

Nigeria Airways was shut down in 2003 and formally liquidated in 2004.

Since then, former employees have continued to pursue outstanding severance benefits, with the issue remaining unresolved through successive administrations.

For some beneficiaries, the delay lasted so long that they grew old while waiting. Others died before receiving the money, leaving their families and next of kin to continue the process of claiming the outstanding entitlements.

The latest payment therefore goes beyond a government financial transaction for many families. It represents the resolution of an obligation that has remained outstanding for more than two decades.

Government begins verification process

The Federal Government said the payment exercise was preceded by extensive verification to ensure that only legitimate beneficiaries received the funds.

The process included biometric capture as well as verification of personal and banking information.

Officials said additional verification will also be carried out for beneficiaries whose records contain outdated information, incorrect bank details or other issues that prevented earlier processing.

Where an eligible beneficiary has died, the government said payment would be made to the documented next of kin or estate after the necessary legal procedures are completed.

The government is also preparing a further mop-up exercise to capture eligible beneficiaries whose records could not be processed during the initial phase.

No inflation adjustment

Despite the lengthy wait, the government said the payments are based on the documented and verified amounts owed to the former workers.

Oyedele acknowledged that inflation over more than 20 years has significantly reduced the value of the money, but said there was no provision for inflation adjustment under the settlement.

This means beneficiaries are receiving the verified amounts owed to them rather than an inflation-adjusted equivalent.

More than a Nigeria Airways payment

The Nigeria Airways settlement forms part of a wider Federal Government effort to clear verified inherited financial obligations.

The Finance Minister also disclosed that payments had been made to more than 12,000 indigenous contractors as part of the government’s broader approach to settling outstanding obligations.

The administration has said the exercise is intended to reduce the accumulation of unpaid government obligations and ensure that verified claims do not remain unresolved indefinitely.

For the former Nigeria Airways workers, however, the significance of the latest development is much more personal.

After 22 years of waiting, thousands of former employees and their families are finally seeing movement on an entitlement that had remained unresolved since the collapse of Nigeria’s former national carrier.

The payment may not erase the years of waiting, but it marks a major step in bringing one of Nigeria’s longest-running outstanding worker-benefit issues closer to closure.