The Lessons of Air Peace’s Isiagu Brouhaha
By Okey Ndibe
The whirlwind generated by Air Peace’s unveiling of outfits for members of its international flight crew seems to have blown over, but the lessons remain.
To recap: a little more than a month ago, Air Peace debuted its new Gatwick Airport route by showcasing crew members decked out in a resplendent costume inspired by the reddish “isiagu” fabric that features the image of the lion.
That airline’s sartorial choice triggered heated, if silly, criticism, especially on social media. Since the material for the airline crew’s outfit is popular with the Igbo, many loudmouths accused Air Peace of projecting an ethnocentric identity rather than a “national” one.
The attacks ignited even fiercer counterattacks. On Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and elsewhere, many Igbo folks showed off their isiagu tops. As most of the original salvoes against Air Peace came from Yoruba critics, and most of the counterpunches from Igbo folks, the brouhaha took on the aspect of an inter-ethnic feud. In a sense, the whole affair seemed a resurrect the mutual disaffection between members of the two ethnic groups following the controversial 2023 presidential election.
For me, however, those who gave Air Peace flak over its choice of uniform were wishy-washy busybodies and fly-by-night mischief makers. Their rage was both contrived and misconceived. There was neither rhyme nor reason to their calumnies. Indeed, the critics’ vociferousness merely underscored a troubling absence of basic intelligence and grace in their ranks.
To one’s relief, such rabble rousers are relatively small. Most Nigerians, regardless of ethnicity or religious affiliation, have nothing but goodwill for Air Peace and its principal owner, Allen Onyema. One has only to glance around to find evidence of this widespread support, remarkably among notable Yoruba figures. The well-spoken pastor, Paul Adefarasin, devoted part of a sermon lauding Air Peace. He praised the airline for giving a break to Nigerian travelers long exploited by a bevy of foreign airlines. Daddy Freeze, a broadcaster and commentator on issues, employed a sarcastic tone to skewer those bellyaching over Air Peace’s outfit. He had a straightforward advice for the airline’s critics: Go start your own airline, get yourself a license to fly into London, and design your crew’s uniform as you wish!
His counsel is so apt it ought to go without saying! Like many others, he understands that the whole uproar about Air Peace’s selection of uniform is manufactured outrage. And those who sought to focus on that non-issue are, in effect, deflecting Nigerians’ attention from their country’s grave crises.
Onyema happens to be an Igbo man, but as a businessman he has more than earned the admiration of all Nigerians. In September of 2019, South Africa erupted in one of its periodic xenophobic flareups. Armed with daggers, cudgels and other weapons, mobs of Black South Africans pummeled any black immigrant they could find. Many Nigerians were among the victims. Their government showed no inclination of lifting a finger to help. Onyema heard their plaintive cries. He sent his aircraft to airlift these fellow citizens who were otherwise hopeless. caught between a rock and a hard place. Guess what? He rescued every Nigerian he could reach, not only those from Igboland!
A year ago, civil war suddenly broke out in the Sudan. Again, it was Onyema who acted as a responsive and responsible government might have done. With alacrity, he detailed his planes to fly to Khartoum to bring back Nigerians. At the time, he was celebrated for his uncommon generosity. His did not instruct his crew to offer seats only to Igbo refugees. No, he helped as many Nigerians as he could. In those acts of philanthropy, Onyema demonstrated his emotional investment in the project called Nigeria—a project that appears less coherent by the day and less worthy of pursuit.
Let me stress: this man did what the Nigerian government should have done would not. And he carried out the risky, costly rescue at his expense. Did any of his latter-day critics trounce the government at the time for shirking its responsibility to embattled Nigerians?
In his characteristic way, Daddy Freeze struck at the heart of the matter. Air Peace may have its home in Nigeria, but it remains a private business, with Onyema as its main owner and financier. The matter of how to dress his flight crew is his and his alone. Critics who imagine that they should have a say in the matter are presumptuous interlopers. If they wish to be taken seriously, they should pronounce on issues that fall within their purview: like the egregious mismanagement of their country’s resources by politicians and bureaucrats at local, state, and national levels.
Some critics’ flair for hellraising far exceeds the reasonableness of their cause. That was the case with those who presumed to lecture Air Peace, a private business, on the adoption of a so-called “national” dress code. Often, fools think that their rowdy conduct, the grating loudness of their megaphone, and the viral reach of their nuisance translate to soundness of the mind. Such was the case with the traducers of Air Peace’s exquisite isiagu!
This reminds me of the idiot Reno Omokri who tried to kick up some dust after noticing that Peter Obi's legal counsel in his suit against Tinubu's electoral theft, were all Igbos.
Some people will always and forever be afraid of the Igbos and their potentials and accomplishments. They'll never be cured of their pathological fear and hatred of the Igbos. Theyll always see tribalism in everything the Igbos do.