Allen Onyema Social Responsibility as Profitable Business

If anyone needed to know the business philosophy of Allen Onyema,
Chairman/CEO of Air Peace, a 2015 interview with Zest Traveller Magazine, will
provide the answer. Throughout the interview, Onyema, then 51, underlined
every response with a messianic ring, always reminding the interviewers that
Air Peace was founded on the premise of “giving back” to society. In that
interview, Onyema emphasized that he was only doing God’s work and that
the litmus test of God’s work was touching lives.
“Nigeria is having problems”, he said, “because, at times, the wealthy people
who are supposed to effect changes in the society don’t invest here. Instead,
they invest in America, the United Kingdom and in blue chip firms abroad.”
Challenging pessimists who often write off the country as a no-go area for
investment, he said, “We say we are scared because we don’t know whether
the country will survive. How will you know whether the country will survive
when you don’t play your own part?” Then, his prescription, “If you want the
country to survive, you must play your own part. You do not need to be
pessimistic about your country. Rather, you must play your own part to ensure
that your country survives…Any amount you have, please invest in the country,
and that is what I have done.
Seven years after Air Peace went into operation, any aviation watcher will
agree that Allen Onyema’s dream of giving back to the society has gained
traction. With over 28 aircraft plying 36 domestic and international routes
serviced by direct 2, 500 employees and numberless other indirect workers
from ground handlers to tour agents and hospitality off-takers, Allen Onyema
can beat his chest that his vision and mission have not only taken off but have
indeed attained cruising level.

How did Air Peace, nay, Allen Onyema cruise to the height of Nigeria’s number
one airline? To understand this, an insight into his beginnings would help. Long
before he went into passenger aviation, Onyema’s passion for the industry had
been fired when he bought into a proposal to invest in what turned out to be a
still-born cargo airline business. But that failure did not deter him.
However, prior to that and in between, his passion to serve his country and
humanity had led him to establishing the Ethnic Harmony Foundation in
Nigeria. Collaborating with the NDDC, Shell Petroleum Developing Company
and other stakeholders and with the executive support of late President
Umaru Musa Yar’Ardua, Onyema pursued a noble rescue mission, in the Niger
Delta. The goal was to get the Niger Delta militants, young men and women,
from the creeks, wean them out of their militancy and rehabilitate them
through various skills acquisition and empowerment programmes. He
succeeded. Giving back. Thus, all along, while some unscrupulous and selfish
Nigerians were arming and manipulating the youths for untoward activities,
Allen Onyema was devising means of rehabilitating and turning them into
productive individuals and ambassadors of peace, to theirs and society’s
benefit. Through that effort, Allen Onyema established his credentials as a
foremost change agent, a zealous patriotic and a reliable enabler. But it is his
foray into the aviation industry that has stood him out as a creative genius, a
business catalyst and a social engineer.
Established in 2013, with its head office in Ikeja Lagos State, Onyema’s choice
of Air Peace as the name of the airline is further attestation to his philosophical
inclination, to deploy every of his God-given assets toward making his society a
better place. Earlier in life, Onyema had developed a strong conviction that
peace is what the world needs, at all times. For that reason, he combined his
studies as a Law Student in University of Ibadan, with social activism bothering
on engendering peace in Nigeria. Up till today, the airline operator is still
building bridges amongst people and ensuring that peace reigns across ethnic,
religious and social divides. 
Beyond the name and what the airline stands for, in 2014 when the airline
started flight operations, Onyema set up an ambitious target. That target was
built around the vision that, part of Air Peace’s roadmap is to start acquiring
wide-body aircraft for international operations by 2017. His immediate
aspiration then, was to start venturing into acquiring brand new planes that
would suit the kind of operations he had in mind.

Today, Onyema has walked his talk by living up to those expectations. In 2018,
the Anambra State-born entrepreneur shocked the global aviation community
when he made a firm order for 10 brand new Boeing 737 Max aircraft. A firm
order means that the operator paid cash for all the new aircraft. The idea of
acquiring the Max aircraft, according to Onyema was to operate some mid-
haul trips like going to Europe, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid, Jeddah amongst
others. Aside Boeing 737 Max acquisition, Air Peace has gone the extra mile to
also acquire three Boeing 777 for long haul flights and several Embraer aircraft
type for regional operations.
Few years ago, the airline made an order for 30 ultra-modern 124-seat
capacity aircraft from Brazil’s aviation giant, Embraer. Ten of these orders were
activated in 2018 while additional three were activated at the Dubai Airshow in
2019, leaving purchase rights at 17. That singular order which Air Peace made
was elaborately celebrated, whereby the airline made history of becoming the
launch customer of that fleet size in the whole of Africa
Three of these 13 aircraft have been delivered and are now in Nigeria, while
two of the aircraft are expected to be delivered in August, pending when the
airline receives all the aircraft. The calculation, however, is that by the time Air
Peace gets to the eight aircraft, there is the likelihood that it will make more
firm orders to bring the number to 23 aircraft.
All put together, the company is gradually building a reputable record of being
the airline with the largest fleet in West Africa with about 30 aircraft currently
and about 40 aircraft in the pipeline, pending when all their orders arrive.
However, it has been estimated that the acquisition of the 30 new planes,
when fully operational, would create 17, 000 jobs for technical personnel in
the country, in addition to the over 3,000 direct and indirect employees
currently. 
With the structure of the airline and equipment available, the Federal
Government had, a few years ago, designated Air Peace to operate commercial
flights into Dubai, South Africa, Mumbai, London, Guangzhou-China, Houston,
with other destinations still in the works. Already, the airline had started its
Dubai route before the advent of Covid-19 pandemic. 
The airline also had a firm grip of the West Coast countries. Although the
airline stopped operating to some of the West Coast nations, with the return of
most of its aircraft from maintenance checks, Air Peace has applied to restart

their operations into Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Monrovia, Doula,
Congo Libreville, Malabo etc. 
In recent times, Onyema’s patriotism and passion for national service took
centre-stage in 2019, at the height of the xenophobia against Nigerians living in
South Africa. With hundreds of Nigerians shrieking in fear as bestial South
Africans were baying for blood, Onyema’s Air Peace embarked on a rescue
mission to evacuate them, free of charge, from the country that Nigeria had
once played a frontline role, to liberate from apartheid. In a letter to Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace,
Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide had said: “We cannot fold our hands and watch our
fellow Nigerians being killed by South Africans.
“To this end, Air Peace is willing to support the Nigerian Government’s effort in
this matter by deploying our B777 aircraft immediately to South Africa to
evacuate Nigerians back home”.
Similarly, when Air Peace was denied landing rights by the British Government
to evacuate Nigerians from Britain in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Air
Peace engaged a foreign airline to bring them back while offering to defray the
extra cost of the trip. Acknowledging the sacrifice of Air Peace, in a public
announcement by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated July 12, 2020,
the ministry said: “The Federal Government appealed to Air Peace to engage
the services of an alternative Airline to airlift our stranded citizens instead of
refunding their payments, hence the use of Air Partner, one of the Global Air
Charter companies advised by the British authorities.
“It is pertinent to note that, Air Peace graciously contracted Air Partner to
operate these chartered flights on its behalf at a much higher cost than the
tickets fares paid by the prospective evacuees.
Onyema’s patriotic credentials, entrepreneurial stake-holding and giant strides
at both the local and international aviation sectors, have not gone unnoticed
by key players in the nation’s aviation industry.
In the foreign affairs ministry letter detailing the effort to evacuate Nigerian
nationals from the United Kingdom, said: “In the light of the foregoing, the
Federal Government wishes to extend its appreciation to the Chairman and
Management of Air Peace Limited for their commitments and patriotism in
ensuring that our stranded nationals in the United Kingdom return home
safely…”

Another top Government functionary to commend Onyema was the Minister
of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, who stated that the acquisition of brand new
aircraft by Air Peace, was in tandem with Federal Government’s roadmap for
the nation’s aviation industry. Sirika, represented by the Permanent Secretary
in the Aviation Ministry, Mr Hassan Musa, at a recently held delivery ceremony
for Air Peace’s third E195-E2 aircraft, stressed that the use of brand new
planes by Nigerian carriers would change the dynamics in airlines’ profitability
and sustainability, by driving down maintenance and fuelling costs.  
The Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Captain Musa
Nuhu, has equally described the acquisition of brand new aircraft by Air Peace
as a milestone in Nigeria’s aviation industry, noting that what is happening in
the industry is a paradigm shift. Nuhu stated this at a recent ceremony held at
the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, to mark the delivery of Air
Peace’s aircraft.
Also, the Managing Director, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe has
commended the financial discipline of Air Peace, restating its commitment to
continuing to partner and collaborate with the airline. Speaking during a recent
ceremony to mark the arrival of Air Peace’s aircraft in Abuja, Mrs. Onyeali-Ikpe
said when the airline disclosed its plans to buy 13 brand new aircraft from
Embraer, she thought it was a joke, knowing how much these aircraft could
cost, but the bank worked with the airline to actualise that objective.
Onyeali-Ikpe said since Air Peace started doing business with the bank seven
years ago, the airline has exhibited high fiscal discipline and prudence that has
prompted the bank to go with the domestic carrier as far as it wants to go.

AWARDS
Africa Leadership Merit Award, International News Magazine (2006)
Martin Luther King Global Award for pioneering Nonviolence Education in
West Africa (2007)
Hope for Humanity Award from the Rotary Club
Leader of the Month Award for demonstration of Compassion and Meeting a
Need (2019)
BIODATA
ALLEN IFECHUKWU ONYEMA
Place of birth: Benin

Date of birth: 28 th March 1964
Parents: Michael and Helen Onyema
Home: Mbosi, Ihiala LGA, Anambra State
Education: St. Anthony’s Secondary School, Azia;
Urhobo College, Effurun
Government College, Ughelli
University of Ibadan (1984-1987)
Nigerian Law School
Marital Status: Married
Spouse: Alice Ojochida Onyema
Children: Four children