From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Former Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, has expressed delight over the commencement of direct commercial flights between Nigeria and Israel by Air Peace Airline.
She expressed excitement that the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) signed during her tenure had eventually yielded dividend with the launch of operation on the route by Air Peace.
Onwuliri who was part of the historic inaugural flight said the development would boost economic, tourism and religious ties between the two countries.
In a message to mark the flight, Onwuliri said: “Hello good people of Nigeria, may I inform you that I am writing from Israel. I went to Israel on the inaugural/first direct flight from Nigeria to Israel. For me, it was a dream and action fulfilled. The background is that when I was Foreign Minister, on 28 October, 2013, at the David Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem, I had signed the Bilateral Air Services Agreement with my Israeli counterpart, H.E. Zeer Elkin, for direct flights between our two countries, under the authority of President Goodluck Jonathan and Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu. Today, 10 years after, it has been realised and by God’s grace, we made the historic flight. It is amazing as it now cuts the current 13 -15 hours travelling time to about five hours.
“Thank God for me, also I thank President Jonathan on whose authority I signed and our dear hardworking brother, former Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, Prof. John Kennedy Opara, for all the hard work he put into it. May I also thank all those who made it happen, especially the two governments. God is so, so good. So if you are going on pilgrimage or on business or tourism, etc, you will now fly for five hours instead of 13-15hrs, which also means reduced flight rate. “God also used me to sign for Turkish Airlines to commence flight into Abuja and increase frequency to Lagos and Kano. I was invited and I received the inaugural flight of Turkish Airlines into Abuja some years ago. I had signed for Turkish to also be coming to Enugu. Let us pray that God will touch those involved to make it happen. Meanwhile, congratulations to Nigeria and Israel and indeed to all of us,” Onwuliri said.
Recall that as Supervising Minister of Foreign Affairs during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Onwuliri and her Israeli counterpart, Zeer Elkin on October 28, 2013, signed a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and Israel at the David Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem.