In March 2025, I decided to “kill two birds with one stone.” I planned a convenient and strategic itinerary that allowed me to participate at an academic conference (March 20 – 21, 2025) at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (popularly known as JKUAT), in Nairobi, Kenya. I also planned to attend the Congo Energy and Investment Forum (CEIF) (March 24- 26, 2025) that took place in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. My trip was arranged as a return flight from Dallas to Nairobi and the intermediary flight from Nairobi to Brazzaville. The return flight from Nairobi to Brazzaville was initially booked with Rwanda Airlines. This would have afforded me the opportunity to transit in Kigali for about 9hrs. I liked the idea of the transit in Kigali so that as I have always desired, I would have been able to see a bit of Kigali before connecting to Brazzaville.
Prior to traveling from Dallas, I serendipitously checked my itinerary and noticed that the Rwanda Airline flight had been canceled. I called the airline directly in Kigali and got to learn that owing to current rebel skirmishes at border towns of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda Airlines was currently not flying to the Republic of Congo which was my destination. Further research provided the rationale for this as it was common knowledge that the Rwandan government supported these rebels prompting the DRC government to declare their country a no-fly zone to Rwanda Airlines. The DRC whose capital city is Kinshasa, was formally called Zaire for those who do not know, and I refer to them now as the bigger Congo. The smaller Congo, that is the Republic of Congo whose capital city is Brazzaville was the destination of the Energy and Investment Forum that I was to attend.
After several calls with Rwanda Airlines, they rebooked my flight to Ethiopian Airlines. My flight to Brazzaville was billed for the early hours of Sunday, March 23, 2025 at 4.00AM.
Saturday March 22, a day after my conference concluded was mostly an uneventful one of resting in the Double Tree hotel that I stayed at in the Hurlingham suburb of Nairobi. A friend however took me out for coffee and ice cream at CJ’s Waterfront Restaurant in Karen, an upscale suburb of Nairobi. This particular CJ’s was quite busy and it’s proximity to the waterfront made it a delight. Add to that, the many fashion boutiques and stores for consumer goods, as well as other restaurants with live music on most weekends, and you would have a major attraction to savor. Evidently, this place was a major attraction for the sprawling middle class families and residents in Nairobi. On returning to the hotel around 10.00PM, I did not sleep as I could not risk missing my 4.00AM flight. I watched TV and then packed my luggage and ordered UBER around 2.00AM for the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. I went through security pretty easily and quickly and arrived at my gate, number 13, where I was to board my Ethiopian Airline flight for Brazzaville connecting at Addis Ababa.
I had my first surprise here as we began boarding about 9 minutes earlier than the designated boarding time. This was somewhat surprising as even in the US, boarding tends to start late with a number of the airlines, especially with crews arriving late and/or just coming in on their terms, or perhaps the lack of readiness of the plane.
I mused to myself: is Ethiopian Airlines that efficient to start boarding earlier than planned?
We boarded smoothly and the flight took off on time for Addis Ababa. We arrived at Addis Ababa at about 6.15AM. After getting off the plane, we proceeded to the immigration/security area for international connecting flights. This area which had many go through security locations for checking carry on bags, luggages and travelers, was buzzing and felt like a war zone. It was packed with passengers arriving from various countries and continents. On the surface, it was chaotically noisy as everyone in a survival of the fittest mode sought to find the shorter lines and quickest way to get through and then head to their connecting gates.
The chaos that appeared on the surface however, also revealed the efficiency with which the security personnel on ground ordered the swarm of passengers through this area of the airport. From here, it was each one to his/her own to locate their gates. The subsequent movements were in three directions to three terminals of A, B and C and their attendant gates. My connecting gate for Brazzaville was in terminal B. To get there, I had to walk through various levels of steps and duty free stores that eventually led to this massive open space where all terminal B passengers would either sit, lie down or just stand. There were very few seats and so, most passengers just stood all over the place and some began to go through a temporary barrier towards the designated gates for international flights.
As I stood there, I began to watch the crowd grow by the minute and by the time I was queuing towards my gate, I began to hear all kinds of voices and languages. Looking more closely, I realized that there were many nationalities from mainly Europe, Asia, North America and South America all over this huge hall. I thought to myself—this is feeling like the United Nations. As I further took in what I was witnessing, which on the surface was seemingly chaotic, I realized that Ethiopia was dealing with a very good problem. Summarily, Addis Ababa it seemed, was now the Hub for Africa. This was further buttressed by the names and flights that appeared on the Departure and Arrival Noticeboard. There were flights to most of the capital cities from North Africa all the way to Southern Africa. I saw names of cities I had never heard of before. I saw Asians with their wives and children. I saw a group of Austrians who traveled together. It was evident to me that many of these passengers were on business trips/adventures to different countries in Africa. I would like to say here that prior to this trip I had never been interested in flying Ethiopian Airlines. This first time experience was an eye opener and a revelation in many ways. Addis Ababa as a Hub, was effectively minting money for Ethiopia. I looked at a Coffee place (Kaldi’s Coffee) on the level above and thought to myself how lucky that business must be.
They were brewing money and not just coffee.
That business I would imagine, made tens of thousands of dollars on coffee and food daily even if only ten percent of the crowd patronized them. Whilst I began to appreciate and celebrate Ethiopia and Ethiopian Airlines, I became sad for my birth country, Nigeria, arguably the giant of Africa. Again, I wondered how it came to be that Addis Ababa has evolved to become the Hub for international flights to Africa, a status that should have been the enviable one for Lagos or even Abuja?
Who were the mad people that killed Nigerian Airways?
How is it that Ethiopian Airlines could do such a masterful job of orchestrating flights to hundreds of cities in Africa and Nigeria Airways was no more?
I was very impressed and happy for Ethiopia and Ethiopian Airlines, but was grossly sad for Nigeria.
Who did this to Nigeria?
Passengers were flying from Johannesburg over Lagos to Addis Ababa and then flying back over Lagos to Brazzaville. The massive potential and significant financial revenue that could have been Nigeria’s was now being enjoyed by Ethiopia. I also read in the news that Ethiopia had actually won a grant/contract to build a first class airport to handle future air travel as a hub for Africa. Terminal B where I was had about 7 gates. It was clear that there were multiple thousands of passengers than these gates could handle. So, what was happening was that about an hour or more to flight take off, your destination was shown at your gate. You then lined up and your boarding pass was checked and you went through a door, not towards the plane but to enter a bus outside. From each gate, passengers queued and entered the buses which then took us to our individual planes. For these international flights, Ethiopian Airlines had mostly 777 and 787 aircrafts. My flight was in a 787 and I would say that there were likely over 30 aircrafts lined on the tarmac that were being prepared for their flights. It was an amazing sight to see. This was my first time to fly in a Boeing 787.
On boarding my flight and taking off, I couldn’t help wondering about Nigeria and how we missed such a great opportunity to be the hub for Africa. Lagos or Abuja International Airports would have been more central to distribute flights to other African cities. I kept vacillating with mixed emotions between my new admiration for Ethiopia with some envy and sadness felt for my country. The stark difference couldn’t be clearer. A pet peeve of mine is the wastage of human resource and the unrealization and lack of maximization of potential. In the Biblical parlance of Genesis 1:28, I believe we are commanded to be fruitful, and to multiply, and to replenish the earth, to add value, to build, to plant, to develop and to lift up. I pray that the current government of Nigeria sets itself on course to do just that for Nigeria. Nigeria needs to stop being enigmatic and start to fulfill her purpose and live her aspirations.
Dr. Nosayaba Evbuomwan, PhD writes from Grapevine, Texas.
