Analyst can hardly appreciate why Nigerians are so crude if they continue to discountenance the notorious fact that in our clime, people can attain wealth and prosperity without meeting any rational standards. It also aptly explains why a well-known armed robber, thug or tout instantly becomes an ‘honourable’ by bombing his way into any elective position. Crudity as a factor of success is thus fast spreading into every business. To rip off compatriots, some people are busy selling expired medicines while others are gainfully engaged in unfair price-fixing of goods and services. Towards the end of last year, Nigerian airlines imposed huge ticket prices on passengers who were desperate to spend the festive period with their families in their ‘country homes’ – a more fanciful title for villages.
Although not many were surprised at the unfair pricing ritual which had become an annual event, no one in truth expected that the prices for the end of 2025 to the first few weeks of this year would be as high as N700,000 for a one-hour flight between two cities in Nigeria. The hikes were so roughly executed that the blind could see through them. They were like vote-buying at any of our election centres watched by security operatives. Therefore, when the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission FCCPC announced its decision to probe the development, we did not expect the probe to waste much time in determining whether or not what we all saw actually happened; instead, our assumption was that the probe would be specific and business-like. How much each airline extorted on each route and the sanctions that would be imposed on those involved were what Nigerians were waiting to hear.
It is thus likely that many people may not be happy over what they are hearing now which looks more like a dialogue and not a probe. But then, it is still fair to begin by commending the FCCPC for its intervention. We need to recall that in times past, nothing would have been said or heard or done. Second, the methodology adopted in indicting certain airlines was simple. To start with, FCCPC’s investigation was prompted by several complaints by passengers that airline ticket prices increased sharply during the 2025 Christmas period and New Year holidays. This according to Dr Tunji Bello, FCCPC’s Chief Executive led to an intensive review of pricing practices in the domestic aviation sector during peak travel periods.
Among other things, findings of the investigation revealed that fares during the December 2025 festive travel period were significantly higher than those observed in the post-peak January 2026 period. Also revealed was the existence of a price-fixing mechanism which aided some airlines to engage in coordinated pricing practices which are prohibited under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA). More importantly, the FCCPC was able to conclude that the pricing during the period of the review was quite unfair because the period in Bello’s words witnessed “relative stability in fuel prices, regulatory charges and foreign exchange conditions.” If so, what else could have prompted the huge jump in the ticket prices of the period?
What has been made public so far is that five (5) airlines have been indicted but no names have been disclosed which is rather unfortunate. If the FCCPC has chosen to move cautiously for fear of litigation, it should have at least told us the 5 airlines that have questions to answer. After all, as an investigative and regulatory body, the FCCPC is empowered to eliminate anti-consumer and anti-competitive practices across all commercial activities within Nigeria, or those that affect the country. In particular, under Section 17 of its enabling law, the FCCPC is mandated to promptly intervene when consumers are exploited by companies, firms, or individuals. Some may therefore see the current caution as bothering on timidity considering that it is already 3 months after the particular exploitation.
On its part, the Airline Operators of Nigeria AON seems to have found a strong voice amidst the FCCP’s conciliatory approach. According to media reports, the Airline Operators of Nigeria, lambasted the FCCPC, over its price-fixing report which it claims was based on a flawed understanding of the industry’s economics. The AON also insists that the regulator does not possess the professional expertise to dabble into how prices are fixed threatening that the operators would resist conclusions not grounded in operational realities. “The AON concludes that the FCCPC does not understand airline operations, adding that any report from the agency is merely playing to the gallery.
To the layman, the two bodies are not on the same page. While one is emphasizing professionalism in a particular technical/operational area, the other is simply referring to research on sales and pricing of a service. Is the AON suggesting that to conduct research on services rendered to the public by airlines, the researcher must be an airline operator? If the matter at stake was merely operational, how come the outcry on pricing of the service is not daily in line with operations but only during the end of year festive period? On this score, it would appear that the AON is hiding under technical terminologies on a non-technical subject of the price of a service in a particular season. Perhaps the difficulty the rest of us have is our lack of knowledge on whether the cost of parts of an aircraft increases during Christmas.
Those who should know about the capacity of the FCCPC sharply disagree with the viewpoint of the airline operators. The former Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Samuel Caulcrick, cautioned against questioning the commission’s expertise. He revealed that the FCCPC included officials with aviation regulatory backgrounds and urged airlines to defend their positions with evidence, rather than outright condemnation. As for a former Chief Regulator, Babatunde Irukera “it’s actually disingenuous and intellectually lazy to just flippantly say the FCCPC is ignorant or lacks expertise without being able to identify the specific areas of investigative failures or improbable conclusions.”
To agree with the AON’s casual dismissal of the competence of the FCCPC is to imagine that the latter must have populated its Department of Surveillance and Investigations with misfits. In reality, the FCCPC officials are well deployed to monitor sharp practices across the nation. As the Commission’s Executive Commissioner for Operations, Louis Odion, has reiterated, the agency does not regulate prices but ensures that consumers are protected from exploitative practices. The AON will not be able to persuade anyone with even the argument about the rush on the Eastern route during Christmas. It is said that because airlines have to return empty from the East after dropping passengers, those involved should be made to pay a double fare hence the fares appear exploitative.
Let’s recall the points made by the travellers to the East who openly berated airlines during the Christmas rush. First, they argued that those who went home for the festive season would have to return, so they will still have to pay another fare at the point of return. Second, there is no reason why a passenger should pay N600,000 for one trip when that would under normal circumstances amount to four trips at N150,000 each. What these viewpoints suggest is that there is ample greed in businesses in our country making it necessary to appeal to well-meaning Nigerians to become more compassionate towards their compatriots. But if we blame only airline operators, the pains of many Nigerians would persist.
If, however, public authorities take interest in restoring ethical values, Nigeria may become less hard to live in. To start with, we need to reduce our highly monetised politics. For as long as we allow politics that brings huge resources to the participants for that long will other citizens look forward to how they can engage in sharp practices in their trades, vocations and professions to attain huge wealth quickly. Painfully, many of such trades and professions are harmful to society, yet people engage in them to make ends meet. It may therefore not be enough for the FCCPC to check several bodies for the purpose of consumer protection, are all Nigerians ready to do the right thing to make the nation great?
