Air travel across Nigeria is slowly returning to normal after workers of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) ended their two-day strike, following urgent intervention from the Federal Government.
The strike, which disrupted flight operations nationwide and left hundreds of passengers stranded, was suspended late Thursday after a closed-door meeting in Abuja with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.
NiMET workers, who had downed tools in protest of what they described as poor working conditions and neglect by the authorities, had earlier paralyzed operations at key airports including the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
Passengers at departure lounges across the country faced cancellations, delays, and confusion as airlines scrambled to navigate the sudden shutdown of meteorological services crucial for flight safety.
Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest carrier, took a bold stance. The airline’s CEO, Allen Onyema, in a firm directive on Wednesday, grounded all flights, citing concerns over flying without reliable weather updates from NiMET.
“If NiMET has not called off the strike, cancel every Air Peace flight now with immediate effect,” Onyema said. “People’s lives and the safety of our equipment and our crew are foremost.”
At the heart of the protest were longstanding grievances: failure to implement the new national minimum wage, exclusion of certain staff from past allowances, and what union leaders described as a general neglect of critical training and capacity-building programs.
Union officials said the situation had reached a boiling point. “We have been patient for too long. Our safety, our value, and our profession have been ignored,” said one union member, who asked not to be named.
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In response to the mounting crisis, Minister Keyamo convened a high-level meeting with key stakeholders including NiMET’s Director General, representatives from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), and other affiliated unions.
Following hours of negotiations, a temporary resolution was reached, and workers agreed to return to work while discussions on their demands continue.
With meteorological services restored, airlines began resuming operations Friday morning, much to the relief of passengers and crew.
The incident, however, has reignited conversations about labor relations within Nigeria’s aviation sector and the need for proactive engagement before strikes disrupt critical national infrastructure.
For now, the skies are open—but the clouds of labor unrest may still linger.