MAXIMIZING THE UNTAPPED REVENUE RESERVOIR OF THE NIGERIAN AVIATION INDUSTRY IN THE 21ST CENTURY: THE IMPERATIVES OF A NEW APPROACH

Abstract

Harnessing the forces of nature has helped nation-states and by extension, human institutions and organizations to advance their fortunes at varying degrees leading to different levels of accomplishment. There is equality of opportunity from the point of nature to all mankind but the defining limit has been how well such opportunities have been identified and maximized for the collective good of human socio-economic well-being and existence. In this circumstance, needless pain and discomfort will subsist for as long as opportunities offered and presented are not located, and properly harnessed. It is the lack of foresight, hindsight and, insight that has become the major forces that have balkanized and categorized social groups and institutions into successful and unsuccessful ones. The Nigerian Aviation hosts a huge potential for making resounding positive statements that would have re-focused the image of the Nigerian state, and positively place her on the global landscape. The state of Ethiopia in East Africa is in good reckoning among air travelers because of the influence of this airline which has brought fame and glory to the country. This is without mention of the direct and indirect employment it has created for Ethiopians. This study, therefore, intends to create awareness of the huge potential of the Nigerian aviation sector, outline its immense opportunities and establish ways these opportunities could be activated for the socio-economic development of Nigeria. Against this background, it adopts the structuralist–functionalist model as its theoretical praxis with the qualitative analytical framework to establish its findings which encapsulates the needed framework and steps the Nigerian state should take to maximize the huge potential in her aviation industry in this 21^st century.