The reality is that stifling over-protection of what are perceived to be national interests are standing in the way of Nigeria and its customers getting the range of destinations and frequencies a country of its size and relative wealth justify. The paucity of services in all directions from oil - rich Nigeria means that it severely underperforms in aviation terms compared to the two East African hubs of Nairobi and Addis Ababa thanks to relative liberalisation on the eastern side of the continent. The only way for Nigerian carriers to be successful is for them to provide a more attractive range of destinations, service standards and style and frequencies than the competitors,- not to strangle capacity and competition at birth.
Lagos should be a thriving hub with a steady stream of arrivals and departures to almost anywhere in Africa and key European, Middle and Far Eastern points. The reason why it is not does not lie in the hands of the foreign carriers. If airline capacity does not meet the national needs , the effects knock on to prosperity and jobs in other parts of the national economy and other businesses pay an enormous price for the protection of a national carrier. If Kenya Airways and Ethiopian can hold their own in more open markets against all comers, why shouldn't Nigerian airlines?