Fortune has smiled on the over four thousand workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited as the National Assembly late Tuesday approved the final payment of their N45 billion severance benefits.
The signing of the final approval was the last assignment the lawmakers carried out before they embarked on a two months recess.
The sudden approval may not be unconnected to the desire of the federal government to settle the former workers of the defunct carrier to pave the way for the seamless take off of the new national air, Nigeria Air in December.
The leadership of the National Assembly, Bukola Saraki and his counterpart in the lower chamber, Yakubu Dogara were said to have taken pity on the former workers who have been subjected to years of agony in the hands of the previous governments who failed to pay them their final entitlements fourteen years after the unpopular liquidation of the defunct Nigeria Airways.
According to sources, the ministry of finance officials has started holding crucial meeting to determine the payment procedure to be adopted.
Recall that the struggles for the payment of the former Airways workers commenced fourteen years ago after its liquidation during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
While the former workers of the fallen national carrier in Europe and America were almost immediately paid off by the same Obasanjo government for fear of running foul of the labour laws of the foreign countries, the former workers in Nigeria and Africa particularly those in Anglophone African countries were left in the cold.
Since the struggle started, over two thousand of the former workers died with many others left in miserable situation.
Respite however came their way when President Muhammadu Buhari through the minister of state for aviation, Hadi Sirika promised to pay them.
Following the promise, the Federal Executive Council led by President Buhari towards the end of 2017 ordered the release of the N45 billion for their entitlement.
Though the FEC approval marked the beginning of another struggle for the former workers as the officials at the ministry of finance and the National Assembly engaged in bulk passing as to the whereabouts of the file.
The former workers through the aviation unions had vowed to use their blood to frustrate the floating of another national carrier until they are paid their entitlements.
