What To Know About the Air Peace Boss, Allen Onyema

The xenophobic attacks by South Africans against Nigerians and subsequent calls from the home front for Nigerians there to return home, has again prompted Mr Allen Onyema, the Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, to exhibit his long standing love for the people of this country irrespective of tribe and religion, by offering to fly Nigerians in South Africa back home for free.

The exercise, according to media report cost Mr Onyema over N280 million. His gesture has saved us time and tax payers money would have been syphoned through this activity. This is a project that could have taken days or weeks to carry out even at one billion plus in naira, if it were to be a government project. Let us leave this aspect of the discussion for another day.

Here are some facts you need to know about Allen:

. He is not the owner of Peace Mass Transit Limited.

· In 2007, a friend told him that one commercial Boeing 737 could give jobs to over 150 persons. So, he went into Commercial Aviation with his wife just to create jobs for the people. According to his interview with City People, he said, “If it was about profit, I would have kept the money in the banks and be getting double digit interests on my investments.”

. He came to Lagos in 1990 in search of jobs with no money on him.

. He squatted in Oshodi and couldn’t afford taxis or buses; he would go to Lagos Island by rail. Going back to Oshodi, he would trek from Marina to Iddo to join the overcrowded trains. He wanted to practice his profession as a lawyer.

· Seven of his aircraft are also named after his family. The executive jet has Michael on it, his father’s name. One Domier 328 jet has Helen on it- that is his late mother’s name. The other Domier 328 has Ojochide, his wife’s name. The first four B737 have on them names of his four children namely; Nnenna– after his first child and daughter, Chinonso– after his first son, Obinna – after his second son and Ugochukwu – after his last son.

· Onyema was born in Benin City, Edo state in 1964 to parents of Anambra State origin and had his early education in Benin.

· He attended Government College, Ughelli, Delta state where obtained his Higher School Certificate in 1984 and was directly offered admission to read law at the University of Ibadan in the same year.

· It was in the University of Ibadan that his appetite for peace made him to lead a group of nine other students to travel to the ancient city of Zaria to quell a raging religious and ethnic riot that claimed lives. As a result of the publicity he and his colleagues received on return to their campus, their enthusiasm grew and this led to the formation of a group known then as Eminent Friends’ Group – a group formed with the objectives of promoting ethnic harmony amongst Nigeria’s diverse ethnic nationalities and fighting the incidence of violence of all forms in our nation.

· On graduation from the University in 1987, he established branches of the Organization in all the States of the Federation. While in the Nigerian Law School in 1987, he combined his studies with social activism bothering on engendering peace in Nigeria.

· He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989 and started his legal practice in 1990 in the Law Firm of Nwizugbo & Company and rose to become the Head of Chambers by 1992.

· He resigned from this law firm to establish his own outfit ONYEMA & CO. He equally floated the property Company of Allen Onyema & Company and an import trade outfit- Continental Business Links Ltd.

· Onyema was appointed to the Executive Board of The Global Nonviolence Conference Series Inc. USA with notable world leaders as Hon. Dr. Andrew Young and Suarez Ramos as members. By this appointment which was confirmed in April 2007, he became the second African ever to be so appointed to the Global Board.

The NEWS