{"id":47470,"date":"2025-11-11T10:52:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T10:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=47470"},"modified":"2025-11-11T10:52:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T10:52:38","slug":"united-nigeria-airlines-names-aircraft-after-j-j-rawlings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2025\/11\/11\/united-nigeria-airlines-names-aircraft-after-j-j-rawlings\/","title":{"rendered":"United Nigeria Airlines names aircraft after J.J. Rawlings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Five years after the passing of Ghana\u2019s former President Jerry John Rawlings, United Nigeria Airlines, one of Nigeria\u2019s indigenous carriers, has honoured his legacy by naming one of its aircraft after him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cJ.J. Rawlings\u201d aircraft made its maiden flight to Accra on Monday, November 10, 2025, marking United Nigeria Airlines\u2019 inaugural flight from Abuja to Accra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On board were several dignitaries, including Ghana\u2019s Ambassador to Nigeria, Baba Jamal; Chief Professor Obiora Okonkwo, Chairman and CEO of United Nigeria Airlines; senior Nigerian aviation officials, and other guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon arrival at Kotoka International Airport, Fritz Baffour, former Minister and Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South, representing the Rawlings family, joined Chief Professor Okonkwo to unveil the inscription on the aircraft \u2014 \u201cJ.J. Rawlings\u2026 The legend lives on.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a brief inaugural ceremony held at Terminal 3, Gate C8, Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, expressed appreciation to the airline for honouring the late former President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPresident Rawlings once said he would rather live in the hearts of men than have his name on monuments or streets. Today, that statement has been manifested through the naming of this aircraft,\u201d Mr. Adams said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the gesture demonstrated the enduring influence of President Rawlings across Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\u201cBecause President Rawlings lives in the hearts of men, he has been recognised even beyond his country. When we say the legend lives on, this is a good demonstration of what it means,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Adams also recalled the late President\u2019s passion for flying, linking it to his commitment to Ghana\u2019s rural electrification programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen he flew across Ghana at night and saw lights only in Accra and Kumasi, it inspired him to ensure that electricity reached all corners of the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representing the Rawlings family, Fritz Baffour conveyed the family\u2019s gratitude to United Nigeria Airlines for the honour, describing it as a lasting tribute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\u201cThis gesture will stay forever. Ghana and Nigeria share strong bonds \u2014 and when we come together, no one can stand us,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his address, Chief Professor Obiora Okonkwo, Chairman and CEO of United Nigeria Airlines, extended condolences to the Rawlings family following the recent passing of former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and requested a minute\u2019s silence in her memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that discussions to commemorate the fifth anniversary of President Rawlings\u2019 passing led to the decision to name one of the airline\u2019s aircraft after the former Ghanaian leader, who was also a trained Air Force pilot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"Professor Okonkwo pledged that United Nigeria Airlines would uphold high standards and contribute meaningfully to aviation development in West Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are committed to delivering quality and reliability in our operations while strengthening the bond between our two nations,\u201d he affirmed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five years after the passing of Ghana\u2019s former President Jerry John Rawlings, United Nigeria Airlines, one of Nigeria\u2019s indigenous carriers, has honoured his legacy by naming one of its aircraft after him. The \u201cJ.J. Rawlings\u201d aircraft made its maiden flight to Accra on Monday, November 10, 2025, marking United Nigeria Airlines\u2019 inaugural flight from Abuja to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":47471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43,1],"tags":[8790,4553,1648,8843,11363,10494,11353,5754,10870,1546,2522,5673,7489,2884,5800,5455,2944,11355,1756,192,4521,10954,12456,4786,12146,4814,4331,10104,12309,12085,434,5549,1198,7803,3805,10313,5278,4197,8840,12455,6348,5981,594],"class_list":["post-47470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-abuja","tag-accra","tag-africa","tag-air-force","tag-aircraft","tag-airline","tag-airlines","tag-airport","tag-aviation","tag-baba","tag-baba-jamal","tag-bond","tag-chairman","tag-demonstration","tag-electricity","tag-family","tag-first-lady","tag-flight","tag-former-first-lady-nana-konadu-agyeman-rawlings","tag-ghana","tag-ghanaian","tag-international","tag-j-j-rawlings","tag-john-rawlings","tag-kofi-adams","tag-kotoka-international-airport","tag-kumasi","tag-legend","tag-men","tag-nations","tag-nigeria","tag-nigerian","tag-parliament","tag-pilot","tag-president","tag-professor","tag-quality","tag-rawlings","tag-strong","tag-united-nigeria-airline","tag-us","tag-west-africa","tag-who"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47472,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47470\/revisions\/47472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}