Cost of airfare prevents some Nigerian intending travellers for Christmas

High cost of airticket on Nigeria-South Africa route has scuttled the plans of many Nigerians resident in the country to travel home for the Christmas.Some of them, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Johannesburg, said they were disappointed at the high cost of fare, which in some cases went up by more than 200 per cent.``It is unbelievable that the cost of ticket between Johannesburg and Lagos now goes for as much as 2,000 Rand which would be about N300, 000, the same ticket you could get for less than 700 Rand or less (N120.000.00), '' 'Dotun Olubadejo a medical doctor told NAN.He said apart from the high cost of the ticket it was also difficult to secure a seat for the return journey, which would be risky if one was to resume work immediately after the holiday.''Having weighed all the options, I decided to celebrate the Christmas here, '' Olubadejo said.Chidi Okereke, a businessman, also said that some of the airline operators were exploiting the desperation of intending travellers to extort money from them.``My brother, it is tough, if you are desperate to travel to Nigeria now you have to pay extra, some airline operators are making money out this situation.``It is either they tell you that there is no seat the day you want to go or no seat the day you want to come back. But once you offer to pay them something extra they will make seat available on the days you want. So, if you want travel, you have to play ball.``It is mandatory for some of us to travel either for family engagement or for the feeling of being with your people during the festive period.''Some people save money for this annually. In my own case I have to go because I will turn 40 on Dec. 28, and I just completed my house in the village to mark my birthday,'' Okereke said.Paul Ajuluchukwu, said he was eager to travel with his South African wife to meet his family in Nigeria for the first time.``I have been in this country for about 10 years now and I married a South African two years ago, and she wants to meet my people at home.
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