As we got off the plane at Heathrow on that fateful Tuesday, I couldn’t help but still think of my experience at Mohammed V Airport when the Air Maroc flight AT 800 we were traveling on finally docked close to the Exit way at the Airport.

This was my first time traveling on that route, courtesy my good friend Japheth Roberts, and was very baffled at how busy the Casablanca airport was and the number of people who plied that route to different destinations across the world. At least I heard of Amsterdam, JFK and London and there were several other passengers who appeared like going nowhere apart from some airport in Asia.

This, however, was not to be my worry as there are equally a good number of airlines who transit in my home country to several other destinations that may include Lome and Kigali.

The fact that almost all these people at the M V airport were being carried by the National Carrier – Royal Air Maroc, fully owned by the Moroccan government, was what caught my attention. I wondered what Revenue contribution this sector must be making to the Moroccan economy and how many people were being employed by this airline. Not even the altercation between the two male airport workers could sway my thoughts. After all, they spoke in a foreign language I was totally unfamiliar with.

At my last check, Royal Air Maroc had 53 airlines in-service including one Boeing 737-300F cargo. Total employees as at Dec. 2014 were 2928.

Like the defunct Ghana Airways, their services are not best-in-class as I even struggled to taste their ‘Nuhuu’-like uninviting supper and felt like opening the windows for some cloudy air after it grudgingly left my tongue to the pharynx enroute to the stomach. In spite of all this, the Moroccan national carrier complemented by the MV airport is in some good aviation business for the North African country.

These thoughts wouldn’t leave my mind, not after the almost 4 hour’s journey from Casablanca to Heathrow. And this where things get really interesting.

My first gaze through the window at Heathrow settled on the big ‘K’ sign at the tail end of a large plane and there it stood in the full glare of the 2 degrees London weather, boldly written in red – KENYAN AIRWAYS – and just beneath it are the words– ‘The Pride of Africa’ stylishly written in italics.

This airline is the flag carrier of the people of Kenya and has been in existence since 1977. Until 1995 it was wholly owned by the government of Kenya and was the first African airline to be privatized. The Kenyan government still has the majority share with KLM owing about 27% stakes in this Public-private partnership. As at the end of Q1 2015, the company had 3986 employees.

Since this airline seemed to be carrying the Pride of Africa, it was only fair that I would also share in this pride and feel gratified that we (Africans) were boldly represented on the turf. But this was not the case.

It is often said that when you want to go fast, you go alone but when you want to go far, go together. But like any serious awards ceremony, after the teams or groups are recognized, it then gets down to the individual brilliance and efforts.

In this instance, I gladly wished that Ghana would go alone even if that meant going slow. At least we know, it's always better to go slow in the right direction than to go fast in the wrong direction.

We are often touted as the ‘Gateway to Africa’- in simple terms, it’s through our doors the world enters Africa. But how can you be the gateway when you expect other people who also have gates to bring the world to your gate just because you have a self-imposed title by your gate.

It’s quite passable to be represented by our East African friends on the ever busy turf at the Heathrow airport as the ‘Pride of Africa’, but like the serious awards ceremony, it’s now down to the individual players. And so I ask the question- ‘where is my Pride’?