It is a truism that air plane disasters have claimed lives of prominent persons in Nigeria, especially during the administrations of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan. CHRIS OGBOR, in this piece, urges state governors to contribute their own quotas to make the aviation sector safer, instead of shunning travelling by helicopter
It is doubtlessly disheartening to recall that several air plane disasters have claimed the lives of prominent Nigerians, particularly in the Fourth Republic.
Late Sir Patrick Yakowa was the first Nigerian serving executive governor to die in air crash, but General Andrew Owoye Azazi (rtd) was not the first military officer to pass on infatal air accident. For instance, in September 2006, a Nigerian military plane crashed in Oko village, Benue State and 15 generals of the Nigerian Army perished on the spot.
Earlier, specifically on 4th May 2002, an aircraft belonging to EAS Airlines crashed in Kano resulting in the loss of 77 lives, including former Sports Minister, Mr. Ishaya Mark-Aku and Mrs. Julie Useni, wife of retired Lieutenant General Jerry Useni.
Worthy of note, also, is that 117 persons perished when Bellview air plane crashed in Lisa village, near Lagos on 22nd October 2005 and on10th December same yea, Sosolisso Airlines crashed in Port Harcourt,, resulting in the loss of 108 lives including the students of Loyola Jesuit College, a reputable Catholic post-primary school in Abuja. Who knows, these students could have become Nigeria’s future leaders - commissioners, ministers, senators, governors, military officers, engineers, scientists, Nobel laureatesor even executive presidents.
Worrisome to recall is the fact that 106 persons died as a result of ADC Airlines which crashed in Abuja on 29th October 2006 resulting in the loss of 105 lives and another ADC Airline crash that claimed the lives of176 persons. Prominent Nigerians who died in the ADC plane crashes included ex-Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammed Machido, founding managing director of NEWS Engineering (Nig.) Limited, Sir Cyprain Nweze and former Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Professor ErnestOnwunili respectively.
With regard to air crashes involving helicopters, the first one occurred when an OAS service helicopter crashed in Warri, Delta State on 10thNovember 2006 with the loss of four persons. The second helicopter air accident was the one that occurred in Ife Odan in Osun State on 29th July 2011, killing three persons and the Police Bell helicopter crash which claimed the life of a Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mr. John Haruna. The Navy helicopter that caught fire after take-off on 15th December 2012 and claimed the lives of Sir Yakowa, General Azazi and four others was the latest helicopter air accident.
This woeful tale of air disasters in Nigeria, as adumbrated above, is doubtlessly the reason why two governors and some very important personalities (VIPs) refused to travel by helicopter from Port Harcourt to Yenagoa for late General Andrew Azazi’s burial ceremony penultimate Saturday.
It would be recalled that a national daily (not LEADERSHIP WEEKEND) reported that Governors Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, Emmanuel Uduagha of Delta State, Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah and some VIPsshunned the arrangements made for them to be airlifted to Yenagoa, but opted to travel by road for Azazi’s funeral event.
Meanwhile, some Nigerians have described the governors’ fear as cowardly, unfounded and unnecessary. The question on the lips of some of them is, if Nigeria’s aviation minister is afraid to travel by air (or helicopter), who then should embark of a journey by air? Do the two governors and the minister mentioned above think that travelling by helicopter is the only cause of death? Or, is travelling by road now safer than by air?
The death-fearing governors, et al, should note that the ten persons who died during a religious gathering at a sports stadium in Luanda, the Angolan capital on New Year eve and the sixty Ivorians who met their untimely death as a result of stampede at a stadium in Abidan on New Year day (01-01-13) were not killed through helicopter crash. Armed banditry, suicide bombers, trigger-happy gunmen, flood disaster and auto accidents have claimed more lives in Nigeria than air crashes.
If the truth must be said, what is required of the aviation minister and governors is judicious use of funds allocated to them. The N13.4 billion fuel subsidy money that was diverted by 20 suspects and the alleged missing N195 billion pension funds are sufficient enough to fix the erring aviation sector so asto drastically reduce air crashes in the country.
Thus, instead of expressing unnecessary fear or reusing to boardhelicopters, governors should embark on massive construction of new roads, maintain existing dilapidated ones in their respective states as well as make meaningful financial contributions to improve the aviation sector and the welfare of the citizenry.