shymexx:

I honestly don't think there's anything historical and educative about wasteful spending. And the only thing expository about it, is the fact that, Nigerian leaders - both past and present - are the scums of the earth. These people were selected and elected, either through the barrel of a gun or by elections, to serve the people - not themselves. So evidently if the people they are/were there to serve are in abject poverty, despite all the country's huge resources - then the head should know how to cut it coat according to its cloth.

Yes, the poor would always blame the rich - however, in a situation where the rich is culpable, then justice must be served and served cold.

Mobsync: And can we say same of the Nigerian Air force wing not under the presidential air fleet?
Flying Chengu F-7's (which is already out of production in China) and Dornier/Dassault Alpha jets (which are glorified trainer jets?).

Let the government upgrade the air force then we can talk business.

CFCfan:

You are absolutely spot on. The Airforce needs modern jets like the F-15 or F-16, to truly be prepared to defend Nigeria from the air. At least, 40 of those jets should be purchased.
Alternatively, the DICON (Defense Industry Corporation of Nigeria) could be empowered to manufacture fighter jets locally, as they've done with the army's APCs.

CFCfan:

You are absolutely spot on. The Airforce needs modern jets like the F-15 or F-16, to truly be prepared to defend Nigeria from the air. At least, 40 of those jets should be purchased.
Alternatively, the DICON (Defense Industry Corporation of Nigeria) could be empowered to manufacture fighter jets locally, as they've done with the army's APCs.

CFCfan: I agree that maintaining 10 airplanes is a little ostentatious. To cut costs, the Predidency could sell about 9 of them; and purchase 2 B787 dreamliners. The BBJ should still be kept in addition to the helicopters.

Billyonaire: That was a beautiful end to your argument and I want to affirm that justice is being served.

How else can we rationalize a crash of a plane of the corpse of a politician who once was aviation minister after death by a heart attack ? what was he thinking before the attack ? Having said that, we should be clamoring for salary slashes, resources control, state police and social welfare programmes, overhauling of education sector, revamping of Medicare, single digit interest rate and housing.

Presidential fleet needs more funding also so as to equip them with anti-missile detectors.

Gbawe:
Thank you. The question to ask is that will the availability of one of two planes, rather than 10 as is the case currently, means the President's ability to travel effectively will somehow be compromised? No !! Not at all !!! There is no difference between 1 and 10 plane if we are talking of the travel of the President and a few essential aides while all others fly commercially. The problem is that Nigerian Presidents will not give up the excesses o travelling with as many hangers on as possible while even sending a 'spare plane', as if Nigeria is an air taxi service, to pick up a President who had sold the sole one at her disposal for her people (see below).

Those, and nothing to do with the real needs of the President, are the sort of vaingloriously callous excesses that necessitate a ten plan fleet literally bleeding Nigeria dry. Now imagine such waste everywhere else and you gleen the sad reality of Nigeria and why she needs an immaterialistic and personally austere reformer heading the centre. The reality we see today is underpinned by the 'throwback' greed and inconsideration of Nigerian Presidents, one after the other, that sees them unwilling to compromise minimally and usher in a progressive order the leaders of the other nations have declared as a 'new' and pro-people reality going forward.

If malawi becomes a great nation tomorrow, with her average citizens far better off than their Nigerian peers, would you be surprised given the choice their current leader took and that our own president abides with?

http://www.punchng.com/editorial/nigerian-jet-for-malawian-president/

CFCfan: I agree that maintaining 10 airplanes is a little ostentatious. To cut costs, the Predidency could sell about 9 of them; and purchase 2 B787 dreamliners. The BBJ should still be kept in addition to the helicopters.

shymexx:

That's a great leader. I still don't know why Nigerians celebrate wasteful spending, to be honest.

naptu2: Threads like these are part of the reasons why CFCfan deserves to be a mod in the politics section. Good job bro.

Billyonaire: @Gbawe

Always summarize your points and present facts relevant to the thread. Some of us are on phone and old fashion. so we do not have the luxury of time to separate chaff from rice. I havent read your post. its labourous to go through the mountains of unrelated jargons.

shymexx:

That's a great leader. I still don't know why Nigerians celebrate wasteful spending, to be honest.

Billyonaire:

Shymexx, I love you like a friend, but I am here to tell you the truth. People can only see what they want to see, if you chose not to see the good but the bad, you will always see the errors.

Permit me to also add that people always see their realities in other people, events and places. What I mean is, a poor man sees poverty even when there is glaring wealth all over the place. Nigeria has progressed and we are witnessing monumental changes, cos we chose to see it.

I believe you see so much evil and bad things about anything Nigeria because it is your reality. Some of us see challenges as opportunities for problem solving which means potential for cash. Rubbish Nigeria for all you can, you CAN NOT alter your Nigerian DNA. You are part of the mess for ever except you chose to work to improve instead of blaming the world for woes.

Shymmex, is it that bad over there, why not come here and join me in business lets work for change instead of attacks and image smearing of your country.

Billyonaire: No one is celebrating wasteful spending here. The thread is expository and a chronicle of events surrounding the PAF and we are sounding convictions based on what we "think" are excessive.

Let's not forget that PAF is under national security so we can not make decisions here. National Security knows what's best for Nigeria's peculiar security situation. Lets assume that we have just 2 planes and someone is after our beloved president. its easy to place c4 on both planes knowing that president must fly with either. You see what I mean? .

The question is, can we have 10 planes in PaF and still finance other project? if the answer is yes, then whats the uproar ?

This President met a decaying country and policies has to be re-engineered to galvanize he chAnges we desire. 2 IPPs has been commissioned 8 more to go within some months in addition to myriads of achievement within just few years. So give this Government a chance.

So many distractions here and there. Feom Boko Haram to Northern Gang up. From APC cantankerous politics to PDP imbroglio.

From Personal insults on Facebook to nairaland's personal attacks?

What do we fuccckking want as a people ?

Rossikk:

Forget that guy. Maybe they did something to him in his village.

Gbawe:

I do not write for you and, ultimately, you have the option of ignoring what I write same as I do for you and others most time. If you do not have the intelligence to understand the complexity with which others write then stay within your limit rather than slyly insult others to then cry childishly if you get ungracious responses in return. Guy, you know what I am talking about. Behave yourself like a man, face the topic and stop your childish antics. You have been warned.

Billyonaire: No one is celebrating wasteful spending here. The thread is expository and a chronicle of events surrounding the PAF and we are sounding convictions based on what we "think" are excessive.

Let's not forget that PAF is under national security so we can not make decisions here. National Security knows what's best for Nigeria's peculiar security situation. Lets assume that we have just 2 planes and someone is after our beloved president. its easy to place c4 on both planes knowing that president must fly with either. You see what I mean? .

The question is, can we have 10 planes in PaF and still finance other project? if the answer is yes, then whats the uproar ?

This President met a decaying country and policies has to be re-engineered to galvanize he chAnges we desire. 2 IPPs has been commissioned 8 more to go within some months in addition to myriads of achievement within just few years. So give this Government a chance.

So many distractions here and there. Feom Boko Haram to Northern Gang up. From APC cantankerous politics to PDP imbroglio.

From Personal insults on Facebook to nairaland's personal attacks?

What do we fuccckking want as a people ?

shymexx:

And here come the crumb-munching peasant.

How old are you? I believe you should be late 30's or early 40's, yet you still thrive in fraudulent and malevolent activities hiding behind the manta of pseudo pan-Africanism and Afro-centrism. Not surprised since that's what Nigerians are notorious for and a fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. You're a fake, a phony and a fraud - and sometimes, I feel like byt.ch-slapping the the shyte out of your putrid mouth. You're an embodiment of why Afro-centrism is now a joke. Fam, just give up and come out of closet to proclaim, who you really are - a political jobber!

Rossikk:
Wake me up when you're made president of NIGERIA and you agree to fly in just one or two presidential aircraft.

For now, keep blowing your London grammar.

shymexx:

However, if the PAF is under national security - why's there excessive spending in just the facet that involves the president, and not the other facets? Those aircrafts on this thread are top-of-the range and modern, yet the airforce flies obsolete fighter jets.

And what's the point of having 10? Can you cite any other president in the world with 10 presidential jets?

As for distractions - that's a norm with his office. I doubt he faces the amount of scrutiny an Obama or David Cameron faces everyday. They might not be the best thing since slice bread, however, they're decent performers. You lot need to stop making excuses for incompetence and like someone said earlier: this is indefensible.

shymexx:

Sod off, Rose-sick the sick transgender phaggit!

CFCfan: Although it is quite common to hear that Nigeria does not lead the world in anything, I want to say that is not correct (in President Jonathan’s voice…lol!). A West African behemoth bursting at the seams with over 170 million souls, Nigeria is the world’s largest grower (not exporter) of cassava even if we have not been able to make any sensible use of it. Cassava bread? Y’all need to dial Aso Rock for that. Manioc aside, Nigeria leads the entire continent in one rather exclusive and luxurious niche: it has the largest presidential air fleet of any head of state anywhere in Africa and it is one of the largest on earth. Oh, and our legislators are also the highest paid in the world, even if they are mainly a complete set of benchwarmers with no reasonable contribution to national development.

If they are not putting their smelly feet on the tables of the Hallowed Chambers, they are in a billionaire’s house stuffing thousands of dollars in their caps. Back to business. Why were three pilots of the Nigerian Presidential Air Fleet killed? What happened when Abacha’s plane nearly crashed in Ibadan?

In the late 1970s, the Presidential Fleet was commandeered by pilots from the Nigeria Airways and these included Captain Dele Ore and later the soft-spoken Captain Paul Mamman Thalal of the Nigerian Air Force (from the north). Captain Thahal, who was the Commander of the Presidential Air Fleet (he was also of the Boeing 747 fleet with Captains B. Allwell-Brown (Director of Flight Operations, he was from the South-South and was highly-detribalized), JB Ibrahim and HI Ogede) was the Personal Pilot and Captain of General Yakubu Gowon, who was the head of state. Thahal (a highly detribalized Nigerian too) commandeered the PAF with Captain Nnaji later retired as the Managing Director of the Nigeria Airways in 1979 (Thahal and Allwell-Brown brought some of the best quality leadership to the defunct Nigeria Airways.
As at that time, the Nigeria Airways was so good that its aviation safety records were some of the very best in Africa and its pilots were used by the Nigerian Air Force during the Nigerian Civil War through routes that were considered to be very dangerous or too risky.

Under the government of the former President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, the Federal Government decided to purchase a new presidential aircraft as his predecessors were flying on commercial airlines and the Shagari government felt it was not dignifying enough (as if Nigeria’s poverty level is dignifying). So, the decision was made to beef up the PAF. But the most interesting part of the gist is that it was Shagari that ordered the plane (a Gulfstream which was to be the flagship of the Presidential Air Fleet) but he never used it, he never even got to receive it. The plane arrived in April 1984 and those in power then were the no-nonsense duo of Buhari and Idiagbon. When the aircraft (named FGN VICTOR) arrived that morning at the Airlift Command of the Nigerian Airforce at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, there was a torrent of criticism from the media as to why the government would maintain such a large presidential fleet while the FG-owned Nigeria Airways was in the throes of death and could not even get passengers.

-At a time between the Shagari and Obasanjo governments, the Presidential Air Fleet was made up of two Super Falcons, a customized Boeing 747 (then called the Victor 1) specially adapted for long-distance hauls, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (a widebodied airliner suitable for medium to long-range) and four Super Puma helicopters.

-Later, the Nigerian Presidential Air Fleet was commandeered by civilian pilots from the Nigeria Airways (of blessed memory) in collaboration with military personnel. This line of thinking was adopted then because of fear of overthrowing the Head of State in the air or using the airborne wing of the military to carry out a coup like the 1985 aborted coup under General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida when coup plotters were alleged to have planned to make use of NAF bases to launch a surgical strike or hijack the presidential aircraft and oust IBB. (Here is a bit on the aborted coup: in December 1985, the IBB government raised an alarm that it had discovered a plot to overthrow Babangida, and people implicated included the late General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, a soldier-poet, national chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors and IBB’s childhood friend. There was something very unique with this particular plot: for the first time, air force officers, rather than those of the army, were to carry out the attack. The plotters were accused of planning to destroy the Dodan Barracks, then the seat of power and other strategic locations in Lagos from the air using NAF bombers. In fact, some of those convicted of plotting the coup like Martin Luther and Asen Ahura (both Squadron Leaders in the Nigerian Air Force) and Wing Commander Ben Ekele were actually pilots of the Presidential Air Fleet responsible for transporting IBB himself and other high-ranking military officers of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, AFRC. They were all executed.

-Luther had been in charge of the PAF, in fact, he had flown three Nigerian heads of state in the past few years and had just returned from a military training abroad. As for Ekele, he was the commander of the Strike Group at the NAF Base in Makurdi and was the leader of the Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters’ squadron and for two consecutive years, he was voted one of the very best pilots in the NAF. IBB did not stop there, he revenged with a devastating blow to the NAF by crippling it with lack of funds, and the entire NAF itself would have been scrapped or turn to an airborne wing of the Nigerian Army but for the fact that the Chief of Air Staff, CAS, the late Air Marshal Ibrahim Mahmud Alfa, was IBB’s personal friend. The NAF was so thoroughly battered that by August 1993, the Jaguars and other fighters had been sold off and all that was left was merely about five jets, almost dead and barely serviceable. This writer believes that the NAF is yet to recover from such a horrendous blow)


Culled from http://unilaglss./2013/08/16/1994/