Of planes and politics

KWENU! Our culture, our future

M. O. Ene

Friday, May 10, 2001

PREAMBLE:

First and foremost, I join millions worldwide in seeking solace in our supplication that all souls lost in the latest aviation accidents rest in peace, especially those aboard the Executive Air Services [EAS] British Aerospace BAC 1-11 jet that crashed on Saturday, May 4, killing 75 passengers and crew and as many more on the ground off Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano. We thank God for the three passengers and one crewmember that survived.

Accidents do happen, and they happen quite often in Nigeria. The number of people that perish everyday on our roads is simply scandalous but, as William Shakespeare noted, the heavens holler when the mighty pass. So whenever a plane crashes, nations sit up because, almost always, a star is extinguished. On May 7, we read of the Freedom Air Service (FAS) Boeing 727 aircraft that nearly caught fire while taxing at the same Kano International Airport; a plane with 112 people crashed into the sea near Dalian, China; and an Egypt Air plane crash-landed near Tunis with 55 passengers and 10 crewmembers on board.

CLOSE ENCOUNTER:

Any vehicular crash is not a sight to behold; it is better imagined. Many of us have seen auto accidents; some have been involved in a fender bender or two. Nothing, absolutely nothing, prepares you for the scene of a plane crash. November 28, 1983: An early-bird flight from Lagos to Enugu touched down on Emene farmlands. We rushed to the place, not knowing what to expect. I will spare you the details; it was horrendous. Standing on the unsecured ground zero, amidst assorted, still smoldering personal possessions and acrid fragrance of arid flesh and aviation fuel, I could see the runway right in front of me! If only the pilot had left an hour later, the Harmattan fog that obscured visibility in the valley could have dispersed with the morning sun blast. Hindsight, of course, is always 20-20.

When the smoke cleared, the extent of the tragedy hit home with a vengeance. There were a few survivors, including a Lagosian who was bringing his daughter to Federal Government College, Enugu, and the Ghanaian pilot who, we learnt later was knocked over by a car! Amongst the dead was Ms. Josephine Onoh, Governor C. C. Onoh's young and beautiful daughter with a brilliant brain to match: She was already an attorney-at-law with just a couple of short steps into her twenties. With her was a cousin, a German-trained medical doctor. As we absorbed these and other great losses to Enugu, the news trickled in that Mrs. Uche Offiah-Nwali, former commissioner in Governor Jim Nwobodo's NPP administration was in the flight…. with all her children! In one swoop, the world of NPN Senator Offiah Nwali shattered irreparably.

Accidents have really cost us an arm and a leg and a lot of miseries over the years. Who would forget the untimely demise in November 1996 of one of Africa's brightest minds, Professor Claude Ake, with 143 others in an ADC Boeing 727 that couldn't find its landing bearing in a flight from Port Harcourt to Lagos. Of course, there is the unforgettable crash that creamed off the crème de la crème of Nigeria's fine military officers in the early 1990s. Questions are still being asked. On the roads and on the high seas, we would only depress ourselves more. Let's just thank God that Africa's eagle on the highest iroko, Professor Chinua Achebe, is still with us.

The list goes on.

FAST FORWARD:

The aviation industry has come a long way. Modern technology has given us aircrafts that virtually take off and land themselves with minimum human intervention. It has also created challenges, especially for developing countries, because these majestic chip-brained crafts bounce off signals on similarly configured systems situated on stable structures. Our airports and manpower resources are simply not adequate for the intricacies of modern aircrafts and for the increasing security dynamics in the aviation industry. Minister of Aviation Dr. (Mrs.) Kema Chikwe brought the issues to the attention of an appreciative International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) at its last meeting in Canada.

It is not surprising therefore that we are sold older planes that have passed use-by dates. Minister of Aviation Kema Chikwe called them "geriatric aircrafts." If what we have on the ground in terms of 'tokunbo' vehicles from Belgium and Germany is anything to go by, these planes should be better deployed where good homecare… oops, maintenance culture thrives.

WRITINGS ON THE WALL:

I am not a psychic, but we all saw this tragedy coming. In "Dear Daa Kema" of November 15, 2001, I wrote:

In 1999, many visitors to Nigeria flatly refused to fly domestic airlines; "flying coffins," they called the crafts. I don't know what statistics fueled such a despicable depiction of our domestic fleet, but we know that there were many substandard situations of technical nature surrounding the aviation industry. In addition, there were many manmade mines littering the way forward and waiting to explode: decrepit planes that out-shriek and out-pollute one million "okada" bikes; undocumented overloading that would shame a badly built "bolekaja" wooden wagon; hazardous materials that would make "otapia" look like a better beverage than Coca Cola; ticket touts, callous criminals, etc. For now, let's forget the oven-temperature lounges and, because I am about to have my lunch, the state of the ladies and gents rooms.

The Minister went to work. And she delivered to the point that almost everything on the ground worked. With the exception of the incurably corrupt customs and immigration and other airport staff, things appeared just fine at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, and we were looking forward to greater things. Then she toured the airports, issued more orders -- including banning pigheaded political popes from driving onto the tarmac and this slam dunk: the banning of, as I had requested, "decrepit planes that out-shriek and out-pollute one million okada bikes." Even Reuben Abati gave kudos.

The "stunned" interest groups went to work. The Nigerian Aviation Safety Institute (NASI) and Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) claimed it was "a big slap on Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) which has the statutory role of providing regulatory services in the aviation industry." AON Chair Dr. Steve Mahonwu said: "There is nothing like aged aircraft as long as the maintenance schedules are followed…." Captain Jerry Agbeyegbe, the SG of NASI said: "It is an act of ignorance. Old age has nothing to do with air-mishap." Okay. After May 4, who is still standing and speaking for these geriatric generators of death? No one. Every body is busy prancing around the doom of death so sudden and so untimely: FAAN, NCAA, ICAO, AMO, AIB,. NAAPE, BCAA, FCAA, USDOT, NAMA, Meteorological Dept., Air Worthiness Dept, etc. And we are yet to visit allied industries and their unions and other associated government agencies. These are far too many busy bodies jacking up the cost of flying. [See: http://www.thisdayonline.com/news/20020509news01.html ]

In "One more for women" of Thursday, March 14, 2002, also published in Thisday on Saturday, March 30, 2002, I wrote:

Now, it is not that 22-year-old planes no longer fly, but our maintenance culture over the years has been criminal. And we are talking of 1968 BAC 1-11 aircrafts of Chief Gabriel Igbinedion's Okada era, which the junta of General Ibrahim Babangida tried unsuccessfully to phase out in the early 1990s. The aircrafts were implicated in some air mishaps and declared unworthy for passenger haulage. Once again, special interests are kicking against the move. But, between the safety of Nigerians and pleasing interest groups, the planes got to go.

Guess what: it was one of those decrepit British Aerospace BAC 1-11 twin-engine jets that fell out of the sky on Saturday, May 4, the seventh BAC plane crash in Nigeria in 22 years. But don't be surprised when the political salvos start flying; some will pin blames on the ministry when we should be calling it like it is. Senator Idris Kuta's call for immediate phasing out of all BAC 1-11 "no matter the owners" tells us that the interest groups are no pushovers. Honorable Ned Nwoko, chairman of the House subcommittee on NCAA, wants to peg the age at 25, as opposed to the 22 proposed by the aviation minister. The minister has prevailed: the BACs are grounded, and the 22-year cap stands. Case closed. It just didn't have to take all these lives. [See http://www.vanguardngr.com/news/articles/2002/May/09052002/f1090502.htm ]

May we learn a whole lot more from this sad situation, and may it never happen again. Far too much blood has been spilt in a country that is not at war. Then again, we are at war with the forces of darkness. It is total darkness when basic insurance is not available for the consumers of the highly profitable aviation industry. It is war when every manmade disaster demands the intervention of International Red Cross. It is total eclipse when airline operators cannot be held accountable for negligence. Those who shed human blood should be prepared to pay the prize. And it should not come cheap.

ANALYZING THE KANO CRASH:

Not to preempt the Chikwe-promised "thorough investigation," I must say that the accident cannot be anchored on only one or two factors. In all accidents, there is always more than one factor. The important thing is what we learn from it.

There are four possible causes or, most likely, a mixture of all.

1. The age of aircraft and maintenance status: The plane is old, no doubt about it, and let no one sing to me "What's age got to do with it" -- it has, or these BAD… oops, BAC planes would still be flying people across Europe.

2. Human: "Undocumented overloading" of our domestic planes presents clear danger. Who is to say that a hazardous material was not on board? It could also be that the pilot made a bad decision, especially on a shortened runway: If the pilot revved up the ill-maintained and old warhorse, it could reverberate and gyrate out of control. Did someone pull the wrong controls? This is possible. Only recently, a transatlantic Canada-Portugal flight nearly ended in tragedy when the pilot decided to transfer gas from a good engine to one that was out cold!

3. Environmental: The best planes on earth could be taken off the air by a sudden slight change in atmospheric condition - if not properly compensated. Not even NASA would launch its shuttle in supposedly good weather when the air current is unpredictable. A freak atmospheric change could have forced fatal error of decision. Read retired Brigadier-General Ikegwuoha who survived: "As we took off the plane began wobble, to shake from side to side." Unless the weight changed considerably from Jos, atmospheric condition and how the pilot reacted could be an issue. Also, the runway could be a factor: It took a disused piece of metal on the runway to bring down the majestic Concorde in Paris!

4. Sabotage: With the turn of events in the prep for 2003, the stakes are suddenly raised. Anything is possible. Some people are so mean these days they would go to any low level. After the initial reports of victims, sabotage was diminished -- since there was no glaring reason why anyone would go to such an extent to dispatch anyone listed. But, as in all issues when you really want to see something, something almost always appears: Former Vice President Dr. Alex Ekwueme was scheduled to be on board. People close to the man have confirmed this to me. But who would want to harm him or any other passenger of the ill-fated flight? We could dismiss this angle easily, since we now know that the plane nearly came down in the same area a few days before and that aviation watchers and operators -- including the loyal captain of the plane -- knew that EAS was flying metallic coffins across the land.

The question I would want answered is: Was it Ekwueme's personal providence (chi) acting via a good friend, or is the friend a psychic? This could be sheer stroke of luck, a case of opportunity meeting preparedness. Only Ekwueme would have the humility to step out of that plane to talk with a friend; others would have had him call them in Lagos! As if these were not enough headaches, we now know that IBB, Buhari, Shagari, Rimi, and even VP Atiku were in town to honor Alhaji Maitama Sule. That's reassuring but, generally speaking, sabotage cannot be ruled out in these Al Qaeda days. I am sure this aspect will be cleared up soon by the Justice Roseline Ukeje Commission of Inquiry and that the report will be made public. I only brought it up to highlight an important lesson.

POLITICAL PERMUTATIONS:

Vanity is vanity. One thing keeps me out of direct and active politics Nigeriana, despite countless invitations: Why do we hate and blackmail and even kill "to serve our people"? The red-eyed approach to partisan politics in Nigeria is scary. It is good to read Imo State Governor Achike Udenwa go philosophical and religious without prompting: "Acquisition of wealth is not necessary. All these wealth and yet you don't know tomorrow. … I don't want to be wealthy. I just want to be remain comfortable by the grace of God." [http://www.thisdayonline.com/news/20020507news01.html ] The governor is already comfortable, methinks; he should take up the gospel to all his colleagues -- starting from Kogi State? A friend told me that it was divine intervention that saved Dr. Ekwueme because he had played the game evenly and at the highest point. This does not suggest the victims didn't do their turn of good deeds. Either way, we must wonder what it really benefits us as a people to look only after our own purse when all is vanity. We must pause and ponder sometimes why we steal and sell our roof panels to live big. When the rain comes, it pours on all -- including you and me!

2003 is pregnant. We all know what it will bring. We should not delude ourselves with purchased prayers for success. The God that told politicians to run should have told them how to win. S/He didn't. Politicians (from ward chairmen upwards) have amassed enough materials (money, guns, charms, thugs, etc.) with which to annihilate each other. More thugs are cheap to come by as the army of unemployed youths swells. With GSM wireless phones, cheap liquor, and dilapidated Durango-like trucks, small bands of area-boy thugs and anarchists could coordinate and become mobile militias.

All sorts of tactics will be employed in 2003: blackmail, inducements, tampering or outright closure of opponents' sources of income, and -- as we saw in former Justice Minister Bola Ige's crude and callous elimination -- murder by any means possible. I have stated my position and, as in the case of Ige's assassination and now aviation headaches, I will be back in 2003 or before to say I told you so… Ma Chi kwe /Insha Allah… God willing. Oh yes, I pray too. But God put us on earth with enough gray cells. Using it to bash others with jingoistic jingles, to scheme evil, and to concoct confusion will only bring down the house Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe built faster than anyone anticipates. Let's use our brains properly and secure a natural and national design for our constructive coexistence, not build on a fundamentally flawed foundation that is both false and futile.

Everything else is embellishment.