Princess Stella Oduah, who is the current Minister of Aviation.
Under her watch close to 200 souls have been killed in air
crashes in the last two years alone.
This does not surprise me given the nature of the
individual that is involved.
What does surprise me however is the fact that just one day
after those that perished in the latest crash were killed,
before any formal investigation into the causes of the crash
have commenced, the ruling PDP, through their spokesman
Chief Olisa Metuh, has told the world that they have
''full confidence'' in Stella Oduah and that ''she should be
allowed to continue her good work''.
Is there any greater evidence of the fact that the PDP is a sick
party that is led by sick people than this? Such insensitivity is
rarely seen anywhere in the world. Only in Nigeria can this
happen. Not only am I surprised but I am also utterly
disgusted. How many more people have to be killed in air
crashes before
our President realises that he needs a new Minister of
Aviation?
The truth is that there is far more to aviation than
beautifying airports. The first and most important
consideration has to be the safety of the passengers
and the airworthiness of
the planes followed by a solemn and avowed commitment to
ensure the discipline, professionalism and efficiency of the
aviation parastatals. Most
important of all when a plane crashes, whatever
the reasons or causes, the Minister ought to assume full
responsibility and even offer his or her resignation.
Failing that he or she ought to be redeployed to another
ministry or completely removed from the cabinet. This is
because it is his or her primary responsibility to keep air
travellers safe and alive. Sadly it does not appear that this is
likely to happen anytime soon. As a matter of fact I am
convinced that
even if 1,000 people were killed in air crashes in the space of
just 6 months under President Goodluck Jonathan he would
still not redeploy or sack Stella Oduah because our President
just ''doesn't give a damn.''
In the last 11 years, between 2002 and 2013 over 850
people have been killed in air crashes in Nigeria- 453 of them
under Borisade and just under 200 of them under Stella
Oduah. This is an atrocious record of air safety and I
believe that I am right in saying that it is a peace-
time world record.
Whatever the case it is nothing to be proud of and
it reflects badly on all of us, particularly those of us that were
once Ministers of
Aviation.
I have done my research and I have the details of every
single crash that has as taken place in this country over the
last eleven years
whether it be a private plane, light aircraft, military aircraft,
passenger plane or helicopter. As long as such a crash
resulted in the loss of life I have the record of it and all the
details. None of those crashes took place under the watch of
Dr. Segun Agagu because he ceased to be Minister of
Aviation in 2001. I implore those that are doing so to stop
attributing the sad events that preceeded his burial to some
kind of divine retribution for what purportedly occured when
he was Minister of Aviation.
Nothing can be more cruel than this and nothing could be
further from the truth.
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