By Dele Sobowale

“According to the Committee [Joint Committee on Justice/Aviation], it found that the expiration of flight permit was not peculiar to Rivers jet as there were other aircraft flying in similar circumstances in the country”. PUNCH, May 24, 2013 p27.

If you think aviation matters are unimportant, just remember that the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York in 2001 has opened the eyes of all right thinking people to the fact that those things flying over our heads are bombs. And if that is not enough, DANA Airlines crash should serve a permanent notice that those in the plane and those below are perpetually imperiled each time an aircraft flies overhead. It is for these reasons that sane societies enact stringent regulations, to be implemented fully, before anyone can take a plane up.

The Joint Committee of the House has just told Nigerians, in that reported statement, that the Aviation Ministry had been allowing several bombs to fly over our heads with expired permit. Irrespective of whether it was inadvertent error or deliberate relaxation of the regulations, the Minister stands accused of risking the lives of millions of Nigerians. This is unpardonable.

Oduah-Ogiewmonyi

At the moment we don’t know how many planes are in that condition. But, even if it is only one, the Aviation Ministry has failed to discharge its primary responsibility to Nigerians and it is not a recent occurrence. The Joint Committee made this observation, among others just as terrifying, when looking into the circumstances leading to the grounding of Rivers State Government’s jet.

I watched the proceedings on television when the Minister of Aviation was being grilled and it was a pathetic performance in many respects. There was no doubt in my mind that she will be indicted for several lapses. Allowing several aircrafts to operate with expired licences is just one of several lapses which occurred under the Minister. The Joint Committee found other things wrong which point to either corrupt practices or poor management of the Aviation Ministry.

The Minister was also found to have been discriminatory in the way the Rivers State aircraft issue was handled. On the question of ownership which the Minister maintained was unclear, the Committee had this to say. “Since the authorities did not raise ownership issues with several other aircraft having the name Bank of Utah Trustees, the allegation is in bad faith and grossly unprofessional [emphasis mine]”.

In other words, the Ministry of Aviation had been allowing aircraft owned by a foreign entity, including Amechi’s plane, paying tax to another country, to fly all over Nigeria without raising a query until Governor Amechi had a disagreement with President Jonathan.

Then what was not on offence became one. That should tell Nigerians the sort of Minister we have and the sort of Ministry she runs. When she was accused of discrimination in employment at the Ministry, and suspected to be the arrowhead of the assault on Bi-Courtney, her Special Assistant wrote a rejoinder which failed to address the issue raised.

Perhaps he will now explain to the whole nation why the Minister operates two sets of rules – one for friends of the President and another for those considered enemies – when the Ministry belongs to all Nigerians irrespective of political affiliation. It is noteworthy that the aircraft which opened the can of worms at the Ministry was allowed to operate undisturbed, for several months, despite all the faults found against it, when Amechi and Jonathan were in good terms. Something is either wrong or not. If wrong, all offenders should be punished; if not everyone should be allowed to go free.

“You burn the house to roast the pig. It is the only way mankind always roasted pigs”, Saul Bellow. (VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 219).

To make matters worse, she has rushed out a whole set of “policies” aimed at making it impossible to operate this particular aircraft in Nigeria. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of collateral damage; people who were not part of the fight have been forced to send their aircraft out of Nigeria – thereby impairing legitimate economic activities.

Again, the rush of new “policies” was, at least, in bad faith; or an admission of gross dereliction of duty on the part of the Ministry. She had been Minister for two years without finding the need for these “policies” to be instituted. If they were in our best interests, why wait till now? If they are not, why introduce them at all?

Lastly, the Committee ended by advising the Minister to desist from interfering with the functions of the NCAA. That is putting it mildly because “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing”. When any Minister does not know the limits of his/her knowledge, as in Aviation, he/she endangers all of us. The Committee should have gone further and asked the President to remove her – to avert disaster.

The NCAA itself was carpeted for not upholding the law; not only on this aircraft but others as well. That was one of the agencies under her portfolio – which obviously is too heavy for her to carry.  The truth is most of our Ministers don’t realize that they are public servants even though appointed by a President; they conduct themselves as if they are co-owners of the Ministry with the President.

THREE OF THE BEST GONE: ACHEBE, PINI JASON AND SONALA OLUMHESE

“All the world’s a stage……” William Shakespeare, 1546-1616.

May 2013 would remain for me a bitter/sweet month. Within the Sobowale family, which I head, by virtue of being the only male over 60 years old, it was a glorious month. More on that later. I owe a debt of gratitude to some people which must be publicly discharged soonest.

For me, as a writer, it was a disastrous month. I lost three great role models all at once. First there was Achebe, about whom nothing more can be added to the deluge in the media. Then, it was Pini Jason, who together with Alhaji Kola Animasaun and one Dap Dorman turned me into a fanatical reader of the VANGUARD in the 1980s. The day my own first article appeared on a Monday under the title MARKETFACT, was one of my five happiest days in 69 years on earth. I suddenly found myself writing for my childhood idol “Sad Sam” and in the company of Pini Jason and Alhaji.

It took me months to get over the euphoria. They were such great writers that the only way I could distinguish myself was to become an “Area Boy”. Pini, unfortunately, went to kingdom come in May. Finally, Sonala, columnist for the GUARDIAN newspapers, also left in May. Thank God; he is not dead. If ever there is a columnist I envy, for his craftsmanship, it is Sonala. Because of Sonala I dutifully spend N200 every Sunday to buy the paper.

P.S. Sonala, if you ever read this, please visit the page once in a while. You left me with one empty hour every Sunday. Thanks for everything you have tried to do for our country; and for me.