Nigeria’s aviation industry has been under the spotlight for the wrong reasons. The crash of the Associated Airlines plane within the airport premises of Murtala Mohammed Airport with 16 reported deaths and purchase of fancy bulletproof BMWs for the aviation Minister led to public outrage against the Minister as well as calls for scrutiny within the sector.
On Thursday October 4th, an Associated Airline plane conveying about 20 persons and the body of the late former Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Agagu crashed at the Lagos Airport killing about 16 of the 20 passengers. Shortly following this incident, a Kabo Airlines plane conveying muslim pilgrims from Kano to Jeddah, had its tyres burst midair and had to be diverted to Sokoto where it reportedly landed with deflated tyres.
As is usually the case after plane crashes in Nigeria, there was an immediate grounding of the operations of Associated Airlines operations and the suspension of Dana Air license. It would be recalled that about a year ago, a Dana Aircraft crashed in Lagos claiming 153 lives. The country’s airlines regulatory agency, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) claims they are currently carrying out an audit on the compliance level of the airline with laid down rules and regulations. However, the aviation plane college crash in Illorin on November 25th only reinforces this worrisome trend of plane crashes.
The Senate discussed these incidents at its plenary session on October 8th. In a motion raised by Senator Hope Uzodimma, it was noted that there have been 7 fatal plane crashes in less than two years. This figure excludes three air related incidents that were averted in October alone i.e. the Kabo Aircraft conveying Sokoto Pilgrims on the 4th of October, 2013, the Maxi Aircraft conveying Taraba Pilgrims Crash on the same date and the IRS plane emergency landing on the 13th of October, 2013.
Senator Smart Adeyemi pointed out that the problems the sector faces revolved around corruption. Adding depth to this statement, he reported that an insider in the aviation industry disclosed that the most recent plane crash by Associated Airline was a test flight mandated only to carry pilots and some engineers. Yet, at the time of the plane crash, the plane had 20 passengers on board! Ironically, a comprehensive report presented to the Senate as of 2009 had detailed fraud in the maintenance of this same Embraer 120 twin pop aircraft. Yet, no action was taken.
As if all these were not enough, a scandal broke out in the aviation sector after reports surfaced that the Minister received two bulletproof BMW vehicles, valued at a whopping $1.6m(about N225m) from the NCAA – an agency that she supposedly supervises. After initially denying the allegations, her Special Assistant (Media), Mr. Joe Obi, admitted that the vehicles were acquired to protect her from “imminent external threats.” The Senate and the House of Representatives finally took action on this matter by moving a motion summoning the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah, and the heads of aviation parastatals to the National Assembly.
During the investigative hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, the Minister denied having purchased the vehicles for herself. Rather, she maintained that the luxury vehicles were an essential for the NCAA whose name was reflected on the purchase document. At the conclusion of the hearing, a report was produced recommending the Minister’s sack, for exceeding the official limit in approving the purchase of the 2 bulletproof vehicles. Ironically, this expenditure was not provided for in the NCAA’s budget of 2013. The sack of the Director General of NCAA, Nkemaloam Joyce and the agency’s Director of Finance, Salom N. Ogizi was also advised. Furthermore, it was recommended that Coscharis Motors Limited should be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the alleged abuse of waiver when importing the cars and be made to refund the amount.
In the Senate, mixed reactions followed after it rescinded on its resolution to summon the Minister to brief its House on the state of the aviation sector. However, the decision has been of late reversed with the briefing to hold on the first week of December.
It is clear that the outburst against the Minister seems to have created a faction of both supporters and opponents alike calling for her resignation. On the one hand, her supporters have commended her efforts to renovate Nigeria’s airports including the recent opening and commencement of international flight operations at the Enugu airport and have blamed her present plight on persons who are against women holding high political offices as well as political enemies to President Jonathan.
On the other hand, those opposed to her leadership have cited her renovations, which reportedly are in the tune of billions of dollars as “shoddy” renovations that won’t stand the test of time. They rely on reports in the news and social media to back up their claims such as stories of leaking roofs in the terminals of the “renovated” airports. Air travellers also routinely complain of malfunctioning luggage belts, escalators, poorly maintained toilets and poor treatment from airline operators. The Senate, in its October 8th plenary session also highlighted the poor state of the country’s airport runways.
As it stands, the President has acknowledged that the report of the House of Representatives is on his table. However, the question of what he will do with it remains in perspective as it offers to be a test in examining the government’s stance in the fight against corruption.