“We do not pray for accidents but it is inevitable. But all
we do is to do everything to ensure that we do not have accidents. But is an
act of God…!”
Stella Odua, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation (October 7, 2013,
Abuja).
In defense of the pus, rut and mess pervading the
Aviation Industry in Nigeria, Aviation Minister Stella Odua has come out
swinging. It is an acknowledged fact that much of the problem hitting the Aviation
marketplace probably started before the minister was born. Against this
backdrop, it will be unfair if I, through this medium unleash condemnation and
criticism on the honorable minister who had not probably been conceived in the
womb of her mother before Nigeria’s myriad problems were delivered in the
birth-bath of Lord Lugard. On the other hand, however, if tragedies and
disasters occur under the watch of an aviation team-leader, it is only
understandable why many may opine that the leader’s hands are dripping and glossed
up with blood spilled through a plethora of slaughter scenarios that are
recorded to date in avoidable plane crashes.
The irksomeness I am expressing in this piece
borders on the statement that the Minister made on Monday in Abuja. Mrs. Odua
said that plane crashes are both inevitable and “an act of God”. I disagree on both ends. In many nations of
the world where human lives are perceived as precious, and where greed and
gluttony are not commonplace, air crashes are not inevitable. In a nation where
it is country first and counting gold later, air crashes are not inevitable. That is why in these nations we have flight
delays and cancellations. That is why maintenance is up-and-up and
accountability is not compromised. That is why staffs are paid on time and
benefits are released to them promptly. A pilot who has not been paid by his
employer for three months, and an engineer who has not been remunerated for a
while will jump on any opportunity to make money even if it means flying a
crippled plane for 40 minutes. That is the kind of risk people take with their
lives and living in a nation where nothing seems to be wrong with violation of both
workers and human rights.
Leadership is tough, so I am hesitant to throw all
garbage at the doorsteps of Stella because I don’t have all the facts about
Aviation in Nigeria. But I can, with some kind of authority, challenge what she
said about the accident being “an act of God”.
What has God got to do with this? This is not an act of God, madam Minister;
this is a culmination of gross and grave acts of men killing other men, women and children,
and submerging the nation in a subterfuge of grief and sorrow. Is it an act of
God to have a gaping hole on the runway and not fixed for years? Is it an act
of God to have electricity shut off at the airport while planes are landing or
taking off? Is it an act of God to have
half-baked pilots who are proficient only in theories but deficient in hands-on
maneuvering? Is it an act of God to have an aircraft maintenance company that
cannot maintain? Is it an act of God to
extort Airline Operators making them pay for parking at the gate and hangars
more than their counterparts all over the world? Is it an act of God to look the other way when
a warning light flashes indicating an engine problem in an airplane, and yet
still fly? Is it an act of God to have
corrupt people by the steering wheels of aviation administration? Is it an act
of God for government officials to receive bribe and then look the other way
regarding abiding by the required aircraft standards? These are all grievous
acts of deliberately careless and
ignorant men. In Nigeria we are too much
God-talking but our hearts are far away from Him. Can we for God’s sake just
leave God out of this gaping hole of disasters and tragedies hitting us from
all angles, and focus on what man ought to do?
What Nigerians clamor for at this time is a bear-hug
of the truth. And unfortunately, typical
of Nigerian politicians, embracing the truth is not their vade mecum. Whether it is Dana aircraft crash, or
Associated plane accident, our problems are beyond these occurrences. Our
problems are systemic! The systemic destructive viral attack has led to the
pandemic bloodletting. Those crashes are just manifestations and revelations of
age-long ailment that has bedeviled the system. We all know what is ailing Nigeria, and we
also know who and what brought the ailments. If we sidestep what is really
ailing and throw the faults and blames on the broad shoulders of a merciful and
faithful God when tragedies happen, it is a clear indication that we are not
ready for a change.
Schizophrenic love of money, bare-face, bold-face
banditry and catatonic-cum-cataleptic corrupt mindset of “get-all-you-can and
can-all-you-get” is our key problem in Nigeria. That is why we are
stuck in the rut. Nothing is moving, all things have stopped working. Any nation that has professors of pillage and
plunder running the ship of government will always be stuck in the rut. Any
nation that has blatant bandits, terrorizing thieves, and Goliaths of shamelessness
and heartlessness leading any form of government
will always be stuck in the rut. Any nation that has cunning cohorts of coalesced
country-club criminals carrying the banner of government will always be stuck
in the rut. Any nation that has egregious gangsters and graduates of the academy
of greed and gluttony controlling vital organs of government will always be
stuck in the rut. Any nation that has essential services of government run by
marauding gerrymandering geeks grounded in the theatrics of grabbing and
grubbing will always be stuck in the rut.
So when I hear this bombastic barbarous babbling of
“act of God” that has become a lingua franca in our nation, it belittles the big God we serve and depicts
Him as a mean, machete-wielding,
sword-swinging, blood-thirsty God who cares nothing at all about the
royal priesthood, peculiar people and holy nation that He created. God’s got
nothing to do with these anomalies in Nigeria; man has to clean up his acts.
God will not maintain your planes, load your luggage, hire capable pilots, and
rid the system of corruption and the corrupted. God has done what He will do-He gave us resources that we
cannot manage, he gave us intelligent men and women that we kill and abuse, he gave us capable men and women that
will never run for office because of fear, and he gave us a nation that we
don’t seem to love enough. That’s all He will do. It is time to work out our
own salvation with fear and trembling and forget about all this expected
spoon-feeding from God who still continues to rule in the affairs of men.
It is both sheepish and a cheap-shot to call for the
head of Stella Odua, (a woman I have never met in my life), because of the
current cascades of catastrophes. A change in personnel in Nigeria will not
make any difference, but a change in personhood. A change in how every
individual Nigerian thinks, a change in how we can truly be our brother’s
keepers, a change in how we perceive money and its importance, and a change in
how we pursue gold and get gain are all what will keep us afloat stormy seasons
and waters of affliction. At the end of
the day, if as a Nigerian you hold an American passport, a British landing
card, an European travel document, or a Russian Green Card, we all have only
one country to always go back to. You know where that is.
THIS IS SMACKDOWN STRAIGHTUP TALK!!!
