Editorial
Sanitising The Aviation Industry
The June 3, 2012 crash of Dana Air plane in Lagos, which claimed the lives of about 163 passengers, crew and residents of damaged buildings around the crash site, added another ugly chapter in the sordid history of the aviation industry in Nigeria.
After the crash, majority of Nigerians called for the perpetual shutdown of Dana Air as a first step in efforts towards sanitising the aviation industry, alluding to speculations that the airline management failed to take every necessary measures, including regular maintenance, to avert the unfortunate incident. In response to the tragedy, government suspended Dana Air operating licence, and only reinstated the licence last January.
But many had criticised Federal Government’s revalidation of the withdrawn operating licence, arguing that the decision was hasty and indicated lack of political will to sanction airlines that undermined core safety benchmarks in their operations.
This clarion call brings to mind memories of the forlon jewels of Nigerian skylines populated by such names as Bellview, Okada, ADC and Sosoliso, whose closed chapters after major crashes remind Nigerians that, indeed, it was an acceptable pattern for airlines’ planes to claim generations of precious lives, without any consequence.
The Tide agrees, no doubt, that the demise of the other airlines has not stopped air crashes in Nigeria. Since last June when the unfortunate Dana Air crash threw the nation into mourning, a number of other crashes have occurred, including the Nigerian Air Force helicopter, which crashed into Nembe creek in Bayelsa State, claiming the lives of former National Security Adviser, Andrew Azazi, former Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Yakowa, among others.
While we reason that air crashes are not peculiar to Nigeria, we feel that the problem with the nation’s aviation industry is clearly a case of lack of required attention to issues of safety of the planes, pilots and passengers. We also think that beyond the key issue of safety is the brazen abuse of due process in implementing and enforcing compliance to critical technical details concerning airline maintenance, lack of regular oversight and endemic corruption in the system.
We draw these conclusions because years of wanton loss of precious loved ones, damage to properties, and unquantifiable toll on the economy do not appear to have taught the government, regulatory agencies nor operators of the industry the right lessons. Perhaps, nothing more explains our sadness than the fact that successive governments had failed to muster the required political will to implement strategic policies and regulations that would ensure the birth of an airline industry that plays by the rules and operates in line with international best practice.
Otherwise, how do we fathom that it was only a month ago that the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) shamelessly released reports of its investigations of eight previous air crashes in the country, spanning more than two decades, including an inconclusive report of the Dana Air crash of last year.
The glaring indictment of airline operators, civil aviation authorities and other aeronautical agencies is clear testimony that for too long, major players in the industry had taken Nigerians for granted.
With the release of reports, Presidency’s sack of ex-director general of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Olusegun Demuren on March 11 and his replacement with Fola Akintuotu, and the swift 48-hour suspension of Dana Air operations on alleged battery failure during test flight on March 16, we believe that government has woken from its long slumber. This is therefore the time to begin implementation of the recommendations of the AIB, and both chambers of the National Assembly committees on aviation.
With government’s new momentum, we expect that the aviation authorities would henceforth take a critical self-re-examination with a view to forcing compliance with relevant laws, auditing every operator and re-certifying all aircraft in their fleet. We also believe that it is time the regulatory agencies ensured internationally-acceptable insurance template for victims of air disasters while at the same time prosecuting a recapitalisation policy that guarantees robust future for the industry.
For us, this is the right time to sanitise the aviation industry in such a way that Nigerians are never again allowed to fly in aircraft with doubtful safety status. The national ridicule that the spate of air crashes has subjected the image of the nation to, and the collossal toll on foreign direct investments that had dittered for years, is enough.
Airline operators and aviation regulatory bodies must wake up and reassure flying publics that the Nigerian airspace is safe to fly. That is the best way to go!
There are moments in the life of a legislature when plain speaking becomes a public service. Senator Adams Oshiomhole provided such a moment on the floor of the Senate when he accused the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, of manifestly neglecting critical federal arteries in Edo and Delta States, and implored his colleagues to prevail on the Minister to adopt a more equitable and genuinely national approach to road infrastructure delivery. It was blunt, it was uncomfortable, and it was necessary.
The specifics of his complaint deserve restating. Drawing attention to the recent approval of some 20 new road projects despite the parlous state of existing ones, the former Edo State governor lamented that Nigerians cannot travel from Benin to Warri, Benin to Asaba, Benin to Auchi, or Auchi to Okene without encountering severe distress. He alleged a deliberate omission of these corridors from the national budget in the last three years, save for palliative interventions directed by President Bola Tinubu through tax credit arrangements. His question — “What have we done wrong?” — resonates far beyond the chambers of the National Assembly.
We lend our full and unequivocal support to that call. The Auchi-Benin Road, for instance, has been in a deplorable and near-impassable condition for several years, turning what should be a two-hour journey into an all-day ordeal of broken axles, extortionate fares, and despondent commuters. The media have, on multiple occasions, chronicled the suffering of motorists, traders, and students who ply that route. To describe it as a federal road today is to stretch the meaning of the term beyond recognition.
This pattern of sidelining is not confined to Edo or Delta. Even here in Rivers State, the disposition of the Federal Ministry of Works has left much to be desired, particularly along the Eleme axis of the East-West Road. That road, which ought to be a flagship of federal presence in the Niger Delta, has remained in a wretched state for long. Those who use it daily — workers at the Eleme Petrochemical Complex, the two refineries, Onne Port, and the countless ancillary industries — can attest to its deterioration. Work has proceeded in fits and starts without the sustained urgency such a strategic road demands.
The Eleme stretch is not a mere intra-state byway. It is the gateway to the nation’s economic jugular. According to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing’s 2023 Highway Condition Survey, only about 35 per cent of the country’s 36,000 kilometres of federal roads are rated as being in good or fair condition, with the remainder classified as poor or very poor. The East-West Road, conceived in the 1970s to bind the entire Niger Delta, remains unfinished in critical sections more than four decades after. If it had been treated as a priority, the perennial gridlock, carnage, and economic loss on the Eleme-Refinery junction would have long been consigned to history.
The irony is as painful as it is glaring. The Niger Delta remains the goose that lays the golden eggs. Data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [NEITI 2023 Oil and Gas Audit] show that the region still accounts for over 78 per cent of Nigeria’s federally collected export earnings and about 65 per cent of total government revenue. The National Bureau of Statistics [NBS Foreign Trade Report Q4 2024] similarly confirms that crude oil continues to dominate export receipts. By every metric of equity and economic logic, a region that sustains the national purse deserves first-rate consideration in the allocation of infrastructure, not afterthoughts and tokenism.
Road infrastructure is not largesse to be dispensed by favour; it is the skeleton upon which commerce, cohesion, and citizenship hang. When contracts are concentrated in one geopolitical zone while other zones are left to contend with craters, it erodes trust in the federation itself. The World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update [June 2023] estimated that poor transport connectivity inflates the cost of moving goods by up to 40 per cent and costs the Nigerian economy an estimated $1.5 billion annually in lost man-hours and vehicle maintenance. If we profess to be one country, then equity must be the compass that guides key institutions before any project is executed. Development must spread round, not pool in one place as though other regions do not matter.
There is also a grave security dimension that can no longer be ignored. The deplorable condition of federal roads has become a veritable enabler of criminality. The NBS Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey reported over 2.5 million incidents of kidnapping-related occurrences nationally, with transport workers identifying bad road spots as prime ambush points. When vehicles are forced to crawl at 10 kilometres per hour through failed sections at Auchi, Sapele Road, or Eleme, they become sitting ducks for armed gangs. Fixing bad roads, therefore, is not merely about convenience; it is about safeguarding lives.
By his intervention, Senator Oshiomhole has hit the nail on the head and reminded Minister Umahi of a fundamental constitutional truth: public office is held in trust. The Ministry of Works is not a personal estate where contracts are awarded according to whim or political convenience. It is a national institution funded by the collective resources of Nigerians, including the oil and gas rents from the very communities whose roads are now neglected. The Minister must demonstrate balance, transparency, and a pan-Nigerian outlook in the distribution of projects that impact the daily existence of citizens. Selective neglect breeds suspicion, and suspicion is corrosive at a time when the nation is preaching unity, oneness, equity, and justice.
Consequently, the National Assembly must go beyond rhetoric and assert its oversight powers with vigour. Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution [as amended] empower the legislature to investigate and expose any maladministration in the execution of federal projects. If an office holder is not acting rightly, it is the duty of the Senate and the House of Representatives to call him to order. Oversight must not be reduced to budget approval ceremonies; it must translate to field verification, public hearings, and insistence that the Federal Character principle, as enshrined in Section 14(3) of the Constitution, reflects in road awards.
Let the Auchi-Okene, Benin-Warri, Benin-Asaba, and Eleme East-West gangways be restored to motorable dignity. Let priority be given to completing existing, economically vital roads before embarking on new ones. If those who, through their resources, sustain the federation are sidelined in the distribution of tangible dividends, it tells poorly of our nationhood. Bad roads must be fixed, and they must be fixed now, with fairness as the guiding standard.
