By Adeola Aderounmu

The Dana Air Disaster was altogether avoidable.

More than 160 people dead. Men, women, children, passengers, pilot and crew members all perished in one swoop.

There have been series of technical faults with the aircrafts that belongs to DANA AIR. It is likely that the one that went in flames and crashed in Lagos was one of the faulty planes.

Sometimes I wonder if the pilot and crew members are briefed about the state of the aircrafts that they are embarking upon. It is possible that the owners of the flight company hid facts and figures from their flying crew because I don’t think that anyone will add flying in a faulty aircrafts to the high risk of flying in the air. May the souls of the departed find peace.

Now is the time to withdraw DANA’s license if it is found that the management intentionally put the life of its passengers and crew at risk.

The Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation should be fired to send very strong signals about the seriousness of the Nigerian government to wipe out preventable air disasters.

The rulers of Nigeria and the government of Lagos State should find the families of the deceased (both the passengers and those killed on the ground) and make sure that they receive psychological, emotional and financial support needed to move on with their lives.

The insurance companies should not be found wanting on the side of Dana Airways and the individuals that have lost their lives. Life insurances, where applicable, should start rolling out without delay and without unnecessary bottlenecks. Some people have insurances that are not known to their families. The insurance companies owe it as a duty to find the relations and surviving members of the deceased.

The Dana Air disaster reminds us once again that Nigeria and indeed many parts of Africa remain dumping grounds for waste products from the rest of the world. The Nigerian government should ensure that planes in Nigeria are modern and air-worthy. Efforts must be genuine and realistic to stop the importation of abandoned airplanes to Nigeria.

Pius Adesanmi has criticized the Lagos State Government for buying old and abandoned trains from the Canadian government.

Nigerians and Lagosions can show their protest and dissatisfaction by refusing to embark on such trains. These trains, abandoned in Canada and unveiled in Lagos, should be sent to the recycling center and burnt or the metals recycled-with immediate effect.

Governor Fashola should make haste to discard those trains because they will kill Lagosians one day. It is too true to ignore.

Old trains, old airplanes and old buses fall in the same category of moving coffins. Why do we need to shed the blood of Nigerians by bringing obsolete transportation means to Nigeria?

When are we going to learn and use our brains? Why buy cheap stuffs that will take innocent lives?

Nigerians don’t need a ruler who shed tears at the scene of accidents that are preventable. They need leaders who know what leadership means. They need leaders who can lead by examples. Jonathan buys himself new presidential jets every now and then and his government did not see the need to ensure that Airlines like DANA do not fly old and faulty planes in our sky. That is such a scandal and there is nothing wrong laying the blame at the table of the ruler of Nigeria.

This disaster is very sad. We lost our friends, families, brothers and sisters. The people we know lost their loved ones and we are all together in this grief. It could have been anyone of us in that flight.

We travel by air trusting that the flight company has done what it should do, the right way. Travelling by air will continue to be a huge risk and it is therefore necessary to remove and eliminate already detected potential source of danger. DANA airline is guilty of flying faulty aircrafts and does not deserve to remain in business.

The Minister of Aviation must be sacked and other people who one way or the other contributed to the negligence that led to the crashing of the plane should be made to face the music accordingly.

If there are no consequences for this avoidable scenario, Nigerians have not learnt anything and this could happen again.

Lastly it is no secret that the worst roads in the world are likely in Nigeria. Our roads are bad and our waterways are underutilized for water transportation. Militants are kidnapping sea/ocean workers and robbers are way laying night buses. How can people travel safely in Nigeria? This question requires an urgent answer.