Nigeria

After the Dana Air Disaster

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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.

 

 

 

ANOTHER BLACK DAY IN NIGERIA: SUICIDE BOMBER IN BAUCHI AND A PLANE CRASH IN LAGOS

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By Adeola Aderounmu

Remarkable and terrible things are happening in Nigeria. June 3 2012 and we have a suicide bomber in Bauchi killing more than 15 other people at a church service.

The news is yet to settle down when we heard that a plane had crashed in Lagos. The plane was flying to Lagos from Abuja. More than 153 are dead. The plane belongs to one DANA AIR FLIGHT.

CNN reports that 3 houses are affected which means that the death toll will be higher than 153 when the dusts settles and the fire off.

Obviously the government of Jonathan is a disaster. This is a government that we all know now should never have happened. The helplessness and ineptitude of Jonathan’s government is incomprehensible.

Security situation in Nigeria is at a record low and anyone can be murdered or kidnapped at any time in Northern Nigeria. It is no longer a hidden fact that Northern Nigeria is out of control of the Jonathan government. It’s a dead zone and people who live there are doing so at their own risk.

One hopes that adequate and reportable investigation will reveal the cause of the plane crash so that lessons can be learnt and future disasters averted. What we are not expecting to hear is that the plane is over 30 or 40 years old because there have been accidents in the past caused by usage of old and aged aircrafts.

If the accident was caused by preventable causes, then those who are responsible should be held liable and accountable. If it means that the Minister of Aviation should be fired, so be it.

Emergency responses in Nigeria are bad. People were actually begging other people on facebook to make contact with NEMA. Really?

Well, there are several aspects of the Nigerian life that needs reviewing and the events of June 3 2012 reminds us of the need to end this useless regime and find new ways to move the various regions of Nigeria forward.

Delay is dangerous and 2015 is too far for comfort. Change is Now!

HOSNI MUBARAK GOES TO JAIL

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By Adeola Aderounmu

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak will serve a life sentence. He is already 84, almost having nothing to lose.

Mubarak was accused to ordering the killing of protesters in 2011. It was actually very difficult to prove this case against him. The Police could have acted on its own. But Mubarak was in charge and the bulk stops at his desk.

Mubarak is ill, suffering from a heart condition. It would not be a shock if he is released on compassionate ground or if he is still allowed to continue to live at the Military Hospital.

Mubarak was a dictator. I don’t have enough knowledge to access his regime and I have refused to read Wikipedia for any details.

I am just going to complete this essay as an ignorant observer of Egypt.

Egypt remains a hot destination for tourists. Many Europeans will still spend this summer in Egypt. Therefore there must be something that Mubarak did well as a dictator or killer of protesters.

There must be something about Egypt before, during and after MUBARAK that makes it a wonderful place to live and visit.

Egypt remains a great footballing country. The images of Egypt that I see and observe are wonderful and delightful.

My own brother visited Egypt a few times as a tourist and businessman. It must be great there.

Usually I write to compare situations around the world with the country where I was born, that is Nigeria.

In Nigeria Mubarak will still be a hero like Babangida. Babangida killed several people including Dele Giwa and a generation of Nigerian young and promising military service men. Babangida rolled out the tanks in 1993 and Killed Nigerians protesting the annulment of the Presidential election won by MKO Abiola.

Babangida in one swoop stole more than 12 billion dollars during the Gulf war.

Today he is still a hero. He has never been convicted or imprisoned for any of these crimes.

When I watched the trial of Mubarak, I thought to myself: what if the Egyptians visit Nigeria and discover that Nigeria is covered by darkness because of the lack of electricity?

If they come, the Egyptians will see that there is no public education in Nigeria because nobody cares if the poor man and his children receive any education.

What if the Egyptians come to Nigeria and see that Nigerian hospitals are big jokes and that infrastructure in Nigeria is dead.

Nigerian roads are prone to accidents and they are among the worst in the world.

In Nigeria the politicians are thieves and they are wicked.

This week in Nigeria the heartless regime that continues to loot and steal decided to increase the price of something it is not providing. Nigerians will pay more for electricity while they live in darkness.

My conclusion?

If the Egyptians come to Nigeria they will fish out all the past and present rulers of Nigeria and tear them into pieces. This group includes the present president, all his serving committees, all the governors and all the people occupying government houses across Nigeria.

The Egyptians will take them out and sentence them to life imprisonment or to death. They are worse than Mubarak. They are the heroes of Nigeria. What a world!

 

 

NEW ELECTRICITY BILLS: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT AS A MURDEROUS MACHINE

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By Adeola Aderounmu

At various times I have described the Nigerian government with harsh terms. The situation remains the same.

The government of Nigeria promised to give Nigerians constant electricity power by the end of 1986. Twenty-six years later Nigerians are still living in darkness.

A cheap blackmail will be that each successive government would absolve itself of the shortcomings of the previous government. Another senseless blackmail is for the civilians to blame the military gangsters and vice versa.

But the constant truth is that every government in Nigeria, past and now, is useless and corrupt. Each government has neglected its primary roles over the years and almost no one set of corrupt politicians or tropical gangsters is better than the other in terms of providing for the populace and maintaining infrastructure.

On June 1 2013, the useless (present) government of Goodlcuk Jonathan will increase the cost of electricity and consumers will start to pay more for what is not available.

It is only in Nigeria that people pay for what is not provided.

It takes a foolish, wicked and senseless government like that of Ebele Goodluck Jonathan to increase the price of what it is not providing.

This strategy has been used in the past-with promises made and no delivery on the promises. The cost of electricity keeps going up.

This government is wicked and foolish.

What is wrong with Nigerians? Are they going to accept this nonsense, again?

I think it is time for them to emerge from their holes and push this government to the dustbin of history once and for all.

There is no alternative other than ending this murderous and repressive regime. It is the most useless ever!

JUNE 12 1993

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By Adeola Aderounmu

What happened on June 12 1993?

On June 12 1993, several millions of Nigerians voted in the best election ever conducted in the history of Nigeria.

The elections itself had been planned along two party system. Social Democratic Party’s candidate was Chief MKO Abiola while Alhaji Bashir Tofa was the candidate of the National Republical Convention.

Nigerians voted massively in favour of Moshood Abiola.

Bashir Tofa (the opponent) sent congratulatory messages to MKO Abiola.

As the results were announced, the prices of goods and services were falling.

There was happiness all over Nigeria. There was hope that a new dawn has come.

There was a tailor who refused to be paid for the services he had rendered. He was so overjoyed that “at last” hope has come to the people.

Bus conductor and drivers were offering free rides. You didn’t have to pay anything.

That was the spirit and mood until Nigerians received a rude shock from the military gangsters led by one notorious Ibrahim Babangida. He announced the annulment of the results of the elections without reasons.

There were many hypotheses trying to explain or justify the annulment including that Abiola was a creditor of the federal government, or that a few idiots would not like to see him be president of Nigeria.

Some people said it was because of what he did when he was in NPN that he betrayed or opposed Awolowo, a fellow Yoruba politician. He is also alleged to have sponsored military coups in Nigeria.

No form of arguments would justify the annulment of the June 12 1993 peaceful presidential elections.
The fundamental thing about June 12 was that an election held and Abiola won.

By cancelling the decisions made by Nigerians in a democratic process, treasonable felony was committed by Babangida and those around him including the late Abacha.

Babangida should be arrested and tried not only for corruption but for treason and crimes against humanity. Why is Babangida still a free man in Nigeria?

It is a revelation of the stupidity of the Nigerian Law system and the useless judiciary structure that make it impossible for people who committed treason to remain free in Nigeria.

It is a revelation of the types of thieves, looters and abnormal people who capture and rule Nigeria since 1960 to date.

Are some people above the law in Jonny’s county?

The annulment was resisted by many true democrats, some were killed and many went into exile.

Many innocent Nigerians died in the failed struggle to actualize the annulled mandate.

Many Nigerian politicians sold their souls for porridge because they could not stand on the June 12 mandate. Political prostitution is an old business in Nigeria.

Baba Gana Kingibe was a prince of the game of political prostitution long before Atiku Abubakar.

Nigerian traditional rulers who could have pressurized the silly Babangida kept mute. They loved bribes because their prosperity is built on them. Traditional rulers in Nigeria are part of the criminality of the rulership.

Those whom we taught were leaders became rulers and accomplices to the crime. Obasanjo said Abiola was not the messiah. I don’t remember MKO claiming to be one.

Abiola died without realizing his dreams and without claiming the mandate he got from millions of Nigerians in the most peaceful and fairest election ever in the history of Nigeria.

The circumstances surrounding Abiola’s death remains controversial. He died in the arms of American visitors sent by Bill Clinton. He was poisoned in the presence of the American delegation. It has become one of the several conspiracy theories that he was killed by the Nigerian military government with the assistance of the Americans.

Abiola’s nephew told me how the issue of repatriation seriously pursued by Abiola became one of his likely undoing.

Those who are too young to understand the June 12 story should continue to discern what they read because lies will be told. Many things have been said against Abiola. Some of them may be true but nothing said can take away the fact that he won the election and that Babangida is a living criminal.

How the laws work in Nigeria is still a mystery. How can someone commit treason and be free?

The 2011 elections are by no means close to the peaceful and fair elections of June 12 1993.

And for those who are superstitious it appears that until something is done to make amends for the devilish errors of June 12 1993, Nigeria may never make progress. Living conditions have become worse since then.

Naming the University of Lagos after MKO Abiola is very unnecessary. The man would turn in his grave if the hope of 1993 radiates once again.

When Obasanjo was imposed on Nigerians in 1999 politicians thought they have made amends for June 12 1993. That was an error of judgment. Obasanjo was anti-June 12, so it doesn’t count in the superstitious world. In fact it may have added salt to the injury.

Recently Obasanjo called Nigerian politicians crooks, thieves and armed robbers like I have always done. The difference between our common points of view is that Obasanjo is included in the list of those he counted. He looted especially the power fund. Nigerian remains in permanent darkness.

Since 1999 the standard of living has dropped and gotten worse. More people have become poorer and lives have been lost in several conflicts.

I do know that the Nigerian government also stupidly adopted May 29 as democracy day in Nigeria. May 29 is not a day of democracy. On May 29 1999, Evil triumphed over good in Nigeria.

Sometimes I wondered how Nigerians allow the useless government to impose things that are evil on them.

It would have been better, to honour those who gave their lives for democracy that June 12 be made the national democracy day. Or we just don’t have any democracy day and still honour these unsung heroes on October 1st every year.
Rather what we do is to decorate accomplished political looters and thieves with national honours.

It appears to me that for as long as we continue to deny the truth about the significance of June 12 and its role in the establishment of our struggling democratic process that we may not make any real progress in this country.

During the presidential debate in 1993 Abiola spoke to Nigerians and answered their questions on what his plans are and how he will help Nigeria to become great.

June 12 came with a manifesto and programs of hope. That is why it is sad that we didn’t experience the reign of Abiola.

A mandate similar to what Abiola got in 1993 and the hopes and confidence that came with it are necessary ingredients for growth and development of Nigeria.

I don’t think anybody can rule Nigeria successfully without a mandate similar to that which Abiola obtained in 1993.
It cut across religion, regions and tribes. It was a universal mandate, made in Nigeria.

It will also be impossible for anyone to lead Nigeria and make meaningful progress without a manifesto of hope and programs that are well planned and thought through.

The positive impacts of Abiola’s victory lasted a few hours; they are part of the most memorable hours of my life. For the first time in my life, then in 1993, I saw hope on the faces of Nigerians. As a country we saw light at the end of the tunnel but the light faded away, very quickly.

In 2012 we remain in the tunnel, led by useless rulers like Jonathan and ruled over by corrupt Ministers, corrupt governors and armed robber legislators as confirmed by Obasanjo.

Hope is gone?

Related post:
https://aderinola.wordpress.com/2007/06/05/june-12-1993-just-like-yesterday