By Yemie Adeoye

HOUSTON – Nigeria’s aviation sector since the new political dispensation in 1999 has been through unspeakable woes that leave the sanest minds wondering if it is physical or spiritual the problem rocking the nation through this highly essential sector.

Why it remains sad that the globally acclaimed safest means of transportation has remained a nightmare in Nigeria, it is also a noted fact that previous ministers have lacked the necessary focus or direction to drive the sector positively and have only being majorly concerned about what personal deals can be closed before they are ousted.

This sad development I would want to blame on the office and person of the President of the federal republic of Nigeria and by extension the ‘Take a Bow’ National Assembly.

Appointment into certain offices should never be political as we have seen in Nigeria’s highly technical sectors from Energy to Aviation to defense, Power, Transport, works etc all these have been headed by people that can best be described as extremely incompetent. Hence we are saddled with aircrafts that crash at take off due to technical problems, and these are planes certified fit for commercial operations by the regulating Agency, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority. If these Agencies had heads formulating technical and globally competitive policies over 75 percent of the Air accidents since 1999 could have been averted.

The Aviation sector is hugely important to the economy of any nation. One of the largest contributors to the United Kingdom economy is the Aviation sector and there is no limit to the amount of advancement that the UK government would give to that sector starting from the selection of the person to man the sector and formulate highly needed policy for guidance and advancement.

It is however unfortunate and grossly so that the most visibly working Minister since 1999 in the person of Princess Stella Oduah has also been affected by Nigeria’s worse and most nightmarish virus ‘corruption’ I’m sure a careful study would reveal that corruption kills more people career–wise in Nigeria than AIDS kill people physically. We have undergraduates across our Universities in Nigeria waiting to graduate and become a millionaire same year! How? That’s another topic.

Oduah it would be recalled resolved quite a number of seemingly irresolvable crises in the sector immediately she assumed duties as the nations Aviation Minister. The Maevis contract that tends to shortchange the FAAN rather than improve on its income. The agreement with the Agency was obnoxious and it was to say the least hampering developments of the 22 airports under its management.

There were other issues like the highly controversial Bi-Courtney concession which she has handled professionally to a large extent especially her stoic refusal to hand over the Grand Aviation Terminal (GAT) to Bi-Courtney after bringing it down and rebuilding it under a year.

I’m a frequent international traveler and the transformation I see at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport is simply unprecedented since its inception, and such modification is ongoing nationwide under her watch. A co-traveler once told me she is the best Aviation Minister since the new democratic dispensation in 1999 and even if I found it hard to accept I couldn’t summon enough points to refute that claim because in the city of the blind the one eyed man is king.

But inspite of all this I still strongly opine that Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah, Nigeria’s Current Aviation Minister Should either resign or be fired by President Jonathan.

The reason for this seemingly aggressive posture is simple. Firstly, there is a claim of an ongoing anti-corruption war by the federal government which is already looking clumsy. The Federal Government is an institution and should be predictable because it is guided by a constitution.

Secondly, a precedent has been set, Former Minister of Health, Professor Adenike Grange was forced to resign by the Presidency under the Late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua over a N300 million scam, after which she was arrested and prosecuted by the Nation’s anti graft Agency, EFCC. It is my strong opinion that in order to serve as a deterrent to future pilferers who are yet to be appointed this precedent must be upheld.

Her appearance at the House of Representative committee on Aviation enquiry panel last week is an attempt to rub salt into injury by further taking Nigerians on a needless ride through her disgraceful defense of the undefendable. “Do the needful” in a Country as corrupt as Nigeria does not mean anything. It is totally meaningless and a daft at the NCAA could have interpreted it to mean just anything. Do the needful can be ‘get the cars stupid, and park them in my private garage”. It could mean ‘get it, sell it and stash the proceeds in an account for me’. It could mean just anything, and no responsible Minister in a corrupt environment like ours, where sycophancy in Government circle is the order of the day would say such nothing and not expect something.

It is however not so pleasant to Nigerians when the President sets up a committee simply because one ‘privileged’ person misappropriated N255million naira, when we know that her approval limits is only about a hundred million naira. That simply means the Bureau for Public Procurement which is totally unaware of this transaction should have been the approving Agency after the FEC’s initial approval. But all this did not happen and in clear-cut terms it is a breach of due process as approved by the nation’s constitution.

Now it become more annoying and reminds Nigerians across board of the Bode George trial days for the Minister either directly or through proxies to mobilize youths and women from the Eastern part of the Country to protest over her ongoing travails. It is not just unprofessional but so nauseating to see highly impoverished youths and women protesting on behalf of someone whom they probably have not and would not meet in this lifetime. If she had done the needful as professionally as possible no one would have castigated her, especially at a time when the only Airlines we have running the Country professionally are just Arik and Aero, Medview is also trying but that is at best the befitting description.

For these and other reasons, the Minister should be fired, since she has refused to do the honorable because it is un-Nigerian to resign from public office even in the face of proven guilt.

Need I say that there is no politicking about the matter on hand, so building tribal sentiments about it insults the sensibilities of Nigerians. A lot is happening in other ministries but until those involved are exposed in this manner we may not be able to do or say much. In the mean time if we as a nation desires to be taken seriously by the west and other international investors then Government at all times needs to be predictable and must always do the needful no matter who is involved.

 Mr. Adeoye a media consultant and Public Affairs analyst writes from Houston, Tx.