The Senate Resolutions: Good, Bad and Ugly

By Wale Olu

 The National Assembly recently passed some resolutions with respect to

events in the industry; in unison we can applaud some of them while

the others are either bad or ugly.

The directive to the Central Bank to recover funds given to Air

Nigeria is commendable, with four aircraft parked in the cold in

Hampshire, England awaiting the lessors’ decision and another parked

close to the GAT graveyard without engines. It is clear that Air

Nigeria has turned round the turnaround expert. This is a sad story,

since this airline was flying without an investor or intervention fund

sometime ago in this country and it was managed by a Nigerian.

The directive to compel NCAA to ensure all airlines involved in

accidents settle all outstanding insurance obligations and ensure that

all airlines have adequate insurance cover as required by the

regulations is also a good one. They should go further and ensure that

owners or managers of such airlines do not return to the industry in

another name or designation without offsetting their liabilities.

On the MD 83’s they are still flying  without issues round the world,

I stated sometime after the crash that Air Burkina and Air Mali are

using those aircraft to ferry Air France passengers to points beyond

Ouagadougou and Bamako, while our airlines with brand new aircraft

are overlooked for such commercial agreements. The same aircraft has

been picking Nigerian troops from Abuja and other African troops or

officials under the auspices of the United Nations, will the UN use an

unsafe aircraft with its LOGO emblazoned on it?

The directive setting passenger aircraft age limit at 15 years and

cargo at 20 years is not a panacea to air crashes; rather it will

drive some carriers out of the market, increase unemployment and

fares. Is it the airframe or the engine that must have this age limit?

What happens if the airframe is 16 years and the engines are 3years?

Please let us leave the status quo and allow the regulators do their

job, in line with air worthiness directives from reputable

international agencies.

The directive asking the government to revoke the license of DANA

Airlines is a bad one; the airline has just been re-certified by NCAA

and some other airlines are going through that process. If the

Legislature views the certification of DANA despite having an

international AMO as partner is faulty and the NCAA cannot be trusted,

it means all other AOCs issued by the NCAA should be revoked with

immediate effect; anything short of this is RACISM. I just pray their

country of descent will not target Nigerian investors too. The

priority should be payment of compensation to all.

The directive demanding for the removal of the DG and the dismissal of

the Engineer saddled with the inspection of the ill fated DANA

aircraft is distasteful, hasty and ugly. Rather, a speedy

investigation and conclusion of the accident report should be our

priority; at that point there will be no place to hide for every one

anymore.

I do not believe the demand of the Senate is based on tribal

sentiments as espoused in some quarters rather it is based on some

information that look mischievous emanating from the cocktail of

submissions made before, during and after the public hearing. The DG

should not be tagged with incompetence based on his record so far, he

should rather be decorated with national honours for elevating the

regulatory institution rather than being hounded disrespectfully.  Let

the senate hang proven corruption charges and breach of contract on

him, the tide will change ferociously.

ROSAVIATSIA, the Russian equivalent of NCAA was almost pushed last

year by their parliament, the DUMA to revoke the licenses of some

airlines due to air mishaps. The Agency resisted and conducted their

investigations. Red Wings Airline only last week lost its AOC in that

process. The Russian regulator said they are losing the license, not

because of the air crash they had on the 29th of December 2012, but

due to the numerous significant violations found during

re-certification. Also, the airline lacked financial resources to

provide ongoing operations consistent with appropriate level of

safety. This is processes and procedure without interference but

requisite oversight responsibility by all parties.

We are scaring investors. We need to stop the bickering and attract

them by capitalising on our CAT 1 status.

If the National Assembly really has so much time on their hands and consider 

they are not so busy attending to more pressing urgent matters of national 

interest on the deteriorating economy and nation, including the wide gap between

the rich and the poor, let alone all the corruption in the Executive and the Legislature

then they should look at investigating all the fuel companies who supply aviation fuel

as they are the ones responsible for contaminated fuel causing recent air accidents.  

Wole Olu writes from Lagos, Nigeria

What I've learnt... 1: Musing of a man in position

By George Uriesi

Nigeria is afflicted by a severe lack of patriotism by something like 99.999% of its citizens. But we can talk the talk. Check out all the brouhaha on social media, in newspapers and magazines, etc. All you get is severe criticism of the country, it's government and virtually everything about it. I also confess that I was one of the crowd screaming at the top of my voice on the internet and in newspaper articles about how bad Nigeria is!

Alas, the opportunity came for me to put my money where my mouth is and I took it. And gosh, have I been disappointed by what I've seen. Sooo many so called critics, especially diaspora returnees who found their ways into various influential sectors of government just come in and become worse than those who never left the country! To the vast majority of us Nigerians, our government exists for us to steal from. Forget all the noise people make. I've seen over and over again how the noisemakers come in and before you can say 'hey', join the fray.

The media is the worst culprit. I have never seen a mass media as illiterate, ignorant, unprofessional and hungry as that of Nigeria and I've lived and worked in 3 countries in my adult life. Take it as a fact, virtually everything you read in the Nigerian mass media is paid for, either for self promotion or for "Pull Him/Her Down" purposes. The journalists don't care about destroying anyone's hard earned professional reputation. All they care for is to be paid for what to write. They won't research, they won't cross-check, they won't learn. It's all about money money money!

As a result, you have journalists who have purportedly reported in an area of business for several years and yet remain essentially ignorant about their subject because everything they write is paid for. They won't even read about it to understand it so they can report competently on it. No! What do they care? That's why you have to feel very sorry for the mere handful of real professionals still left in their ranks...

But what is worse? People with whom you have been discussing and dissecting Nigeria all your adult life, who you expect will give you support in doing the right thing and showing a different example when you are in a position of influence, all join in the unholy expectations that people in top government positions are constantly and intensely pressured under. It's always, "ol boy, how far? You wan chop everything alone"? If you dare say "chop what"? They say "abeg coolu. Lef that matter. Forget all those beer parlour and armchair gist, make we yarn better. This job go soon go oh. Make hay while the sun shines" etc etc...

And yet we abuse the president, the Ministers, the Governors et al, despite the immense pressure we place them under to do wrong for our personal benefit. I always wonder how these guys even manage to get through their days in office. And that's why we must give utmost respect to the very few people like Governor Fashola, like Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and a handful of others who try very hard to think and act differently, swimming against a tsunami of wrong and parochial thinking all around them!

Everything seems reduced to a joke. It is all so surreal. The entire society does not want progress. Everybody has an automatic default setting- that you are in your position to 'chop' and you are chopping and therefore owe those around you some of the chop- QED! They make incredible demands of you- friends, family, acquaintances, everyone you come across! They warn you that if you don't 'make hay', you will regret shortly afterward when the job is gone as if you asked them to feed you before the job. (My friends, please forgive me oh, I'm not referring to all of you)!

When you don't meet the society's misplaced expectations, everyone gradually becomes very mean and say the most horrible things about you behind your back. You become a perennial subject of blackmail, slander, subterfuge and backstabbing. To be focused on doing the job for which you have been appointed is anathema! That shouldn't be your concern. Your concern should be how to distribute largesse! If not, then get out of the way! That's the constant, repetitive message...

I've always taken delight in observing everything going on around me dispassionately. My coaching practice will be hugely enriched after this assignment. There really is nothing like viewing the world from an entirely different perspective. Suffice to say though that I have learnt to have scant regard for Nigerian critics of Nigeria. Especially my generation, those of us in our 40s, my few remaining fiercely critical friends in particular!

If now in our 40s, all we do is yak yak yak about Nigeria and keep abusing everyone who leads it, when will we make an attempt to correct it? When we are 70 or 80? We yak yak yak everyday, yet when we have the opportunity to show a different way, we are just the same or even worse than the very people we have been insulting for years!

So the question then is, who will come and right Nigeria for us? Jesus Christ? And talking about Jesus Christ, it is most interesting to watch Nigerians use religion. The society has made religion a 'lightning rod' for all its inadequacies. Before and after every meeting in every office in the country, a Christian and Muslim prayer is said. You should listen to the fervor with which these prayers are said. Quietly witnessing all this, I always wonder how God really feels about us. I have my thoughts on this, but you don't wanna know them...

Finally, I know a lot of people will be shocked and even offended by all of this and frankly, that's their problem. I'm reflecting. And my summary take is that we are a bunch of not serious people. Not the government. THE PEOPLE!!! You really need to think deep to appreciate this statement...

The beautiful ones are not yet born oh... Or at least, only a handful of them are! We need more urgently... So help us God!

George Uriesi is the managing director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria

How close are our local government chairmen?

Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole                                                                                                                                      By Monday Obaze

They swore to be our servant, placing their right hand on the Bible or Koran;  they  lift their voice to the heavens  proclaiming all sorts of loyal ties to the people, little  did we know that their action was an irony, a ruse, because in reality we are their servant and they our lord and master.    

 The local government reform carried out by the military in 1976 was done with the view of taking government closer to the people and embodied in various parts of the reform is the baseline that the local government is there to serve the local people, to carry out those vital functions that are necessary for grassroots development. It is written in the guideline for local government reform that local government is government at local level exercised through representative councils established by law to exercise specific powers within defined areas.

These powers should give the council substantial control over local affairs as well as the staff and institution, and financial powers to initiate and direct the provision of service and to determine activities of the state and federal government in their areas; and to ensure through devolution of functions to the council and through active participation of the people and traditional institution that local initiative and response to local needs and condition are maximized.

 The local government was created for the people but now the reverse is the case, the local government headed by a chairman and other council has now grown so big to the extent that the need of the people has now become insignificant. The local people can’t have access to their local government because the personnel in charge are either not around to listen to their complaints or simply do not care.

On several occasion I tried to contact two local government chairmen in Edo State but failed. One was consistently not in office while the other couldn’t grant me an audience because to him what I have to say was not important probably because I was not in a three piece suit and was not recommended by a high ranking political officer.

Every time I go to these offices, I was tossed around like a round leather ball in a Barcelona game, a scenario that will not occur if I was the son of a very important person in the state. The local government is no longer for the local people, and for the common man seeing the local government chairman is like a camel passing through the eye of a needle. It is time to get local government leaders who will actually be servants of the people as it should be.  

                                                                                                                                     

Monday Obaze is a political scientist based in Benin City, Edo State

Tragic-comedy of House Committee on Aviation/Dana Air Crash saga

By Group Captain[rtd] John Obakpolor

I have waited this long before lending my voice to the issue above. In all my years in aviation industry both here and abroad, I have never come across a situation as this: where a group of people constitute themselves as judge and jury to pronounce judgment in a case which they are not professionally competent. It was a travesty  of justice.

I am pleased at the amount of resentment poured out by the Nigerian professionals who felt insulted by these masquerades and impostors parading themselves as the watch dogs of the industry.

How could they violate the sanctity of the 'Hallowed' chamber to perpetuate this heinous crime of character assassination in the name of oversight duty they knew nothing about? I thank God that Nigerians are not as ignorant as they thought.

The history of Aviation industry accidents/incidents is as old as the industry itself. When they happen, it takes time and patient to unravel and the causes found are used to proffer solution for future occurrence of such accident/incident.

The results are never punitive in nature, else the spate of accident/incident would be exacerbated. If we have to apply the Hope Uzodinma approach, there would be no Aviation industry in the next one year. I am happy that we operate a system of checks  and balances. 

ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION.

In an accident investigation, you must have an open mind to allow free flow of information. You do not draw conclusion until the evidence before you point you toward that direction. You do not work from answer to question but allow the answer to evolve itself.

That was Senator Hope Uzodinma's style. At its inauguration, his committee directed that the D.G, NCAA stepped aside to allow for unhindered investigation.

This is not a financial misappropriation matter. That was where he goofed. He was playing out  somebody’s script who have zero tolerance for healthy competition in the industry.

This idea was brought to me when I headed the administrative panel on the same DANA crash investigation. I thought it was a joke but I now know better.

How else can one explain why a committee of a legislative arm of government now wish to assume the role of NCAA in the issuance of Aircraft Operator’s Certificate (AOC) and its revocation.

The two chambers joint committee members must be guided  in the way they trod 'carelessly' in Aviation terrain. Free flow of information is the bedrock of safety consolidation Aviation. 

We preach  REPORTING in CONFIDENCE with CONFIDENCE (RCC).

If this is achieved in the industry, confidence would have been restored to  the industry. Safety Management System  (SMS) must be fully entrenched and enforced on the operating airlines in the country. 

AIRCRAFT AGE IS NOT AN ISSUE

Much has been said about the age of  an aircraft as a cause of  frequent aircraft accident in Nigeria, but this is not correct.

The age of an aircraft has no adverse effect on its operational performance if the schedule maintenance is strictly adhered to. This  is what NCAA has been doing to make sure that airlines do not default in their maintenance schedule.

The  committee recommended  a 15years bar for any aircraft operating in Nigeria. This will not only make it impossible for airlines to re-fleet but also make it impossible for them to sustain themselves in business.

A well maintained old aircraft is better than a poorly maintained new aircraft. A Kenyan 737-800 that was three month old when it crashed in Cameroon as a result of wind shear; that is  weather related cause.

Bad weather does not discriminate between old or new aircraft and in this case.  What matters, is perfect air-man ship and discipline. An old aircraft could be retrofitted  and become new.

An aircraft has two major components; Air frame and Engine and they both have different life span. The engines are change from time to time as at when due but an Airframe, when it reached the designed age limit are taken out of service.

MD 83

Contrary to the committee findings MD 83 aircraft is very much in operation all over the world including countries in Africa. How far can emotion lead us when taking decision that will affect our economic structure.

During the era of Nigeria Airways which lost one of its aircraft in a crash, elicited a lot  of emotional out cry  and with a government fiat, the airline was made to dispose of its fleet six (6) F28 brand new Aircraft type without any technical reasons

When will this hasty and unsubstantiated decision making attitude stop? Enough is enough. Seek for professional advice before taking such far reaching decisions. 

MILITARY HELICOPTER CRASH

A lot has been said about this crash. High profile emergency meeting held and communique was issued at the end; all pointing towards suspicion. It is unfortunate that we have gotten to this stage in our Aviation industry.

The military is a place where such thought should not be entertained because it is apolitical and non partisan in nature.

Why would any one doubt the outcome of a military investigation to suggest the inclusion of an independent observer in the name of “consultant”. If  the situation has gotten to this stage in our society, then God help us.

Let me at this juncture express my heart felt condolence to Mr. President , the family of those who lost their dear ones in that horrible accident; I joined the teeming Nigerians to pray for the repose of the souls of the  departed.

Military crashes happen every now and then. They happen that we might learn from the result of the investigation. There has been suggestion that the military operation be put under the Ministry of Aviation. That should be the last thing to be considered.

I attended a workshop in the UK last October to review the performance of MILITARY AVIATION AUTHORITY (MAA) in UK. This body came to being as an after might of the crash of a reconnaissance aircraft (Nimrod) in Afghanistan. The fallout from that report gave birth to MAA.

It was found out that there was no unified regulatory authority for the military. Every arm of the  service was operating on its own. There was no interference from the CAA.

With the MAA the services are brought under one command and made the relationship with the CAA seamless.

The volume of our operations may not be in the magnitude of the UK, it would be appropriate if we started thinking along that line.

CONCLUSION

It is high time we started doing things the right way. There is no room for ignorance , hypocrisy, cheap popularity and hatchet man job in Aviation industry.

Bogus consultants whose knowledge is centered around vendetta and destruction of the few proven hands in the industry should be exposed and stopped. It is time to sheath the sword and do some constructive work to the good of the nation. 

I wish you all COMPLEMENT of the season. 

Group Captain John Obakpolor (rtd.) was former Chairman National Society of Engineers (Aviation)