Sunday, November 8, 2009

Be careful when you fly By Reuben Abati

THE aviation sector in Nigeria bears all the imprints of a failed sector of the economy. However, some of the developments in that sector in the last 15 years seem to cover up the rot and the ugliness that define air travel in the country. Deregulation has resulted in a proliferation of private airlines, air travellers can now make choices, the cost of a travel ticket is now as low as N7, 000 on some routes if you buy early or online as the various airlines are engaged in sales promotion activities to attract patrons. Some of the airlines even advertise brand new aircraft. But the reality is that air travel in Nigeria is not safe. Don't mind Babatunde Omotoba, the current minister of aviation who says air travel in Nigeria is now safe. Don't believe him.

advertisement

There are too many booby traps and it is only a question of time before the extent of the omissions is exposed. Let's start with something as simple as toilets. In many Nigerian airports, there are no decent toilets where after a long, tiresome trip; you can rush in and empty your bowels, pressed to the limits after endless hours of waiting for your luggage to arrive from the aircraft to the collection point. At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, you are likely to be confronted with broken water closets: heaps of other people's waste products: terrible smell that assaults the nostrils, and a crowd of equally desperate travellers, some clutching their bodies, others dancing kpalongo on the spot, trying to make up their minds whether to damn the consequences and do the thing on the floor or hold on a little for the courageous man in the cubicle to come out before they heap their own unmentionable matter on his own smelly matter.

In some of the domestic airports where there is something close to decent toilets, you may find young women or men holding toilet rolls, or a bucket of water, or a small jug of water. They are forever solicitous; you are nevertheless at their mercy, you need them to retain a part of your dignity, which Nigerian airports attempt to erode at first contact. When you manage to finish that big business, you are so grateful you end up paying for the toilet roll and the water and the knowledge that the closet that refused to flush with your waste still fouling up the air will have to be cleared by the long-suffering attendant by the door. Those people waiting at the entrance to airport toilets across the country providing toilet roll and water, and soaking in the smell of human waste, should be on the National Honours List. More than anyone else, they help to rescue a small part of Nigeria 's image at the airports.

Inside the main airport itself, the carousel may not work, requiring you to wait for hours on end. Check the floor. It is decorated with litter. The walls are peeling off. The air-conditioners are not working. Yet the Aviation Minister says air travel in Nigeria is safe. When a traveller arrives in a country and he or she is confronted with the risk of unnecessary discomfort or that of picking up an infectious or communicable disease from badly maintained toilets or the distress of shocking encounters, then no one should talk about air travel in such a country being safe. In Lagos , as you step out of the airport, you are confronted by a horde of touts and merchants offering you all kinds of services from bureau de change to freight. There have been reports of the unknowing falling into the hands of criminals at our airports. This year, there have been blackouts for long stretches at the airports too. Imagine arriving in a country and there is no light, no water and that country is the world's sixth largest producer of the black gold. But the bigger safety challenge is in the airspace. Nigeria has had its more than a fair share of plane crashes, all attributable partly to poor infrastructure, and each time a plane dropped out of Nigerian skies, the tragedy was most annoying for its avoidability. In 2005, the Obasanjo government set up a panel on aviation safety, which came up with so many recommendations about how the airports could be upgraded, and air travel made safer. Since then, so much money has been spent, and the bulk of it stolen, and there has been no difference at all. Travelling through a Nigerian airport and airspace remains an act of extraordinary faith.

Less than a fortnight ago, a serious tragedy almost occurred when two aircraft between Calabar and Port Harcourt Airports almost had a head-on collision but for the vigilance of one of the pilots, who with the aid of the traffic collision warning system sensed another aircraft along the path of travel and quickly dropped altitude by 5, 000 ft. One of the cabin hosts fainted immediately. Other passengers were no less distraught, as the aircraft struggled unsuccessfully to regain altitude. Sheer luck. Everyone survived. But when the Port Harcourt Airport was contacted for help, it turned out that the airport had no reliable communication equipment. To make contact with air traffic controllers, Nigerian pilots have come up with the ingenuity of using cell phones; there is also no control tower communication contact between the Calabar and Port Harcourt airports except by cell phone. When there is no signal, the pilots fly blind, hoping not to run into another aircraft. It is frightening.

But this week, Aviation Minister Omotoba tells us not to worry. He says indeed the head-on-collision was averted because of safety measures that had been introduced by his Ministry fitting every aircraft with collision avoidance systems. The blame for that incident has now been heaped on one hapless Air Traffic Controller whose negligence Omotoba says is responsible for that near-mishap. The fellow has been suspended. But the Aviation Minister should take a second look at the investigations that may have picked out a scapegoat so easily. The man was said to have recorded a descent of 25, 000 altitude instead of 21, 000 altitude in his log book. How? Why? For more than five years, air traffic controllers have been complaining about poor conditions of service and the failure of infrastructure at the airports. They don't have air-conditioning in their offices, no communication equipment either, the runways are not even properly lit in many airports, and the air traffic controllers are not sent on regular training or retraining programmes.

Just before the near-mishap between Port Harcourt and Calabar, the newly re-elected President of the Air Traffic Controllers Organisation of Nigeria (ATCON) complained at his inauguration that there are only two air traffic communication centres in Nigeria (Lagos and Kano), making the work of air traffic controllers difficult because most of the time pilots have to fly blind. The President of ATCON then appealed to the authorities to provide communication equipment in more than two centres, something that can be done in "less than six months". The seriousness of his request was borne out by the head on collision that was averted. Did the Ministry of Aviation's investigation not point to communication problems? The same problem that probably led to the crash of a military aircraft in 2006, which was found by a schoolboy after all the emergency agencies in Nigeria , had failed?

By Friday, November 6, Nigeria 's Aviation was already talking about the purchase of 27 "multi-frequency, multi-dimensional" VSATs, communication satellites which will connect the entire Nigerian space, and which are in the process of being installed, and plans to spend N4. 6 billion. Some action at last! But is the latest development not the product of the sobering truth about some of the recent close brushes in the aviation sector? A country's aviation sector from airport to aircraft to services and infrastructure is a strong vehicle for identity branding. When people travel to Dubai and they arrive at the airport, they exclaim. At Nigerian airports, they are on their guard. Maintenance standards for aircraft in Nigeria have to be improved; the regulatory authorities must become more vigilant. Omotoba's photograph can be found in every Nigerian airport. Smiling at travellers as they go on board is not enough; Omotoba must earn his keep by making a difference in the aviation sector.

The Missing 6, 000 Megawatts

WHEN a few months ago, President Umaru Yar'çdua promised a state of emergency in the power sector and the delivery of 6, 000 megawatts of electricity by December, it was as if the month of December would never come. But December would soon be here and Nigeria is still in darkness. Many of its streets are unlit at night, the skyline is an unbroken stretch of darkness going far into the distance. Many companies have since relocated abroad or they have shut down citing Nigeria 's power crisis.

When President Yar'çdua made his promise, very few people believed him, but as his government continued to insist on the 6, 000 megawatts that would drop from heaven by December, the prayers soon acquired the halo of truth. But soon, it will be December and there is still no light. Wait a moment. Not quite. Less than thirty days to the deadline, the Federal Government is now working very hard to fulfil its promise. According to a statement by the Transmission Company of Nigeria , it has just taken delivery of transformers to be installed in different parts of the country. More transformers, switchgears, breakers and other facilities are also on their way. So far government has spent about N3 billion to upgrade power transmission.

The TCN Public Affairs Manager, Dave Ijabiyi tells all stakeholders, particularly the host communities hosting transmission facilities to protect them from vandals. Why is the Transmission Company of Nigeria suddenly running up and down less than 30 days to the December deadline? And is transmission the only problem? How about power generation? And would three weeks be enough to shore up the country's power transmission network. Government should not make promises it cannot keep.

The other week, a government official talked about the Federal Government buying generators to distribute to communities! Another official had dropped the sad news that there may be no regular power supply in Nigeria until the magical year 2020. And why should the Federal Government monopolise power transmission? But let us suspend our disbelief, and state that if by December there is no 6, 000 megawatts, some people involved in the power generation/transmission scam, for that is what it is beginning to look like, should be put in the dock to account for the billions of tax payers' funds that may be involved. If they fail to do so, Justice Bunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court has already established that the only place for such persons is the Kirikiri Maximum Prison. Very good company awaits them behind the walls.

The Return Of Simeon Soludo

PA Simeon Soludo, father of the former Governor of the Central Bank and PDP Gubernatorial candidate who was abducted for nine days by yet unidentified assailants is back home. His kidnappers dropped him off around 11 pm on Wednesday. The Soludos will not tell whether any ransom was paid or not. They have been busy however jubilating and thanking God. We always have a way of dragging God into every man-made problem in this country! The celebration in the home of the Soludos is so infectious that even the police have joined the alleluia chorus. Except that, that is not the job of the police.

We expect the police not to close the Simeon Soludo file. He may have survived the ordeal but the crime should be addressed. The Police must seek out Pa Soludo's kidnappers and ensure that the law takes its course. Otherwise, these and other kidnappers will be further emboldened to wreak greater havoc in the future. The Soludo brothers have now arranged very heavy security around their father, nobody is allowed to go near him or talk to him about his ordeal. It will be most unfair to turn the old man into a prisoner in his own house just because he has a son who wants to be Governor. He should be allowed to co-operate with the Police in all ways possible. He has a story to tell and it should be told.