Nigeria: An Airplane On the Road!

Again, the nation's aviation ministry is in the news for the wrong reasons. A disused plane with registration number N972TF formerly owned by the late Apostle Gabriel Oduyemi of Bethel Ministries, Ajah, Lagos, was on Thursday last week abandoned at a filling station located in Igando, a suburb of Lagos. Reports said that the plane was being towed from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) to Badagry before it had a burst tyre, which forced those towing it to abandon it. Not surprisingly, this incident caused panic among the residents who thought that the plane had crash- landed.

It is not out of place to ask: why was that scrap plane towed at that unholy hour? Is it the practice within the aviation industry for scrap planes to share the same road with cars? Why was the disused plane not dismembered before it was taken to its new abode? With the size of that aircraft, would it not have caused traffic logjam, given the nature of traffic on Lagos roads, irrespective of the time of night it was being towed? Did those who were towing the disused aircraft obtain clearance from the appropriate authorities before embarking on the trip?

There is an urgent need for the Lagos State government to investigate this development and prosecute any person or group of persons who might have violated the law. Law enforcement agents should no longer continue to fold their hands and watch a few individuals and organisations flout laid-down rules and procedures with impunity. The nation is being ridiculed in the eyes of the civilised world. The explanation by the authorities of the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) that the scrap plane was until last Wednesday within its facility is not tenable. Both NAMA and the person or persons the scrap plane was released to ought to have known the best practices the world over. Nigeria cannot be an exception. NAMA cannot claim ignorance of what the rulebooks stipulate on an issue like this. Not long ago, its officials had cause to ground planes conveying state governors on the excuse that the pilots of those aircraft failed to meet operational guidelines. Why did the same NAMA authorise the towing of a disused plane from its facility even when it was aware of the associated hazards?

Many of the nation's airports are littered with disused planes. Some have been there for over a decade. This not only constitutes an eyesore but an embarrassment to the nation and its first-time foreign visitors. The authorities involved should speedily work to rid our airports of this junk in the most acceptable way possible.