On Monday, 4th of June 2012, President Jonathan shed tears at the site of the ill-fated Dana air crash at the Iju area of Lagos state. The day before, his minister in charge of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah also shed tears in front of the cameras while breaking the tragic & unfortunate news of the same air disaster. Sometime in March this year, while appearing before the House of Representatives committee probing the ‘crash’ of the Nigerian Money Market, the DG SEC Ms Arunma Oteh, broke down in tears when Honorable Herman Hembe (committee chairman then) fell short of calling her an incompetent & unqualified boss. In August 2007, as Transport minister, Mrs. Diezani Allison Madueke during a duty tour of the failed portion of the Benin-Ore road, openly wept for her fellow Nigerians as she witnessed first hand the pains/difficulties commuters experienced on a daily basis on that golgothic road.
Therefore, of what significance is shedding of tears? Does an open display of emotion amount to a show of affection, sympathy or pains for the person or reason that the tears is shed? Not always. That is why we have Crocodile tears; of deception, of lies, of pretence. When a truly loved one dies, it is very natural to shed tears of regret, of pain, sorrow & sometimes anger. I don’t see anyone shedding tears when an evil or very wicked person passes away. At best, what might pass as tears are crocodile tears. Would you rather have such a person alive to continue in their torment of you & those around you? I don’t think so. I believe tears is sacred & so, shouldn’t be abused or used to garner sympathy or goodwill.
Our darkest Sunday yet in the history of our nation was recorded last Sunday. 3-6-2012 will be one day most of us wished was a bad dream or yet, a day that never should have been but alas! Whether we accept it as part of history or not, it happened & the effects will ripple through the ages. Our nation paid the very costly price of negligence, dereliction of duty, greed & almighty corruption (the latter has now become a constant K in every situation of our national life & always sticking out like a sore thumb). The human loss on that day was & is unimaginable yet preventable if only everyone involved had played their part honestly & diligently.
While we’re yet to grapple with the news of the suicide bombing of churches in Bauchi that unforgettable Sunday morning, news filtered in of the crash-landing of Dana’s ‘air-unworthy’ plane in Lagos, South West Nigeria. Some families were blotted off the face of the earth; husbands were gruesomely separated from their wives & vice-versa; Childrens’ lives were cruelly cut short in the blink of an eye & all this happened because somebody somewhere didn’t do his/her job according to the dictates of the book.
How much is our lives worth? Are we guinea pigs in a lab experiment? How many more must die befor we retrace our steps back to the path of sanity?
Families, friends & acquaintances wailed & shuddered at the news of the tragic death of their loved ones. What was their last moments like? Did they cry out to God in despair for help? For salvation? Did families hold themselves in one last final embrace before the plane hit the ground & then the buildings before it all went blank? Did couples hold hands with a silent prayer under their breathe? Did the children among them cry out in terror & fright for daddy or mummy? Did… did they for one last time picture a memory of their loved ones that they were leaving behind, in their mind’s eye?
I can’t begin to imagine or even describe what must’ve gone through their minds at that last minute; that last final second when they breathed their last… no one, no matter how terrible, should’ve to go through that experience. Therefore, it is with utter disgust, anger & disappointment that I look back now on all our latter day wailers & mourners who one way or the other, covertly or overtly by their actions or inactions, contributed to making this unfortunate disaster a sad reality. Those tears are a little too late, too insignificant.
The minister of Aviation shouldn’t have shed those tears if she’d closely monitored the shenaningans going on under her watch in the industry. Dana Air shouldn’t have had to be dishing out cock & bull stories in a desperate bid to shore up their already battered image & cover-up for their unprofessionalism & lack of attention to safety & maintenance rules. Moreso, President Jonathan shouldn’t have had to shed his own tears as well if the people he appointed to head sensitive positions hadn’t been so concerned more about giving our airports a facelift or make over to the detriment of enforcing & evaluating safety standards among airlines & in the aviation industry in general. Sadly, that incidence has reminded us that we still haven’t gotten it right & that the ‘transformation’ agenda isn’t about putting bandages over an ulceric sore. Enough of the Crocodile tears from these vampires & demons in human garb that know only how to show up at the scene of spilled milk but don’t know how to prevent the milk from spilling only so they could identify with ‘us’ & appear like they feel our pains when in reality, they don’t! Like the lap dog that he has been since he changed coat, Dr. Reuben Abati had to rub it in that the visit of mr. president to the Iju site of the plane crash is a sign that he cares. For whom, if I may ask? That should be for the Nigerian people to decide. Has the same president visited Maiduguri since Boko Haram turned it into a war zone, to show his concern? How about Damaturu? We don’t need cosmetic wailers who break down in front of the cameras just for show.
Their likes should save themselves the energy & channel same towards making sure that a thorough audit of all airlines operating within our airspace is carried out. A painstaking investigation into the immediate & remote causes of the Dana air crash & appropriate sanctions meted against anyone found to have contributed towards making that Sunday a sad one for us all. Old & unworthy airplanes should be phased out of our airspace or grounded altogether. It’s enough nightmare already that we’ve rickety & uncertified vehicles plying our roads, we shouldn’t add airplanes to that category.
Once we’ve gotten back to doing the right things the right way & at the right time, we won’t have to deal with crying government officials on our TV screens because that is not when to cry: after the misdeed has been done.
MAY THE GENTLE SOULS OF ALL WHO DIED ON THAT BLACK SUNDAY, REST IN PEACE. AMEN!
Ayodele Daniel
@aylipple on twitter
