Four days after a tragic crash involving an Associated Airline plane killed 14 people in Lagos, Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah, on Monday described accidents as God’s will that are inevitable.
She said notwithstanding this reality, the Federal Government would continue to ensure there were no accidents.
Oduah made the submission while fielding questions from State House correspondents on investigations into the Thursday Lagos crash, the safety of the nation’s airspace and the suspension of Dana Air’s operations, among other issues.
While reacting to a comment that the latest crash had made nonsense of government’s much-talked about reforms in the aviation sector, the minister said, “We do not pray for accidents but they are inevitable. But we will continue to do everything to ensure that we do not have accidents. But an accident is an act of God.
“Again, we do not speculate on the cause of accidents. Until they happen, you cannot say this is the cause or that is not the cause. But what is obvious and is the truth is that, in aviation, there are shared responsibilities, starting from the man that carries your luggage to the man that makes sure that your boarding pass is issued to you.
“And so, the regulatory agency, the operators, the management, everybody has his/her responsibility and all must work in tandem for there to be an optimal, secure and safe aviation sector in the country. And that is what we have been working on.”
Oduah described those saying that she left the issue of safety in the airspace to dwell on money-making ventures as ignorant.
She explained that security and safety could not be achieved without proper funding.
The minister said, “I think it is ignorant to say so because you cannot have security and safety without funding. The aviation sector has to be funded. If you are talking safety for instance, you need to have the infrastructure that addresses that. If you are talking security, you need to have the infrastructure that addresses that and all must be sustained and maintained. And if you do not do that you are not just being sincere.
“When you talk about the issue of renovation, the terminal itself is the first safety and security facility that any passenger comes across. And so in a plan, you must start from A to Z.
“In aviation, it is often said that if you think safety and security are expensive, wait until accident happens and see how expensive it is. And so, everything we have done has been with security and safety as the pivot. You cannot do anything in aviation without this.
“And what saddens me really is that ICAO said just last week that Nigeria was way above the global average. We actually scored 65 per cent. Secondly, ICAO said Nigeria was the 12th most safe aviation globally. And then when you hear bad comments; people making comments that have zero bearing on reality. It is very annoying.
“What I will advise the public really is to recognise the fact that aviation is a very professional area; you cannot listen to bar (beer parlor) comments because they are just unrealistic and totally untrue.”
Oduah disclosed that the preliminary report on the Associated Arline crash would be ready in a couple of weeks.
She said the ministry was waiting for the experts from France before they could open up the engine of the plane and to find out the cause of the accident.
The minister said, “The preliminary report should be out in a couple of weeks. The experts are coming from France and the manufacturer of the aircraft. We must have them regardless of how we want to accelerate the investigation.
“We are waiting for them to come so that we can open the engine and find out exactly from them what went wrong. And you cannot do any of those without their presence. If you do that, then you have contaminated the investigation; so we must wait for them.”
She insisted that notwithstanding the latest crash, Nigerians should not be afraid to fly because the nation’s airspace was safe.
On the suspension of Dana Air operations, Oduah said, “Their licence was not stopped. What we stopped are their operations.They were stopped because the law says that if there is anything noticed not in tandem with the policy, the regulation must stop and re-certify and make sure that there is compliance.”
She however refused to state the operational issues noticed in the case of the airline.
Oduah added that 90 per cent of private jet operators were operating outside the mandate and outside the policy.
She said that was why the government had to review the policy.
The minister also said a situation where they operated in an “unregulated, unmonitored and uncontrolled” environment was no longer acceptable. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Nonsense! Calling human negligence and irresponsibility the acts of God. My God is a good God, he does no evil.
ReplyDeleteSuch stupid and clueless statement would have caused u ur job in a developed country! Nonsense!!!
ReplyDeleteStupid!!!!
ReplyDeletehow can God's act lead to dis? u mean God made d engine to fail again dis time?. same engine failure lead to a plane crash landing on a lagos building. thank God u also fly Nigerian planes.
The minister said, “The preliminary report should be out in a couple
ReplyDeleteof weeks. The experts are coming from France and the
manufacturer of the aircraft. We must have them regardless of how
we want to accelerate the investigation.
“We are waiting for them to come so that we can open the engine
and find out exactly from them what went wrong. And you cannot
do any of those without their presence. If you do that, then you
have contaminated the investigation; so we must wait for them.”
Na wah oo, a country that is 53yrs old!!! Why wait? No home trained professionals to take a look at the Engine. Mike
Madam please watch your words.In Nigeria such accidents happen as a result of human negligence or poor maintenance culture.Please compare the rate of accidents in Nigeria to other African countries like Ethiopia,Egypt,Kenya,etc pass your comments.They relatively good track record of air safety and less frequent accidents.Besides,they are not richer than us.Does your conclusion mean that GOD does not like our country or its people?
ReplyDeleteThis masquerade of a woman must be on crack or something. Same old shit. An 'act of God' that is synonymous to the Nigerian airspace, in such a high degree? Idiot. This is why this country is a shit hole. Something like that happens and the idiot who is at the helm of affairs can't even afford to pick her words carefully. What goes around comes around, in the end you get what you deserve one way or another.
ReplyDeleteThe Minister shows how ignorant she is in aviation security and safety maters. You don't need much money to ensure security and safety. The most often NEGLECTED measures in security and safety are procedural controls. If these were fully in place somebody would have checked the plane to ascertain its fitness to fly before embarking on the ill-fated journey. Pls stop blaming God for human negligence.
ReplyDeleteI guess the high aviation and cost of doing business that is killing the aviation industry is also an act of God, right?
ReplyDeleteThis woman messed up. When they have eaten all the intervention funds. Act of God indeed. Stop blaming God for human error. What goes around comes around. Wait till your private jet crashes. loose talk.
ReplyDeleteDis woman sounds so senseless. She claims to be a Christian yet she does not know what is in bible book of job chapter 34:10-11.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, she does not serve d true God, so don't blame her, her god is so cruel
Basic rule of safety: "ALL ACCIDENTS ARE AVOIDABLE!!!". Her statement is an indication of her level of competence for such a sensitive position. Accidents are only inevitable in countries like Nigeria, where maintenance culture is zero and made worse by widespread and deep-rooted corruption. May God save us because we have obviously refused to save ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWhat can one expect from a country that celebrates mediocrity? Plane Crash and then clueless response from the Aviation Minister. Ileola
ReplyDeleteWhat else can one expect from a country that celebrates mediocrity? A Plane crash, and then a clueless response from the Aviation Minister.
ReplyDeleteOur Aviation sector-cum-service providers are in a precarious state and we have an incompetent minister (Mrs. Stella Oduah) whose justification for frequent air mishap is our Aviation's membership to affiliate bodies around the world!!! When will we in Nigeria STOP all these mediocrity and start prosecuting failures like her!!!
ReplyDeleteMr. President (Goodluck Jonathan) posterity will Judge YOU if you don't do WHAT is right NOW!!! Unconditionally, remove the minister (Mrs. Stella Oduah) and prosecute all in the Aviation sector found WANTING... And let professionalism be the pivot of all appointments!
What a dump ass n head.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteShe trying her possible best to fix the aviation sector. During her tenure, there has been some improvement. However, she needs to do more and rid the sector of saboteurs.
ReplyDeletePls Feel Free to visit my WebPage: [ Advertise Your Job Openings & Vacancies For Free ] THANKS
What Stella Oduah has said may come back to haunt her. God has no hand in this, instead it is sheer negligence of the both the operators and aviation body
ReplyDeleteOne of the fruits of Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteNot surprised at.
Didn't GED said terrorist are our brothers?
Stella is bleaching, Aviation is fading!!!!
BabaPupa!!!
"An accident is an act of God." This is nonsense. If the statement attributed to the Minister of Aviation is correct, she certainly should not serve the country in that capacity. I would consider her unqualified and unfit for the job. Most aviation accidents occur as a result of human or mechanical error, which means that they are avoidable. As long as God's name is brought into these discussions, we can never seriously get to the root cause of tragedies like this. In a mature society, Odua would be asked to resign her position, but not in Nigeria where important positions are not designated based on qualification, but rather on who you know. That's why we are watching the country die slowly. A plane crash on a day when weather is clement is not an act of God. Ms Odua needs to separate God from these things if she ever hopes to address matters correctly. In Nigeria we leave everything to God. We need to do more on our own so that God will have less work to do because of our incompetencies. Ms Odua's statement attributing the crash to God's wish is wrong!! Tha nation needs more intelligent and more mature leaders.
ReplyDeletenigerians tell me the sector that hasn't failed? U are all wasting ur comments on a failing nation,lets call a spade by its name,if we don't overhaul d whole system a time will come that nigeria will just stop working.more planes will crash whether we like or not.we are seeing dis bcus its a sign of failure in d aviation sector.revolution is d answer
ReplyDeleteI think is time for all hands to be on deck or the worst will happen. That Brazilian crashed plane lacked proper maintanance,and that made it to come down in two minutes after take off.
ReplyDeleteMrs stella open your eyes! ,and stop calling God a killer when you folks neglected your duties.