A former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged Federal Government to ensure? thorough investigation into the circusmtances leading to the Dana Air plane crash in Lagos on Sunday.
Tinubu, who stated this in his reaction yesterday, also called for total reform in the aviation secor to end further air mishaps in the country.
He said government must place its foot down in uncovering all the lapses that resulted not only in last Sunday’s crash but also others that had claimed lives in the recent past, just as he stressed that due diligence must be followed to prevent a situation where innocent parties were used as scapegoats.
“The only way to check similar mishaps is for the government to carry out a thorough investigation into the Dana crash and immediately make public all the previous panel reports on similar air disasters. This must not be a convenient excuse for scape goating .
“The government must of necessity tighten regulations and ensure standards, re-validate the operational licenses and aircraft worthiness of all operating aircrafts and enforce compliance in all aspects of air operation”, he said.
He condemned the spate of air mishaps in the country, even when the country did not have the busiest airports in Africa.
“Nigeria is not the biggest hub in Africa, yet it has recorded some of the most disastrous preventable air disasters. In the past decade, we have had five deadly disasters.
“Let me warn that we cannot afford to sleep at the switch this time. To go to sleep after a few weeks and return to our normal lives will be most tragic. The present government most put on the front burner the issue of sanitising our aviation system and ensuring that aircraft are in good shape.
“Also, we cannot afford to misplace our priorities in this matter. A case where billions is being expended on airport arrival halls, when all our airports lack the mandatory standard double runaway, the runaway lights are dull and inadequate and the air control tower lacks latest equipment is unacceptable. It is a crash misjudgment. Nigerians would trade safety and comfort in the air and on the runways to white elephant projects all over our airports.
“With the huge revenue coming to the government, there is no reason why our airspace and runaways should not be safe, given the fact that for every 25 naira paid by a passenger, 11 naira goes to the federal government, in one form or another, not to talk of the several billions of dollars accruing to the government coffers through Bilateral Air Service Agreement, BASA,” Tinubu stated.