Category: General

It was the 14th of September, a Sunday. I woke up late and within minutes rushed out of my temporary abode, which for all means and purposes is my home for now. Off to Church I drove. This Sunday, Church was to be the Church on the Rock and I was to visit the Cathedral, the current address of the church in Lekki. Truth be told, the cathedral is prestigious and dwarfs everything in its vicinity in terms of size. No wonder, thousands of worshippers flock into this building every Sunday. It is an address that everyone would like to be associated with.

I didn’t just wake up and went to the church. It was a result of a decision that I had made the previous night. In deciding where I was to worship the next day, I had visited the church’s website. I read through many things and thought it will be good to know more. My attention was unusually drawn to the page on the pastors at http://houseontherockng.com/our-pastors.html. Paul Adefarasin was stated as the founder, prelate and senior pastor and then his wife, Ifeanyi, was written about. There was no mention of any other one as being of significance in the House on the Rock churches. I think the opportunity exists to make the webpage better – focussing on the souls out there and reducing the focus on self. It is not disputable that the pastor was all that was stated on the webpage, and probably much more. However, the details as currently expressed on the webpage will make the casual visitor leave with the impression that the web page is self-serving. I don’t think this was the intent of Pastor Adefarasin. It is time to add the profiles of the other pastors in the church and focus on the great works the church is doing in the area of bringing lost souls to Christ.

I had never been inside the Rock Cathedral, the name the massive edifice in Lekki is called. Little wonder that on entering I got lost wandering within its maze of corridors. Lucky me, I ran into an acquaintance that I just met the previous week and he offered to usher me into the church where the worship was ongoing. It was a blessing, my acquaintance happened to be a high ranking member of Pastor Paul Adefarasin’s team and he was able to secure a front row seat for me.

There I marvelled at the beauty and the simplicity in design of the massive auditorium. I was taken away with the splendour of this work of men until I remembered, as noted by Paul in Acts 7:48, that the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. Soon, I got caught up with the praise and worship, excellently delivered and with the whole auditorium filled with sonorous human voices praising the most high. The sound quality and the aesthetics were great.

It was then that the great Power Holding Company (PHC), the public electricity supplier, decided to show its might. The lights went off and immediately the emergency lights came on. This break in power supply would not have mattered if not that the whole public address system depended on it and as such the communication was disrupted. While efforts were made to get the backup power supply working, this became a challenge. As we were to learn later, there had been a short circuit of the electrical system and somehow the backup plans were not working. Looking at the Pastor from the vantage point where I stood, I could see the looks of concern on his face, he was obviously unhappy. First he called his assistants to go and get the problem resolved. They did as they were told but it soon became obvious that this will not resolve the problem. One can say that the Pastor is an ardent believer in the idea that if you want something done, you go do it yourself. He soon left, with a trail of his personal staff to oversee the resolution of the power issue.

In all these, I felt concerned that the Pastor might have sent a wrong message to the flocks that he was shepherding. Yes, the power cut was disruptive but we ought not to take our attention off the worship of the Almighty, in whose presence we stood. In the Pastor’s desire to get the ugly situation under control, he got on his cell phone and was reeling out some requests. This was in the middle of the worship to the Almighty. A situation that reminded me of the Mary & Martha in Luke 10:41-42 where the Lord said to Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary…..”

Mike Aremu came on stage and it was a great performance. Watching Mike on the trumpet playing the notes and the sounds of worshippers providing the complementary wordings of the songs was celestial. As always with me, I looked around and asked myself is God here? I had my answer immediately. As I looked, I also asked are people faking it or are they truly this joyous? Have I finally found a people that are true worshippers? I did not get an immediate answer but did get my answer later. The answer to my question came when the nice looking, confident and radiant lady officiating minister took to the pulpit to wrap off the praise and worship. She rounded up with prayers and after rounding up with prayers requested people to shout to the Lord. As if she had heard my question, she asked people to fake it even if they don’t mean it! Whao! That hit me like a bomb shell. I got my answer.

Of all things, one has to admire the pastor. His dressing was immaculate and his appearance and introductory words were well chosen and well crafted. He acknowledged the birthdays of members of the church, recognised a couple of people and the birth of babies. His recognition of his wife’s birthday on the 16th of September was one that I recommend to all men. He was sincere in his expression of love towards his wife and acknowledgement of the steadfastness of the wife in going through life with him, even when all things were not that rosy. I consciously noted this and promised myself that when I get home, I would call my wife and express my love to her openly as well Thank you pastor!

He went on to educate the congregation on what they need to do to prevent Ebola and then dwelt on the importance of everyone exercising their civic responsibilities – register to vote in the upcoming elections. In his word, no matter how long it takes you to vote, vote. Vote your value system, what preserves and protect your interest. He acknowledged the new attendees and recommended a couple of churches available in Lagos to them, encouraging them to find the place that God has designed for them. If God leads them to the House on the Rock, he really wanted to be their pastor. Will God find faith in Nigeria when he comes?

That Pastor Paul Adefarasin is an orator is not in doubt, he is a very good speaker. In his sermon for the day that he titled “Higher Dimension”, he mesmerized the crowd, including me. He took us through the scriptures. Starting with Eccl 9:11 he moved to 1King 19:19 – 20, he taught on how to embrace the future, going into space, time and season for which we’ve had no experience but will have to rely on humility. The bullet points from his message are:

1. You will endure a fight that doesn’t befit where you are. That doesn’t mean that God has cast you out but the opposite might really be the truth. The enemy is not fighting you over your now or your past but over your future. Don’t quake when you see this but know there is more to you than where you are but where you are going. He told the story of how he endured a similar fight 15yrs ago over the site for the Rock Cathedral. The enemy, according to him, wants to rob you of your destiny and not your present. When this happens, you need to ask, is the enemy bringing out all the arsenal for the little chicken that you are or the eagle you will become. When BIG boys start fighting you, it is because you are a BIG boy in their perception!

2. If GOD allows you to fight a fight that deep, it’s because he sees you BIGGER than whom you think you are and he allows you to go through it because HE believes you are ready for the task or can take it.

3. There are levels and there are dimensions. The numeric numbers 1 to 10 on a level is the same on another dimension. Levels are on the horizontal while dimensions are on the vertical. There are levels of Peace. There are also levels of Joy. There are however dimensions of these as well. God is getting ready not to change your level but to change your dimension. At a new dimension, you start from the very beginning of the level for that dimension and you will need God as well.

4. Elijah was ready to raise leaders in the secular space. Passing the baton from the Elijah generation to the Elisha generation. Elijah knew what was to happen but Elisha had no inkling of what was to happen. He was to experience a total change, a transformation in his life. This happened with the mantle, which was significant. It was a message to the angels that as you work with me, so should you work with Elisha. Elisha was not one of the sons of the prophet, he was not enrolled in the school of prophets but he was a man already producing and ploughing. He was successful in the family business but he wasn’t fulfilled.

5. Elisha knew by instinct that this he had a higher calling. Every design component in his constitution needed to find their highest usefulness. Same principles BUT on a different dimension. By instinct, there are components in you that are designed for higher usefulness. You can use an ipad as a tray and it will do a good job but that is not a great use for its design features. Intellectual process will not help. The instinct is your horse but the intellect is your cart. Do not put the cart before the horse. Also consider, the sea turtle and how they use their instinct to head towards the ocean, once the’ve consumed the resource structure present in the egg shell. They know that despite having lived all their lives on land, they are sea creatures and instinctively move towards the sea. Don’t be trapped in a cage as a Parrot born in captivity which had never flown before. The cage initially feel like paradise but sooner than later you need to break it. Turtles have flaps and can move restrictedly on land but they are not made for land but for the ocean.

6. You live and eat at the level of your vision – the tortoise and the giraffe both eat at the level of their visions. The giraffe position cannot be explained to a tortoise person. They will be right, when they criticize you but they are right at their tortoise level of vision. A giraffe will die, from the rush of blood to its head, if it starts eating at the tortoise level.

7. Instinct cannot be taught. It is an inborn trait. Mother Eagles lay their eggs on mountain top and make comfortable nests for the eggs. However, when it is time, she overturns the nest and the little birds become free falling. The same God who made you comfortable on one dimension will make you uncomfortable at the same dimension so that you can move to the next dimension. Fear is not evil BUT it is the spirit of fear that is evil. Fear will make you pray and is an inborn trait that makes you aware when danger is near. It is dangerous to remain comfortable on the same dimension. Don’t use the wrong timing like Moses. The instinct was right but the timing was wrong. Moses an orator became a stammerer and was put down for 40years. Have you exhausted the current dimension,

8. Everything in David’s life was by instinct. It was instinct that made him know that he was bigger than the bear that came to snatch the goat. It was instinct, and not intellect (like his brothers) that made him know that when Israel had the national problem of Goliath that he can defeat him. The thing God wants to do with you, do not make any sense. Elijah’s generation was a powerful but a crude one. Elisha’s generation will do twice what Elijah did. The real test of instinct is when opportunity presents itself like in the case of the woman with the issue of blood knowing that if she missed that moment, she may not be healed.

9. Love righteousness and seek justice.

10. Insecurity and low esteem are indicators that you are now on a new dimension.

My new abode is  right across a chapel of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). Yesterday evening, the sound of the Praise Worship in the church attracted me to its evening service. It happened to be a joint service of Bible Study and sharing of the Lord’s Supper. I took part in the Lord’s Supper and the Pastor asked us to pray that God should put an end to all evils that surround us. I prayed asking God to quiet all the storms that surround me.

Later in the evening, as I checked my phone, I had received various texts from my lovely wife – all indicating that all was not well with my in-laws. She made certain requests of me and I dutifully carried them out and thereafter went to sleep. It was about three (3) hours later when I woke up and saw a text message from my wife saying “My sister is dead”. This wasn’t good. While I wasn’t shocked, for she has been sick for quite a while, I knew that I had to place a call to my wife. I called and the voice at the other end was one of sobering, my wife was crying! Now, I had seen her crying once before and in our years of marriage, I have decided that anything that will cause her to cry, I have to prevent it. In this case I failed or was t that I could not have prevented this? She was never consolable when she cries and my heart melts in such instances.

I tried all my possible best to persuade her to stop her tears and request that she should make a trip this way, if she wants to otherwise direct me the way she want so that I can help to address things she wanted done. Her cry wasn’t stopping and with a barrier of distance, it was impossible for me to have my hands around her, cuddle her and provide the support she needed in this period of grieve. I knew how well she was concerned for her sister and what the sister meant to her. I could understand how emotionally pained she was regarding this death and yet I was helpless in this period of her need.

Now, the bible makes us to understand that it is given for us all to die only once and following this will be judgement. None of us is going to escape this earth alive, except a few that will see the Lord at his appearing. In the past couple of weeks, the news have not all been well. A friend lost his wife, my daughter’s tutor lost his son and now my in-law is dead. Death has a peculiar way of reminding us all of our mortality and that one of these days, we will succumb to its cold cruel hands. As a result of this constant reminder, I have changed my mantra. I have started asking myself, what I can do differently each day to bring happiness to my life and the lives of those that surround me.

The founding fathers of the American state got it right when they declared independence in congress on the 4^th of July 1776 stating that ”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. It is our individual rights to pursue happiness, whatever that means to each and every one of us.

As you read this piece, please ask yourself what makes me happy and how can I further such causes that provide happiness to me and those around me. Remember that life is temporal and one day you will be gone just as my in-law has gone. When the end comes, will you be full of regrets of the things that you should have, could have, would have done but did not do or would you gladly yield to death in the expectation of a more glorious home in heaven?

Adieu Mama Ojo!

….and off goes Baba Ojo to join her..

For most of the day, I was away on a work assignment. The day was drawing to its end when I alighted from the speed boat that had conveyed me to the place of my work assignment. My feet were just touching the land at the jetty when I heard the tone signalling that a message was coming in on my phone. I reached for my pockets, pulled out the phone and there it was. Another dark day of our lives, Baba Ojo was dead.

Less than a month ago, he was hale and hearty. No one would have thought that dead was lurking behind, so close by to take him away. The news was that he tripped while coming back home from work, hit his head on the floor and lost consciousness. From then hence, it was a case of a stone rolling down the hill. He was rushed to an hospital, revived from a coma and then taken to Badagry General Hospital to be cared for. Alas, it was too little, too late.

Today 15th Oct 2014, he said bye to mother earth and he is gone….never to come this way again. Life is short and yet we all are hustling and bustling all around, never giving thought to what happens after our temporary sojourn here. This world is not our home, we are but passing through!

Somehow, the words of the old national anthem kept drumming in my ears.

Why did we give up this anthem that ought to have been a constant reminder to us all about what our allegiance to the country requires? I have heard all the argument about the colonial undertones in the anthem as well as how derogatory the word tribe was. These do not provide sufficient explanation, it really had to be something more. Something really BIG! Somehow we need to get our conspiracy theorist to look at this.

My opinion? I think General Obasanjo and his group changed the anthem in 1978 because they gave up on handing over to our children “a banner without stain” as stanza 2 of the anthem required us to. It sort of dawned on them that, as a nation, we were incapable of doing that. It was also probably that they were visionaries. They saw the future and noted that the generations of rulers we would have won’t be thrilled with a stainless banner. If they consider handing over any banner at all, they would rather have it stained, torn and shredded! As visionaries, Obasanjo and his team might have seen that Nigeria was not going to be a land “where truth and justice reign”. They must have deeply thought about it and concluded that they do not want to be sycophants or pharisaic and it was better they expunge such onerous commitments from the anthem.

How else can we explain the current situation in Nigeria in the light of what it used to be? My kids, who have been beneficiaries of God’s grace, attend schools with facilities that are amazing. I usually tell them of the facilities that we had in my days in Ibadan that they were equally comparable to what they are having now. In response, they say “Daddieeee”. That is their word for incredible, too good to be true!

Growing up in Bodija, with “incredible” roads and well laid out houses interspersed with green vegetation was lovely. That environment was comparable to any environment you have in the suburbs of London or any other international city of now. Again, my kids will say “Daddieeee”. I spent years of my youth in Agege and Akoka. While these places were not as amazing as Bodija, we had tarred roads and public water was a reality. Going round these areas now is a pointer to how bad things have become – an open sore that has failed to heal.

When NYSC, in its wisdom, sent me miles away from home to the South East, one of the immediate learning was how blessed Nigeria was. The journey was 8 hours by J5 (not many will remember that Peugeot contraption that was the vehicle of choice for commercial transportation by Roadtune) through lush vegetation crossing the beautiful River Niger bridge at Onitsha. Absolutely no pot holes on the roads. I travelled a section of that journey a few years ago by flying to Port Harcourt and then by road along similar terrains. The roads were gone, erosions have created gullies all over and the journey took almost 6hrs. Note that this journey was less than 1/8th of what I used to cover in 8hrs.

I sort of understand my children’s measuring yardsticks. They’ve seen it all in their years – the deplorable state of infrastructure around them as they grew up. The insecurity of lives and properties and the general lack of care for anything good by the majority of our people. Now, added to this , is the terrible news that, day after day, is being churned out of that space of this earth called Nigeria. I have stopped being bothered by their “Daddieeee”. I would have given the same response (if not more, though I might have ended up getting a few slaps) if I were in their shoes.

NIGERIA’s NATIONAL ANTHEM 1960-1978

Nigeria we hail thee,

Our own dear native land,

Though tribe and tongue may differ,

In brotherhood we stand,

Nigerians all, and proud to serve Our sovereign Motherland.

Our flag shall be a symbol

That truth and justice reign,

In peace or battle honour’d,

And this we count as gain,

To hand on to our children

A banner without stain.

O God of all creation,

Grant this our one request,

Help us to build a nation Where no man is oppressed,

And so with peace and plenty

Nigeria may be blessed.

For many of us, with not enough funds to buy exercise equipments and maintain a gym in our houses, Lake Morgan has become somewhat of our exercise spot. Apart from the scenic beauty of the lake and its well kept surroundings, it provides a 3.5km walk trail that is so easy for the young and old to use at most part of the day. If you are into running, skating, cycling, jogging or walking, this trail is amenable to whatever you bring its way. Whatever you do, you will not be alone and will find company in both old and young doing the same around the lake.

My wife and I have come to find this walking trail our shared opportunity to temporarily leave life’s challenges behind and enjoy the company of each other while catching some much needed exercise through walking. You will most likely find us on the trail doing the long stride walking or jogging and chatting at the same time.

This morning we were on the trail. Rather than drive to the Lake, we chose to walk straight there from our house and back. The weather was calm and nice and the walk to the lake was just pleasant and enjoyable. We did our normal walk but on getting mid-way, our attention was drawn to the shed next to the exercise equipments.

We have often used the exercise equipments but at no time have we paid attention to the tent looking shed near by. After the body stretching, I walked into the shed and was surprised to realise that it is a monument dedicated to the many Australians that, in their death, have donated their organs to many others so they may live.

The roll call dates back to the 1960s but the list of names then was not many. In recent years, 2011 to 2012, the list has grown showing that the idea of giving ones organs to others, when one is gone has caught on. It is not only a nice thing to do, it is what God will like us to do. At that point, I remember that Jesus gave his life on the cross that we may be released from the bondage of sins. While we cannot repeat what Christ did for us, I thought of how nice it will be to know that giving my heart, lung, kidneys or other internal organs, after I am dead, has allowed one individual out there to live a longer healthier life.

I left the shed thinking of the story of the good Samaritan as told by Jesus to the rich man. I remember that Jesus concluded saying that “whomever you are able to help, that person is your neighbour”. I wonder what a better world it will be if as many of us as can, will sign up to donate our organs to help those in need.

Following my not too savory experience in Singapore, being a man that will not go down without a fight, I wrote a letter to the Singaporean Immigration Authorities. I sent copies of the letter to the Nigerian High Commissions in Australia and Singapore as well as to the Singaporean High Commission in Australia.

Prior to leaving Changi Airport, on arrival, I had sent in a feedback to the authorities of the Airport. On April 25th, I received a request for further information from the Terminal Operations Manager of the Airport and swiftly provided the requested information. The Airport is yet to get back to me on its position concerning this issue.

However, on Friday I received a very pleasant phone call from the Nigerian High Commissioner to Australia – Amb. Ayo Olukanni. The discussion I him reaffirmed my faith that “we shall overcome someday” our challenges as a nation. The challenges that have made us to be treated with infamy by many nations are basically from the way some of our countrymen have acted or failed to act. The solutions will be in the actions and failure to act of those of us that see a need for change. He was humble, he understood the issues and he was ready to pursue necessary courses of actions within the foreign diplomatic community to ensure that this does not happen to others. He was also frank concerning the challenges that we face as a nation and how this limits the extent to which the consulates can act.

What I appreciate about the call from the Ambassador was that he made the call himself! He did not leave it to any other member of the diplomatic corp to do this, to show his concern, he did this himself. Dear Ambassador, thank you.

I still eagerly await the response from our Singaporean friends and I will keep all updated. However, the message here is for us to be shining examples of Nigerians in every sphere of life we find ourselves. If in doing this, we encounter situations that impinges on our humanity, we should fight back. They that come to equity must come with clean hands, so says our learned friends.

This Wednesday, at the corner of Essex and Cambridge, I stood waiting for the bus that will take me on my daily commute to earn a living. In my hand was the book Bonhoeffer, a book that I have been reading and just have not been able to finish because of life’s other engagements. Noting that it will take the bus another five minutes to get to me, I opened the book to the page where I had stopped previously with the intent to continue with my reading. I soon realised that the lighting at the bus stop was insufficient, the last thing that I was looking for was to hurt my eyes. I closed the book and was soon lost in my thoughts.

What it was, that I was thinking, I cannot remember but I saw walking directly towards me, the frame of a man. He was bent, his strides were not without efforts and his sagging tummy seems to tell of a man that has let life gone past him. Added to all these were the loud grunts, he gives one of these with each movement of his leg. All these done while walking with a posture that seems will topple over at any second.

It did not take time for me, or rather my mind, to jump into conclusions. Simply, this was a man that had lived a rough life and deserve whatever sickness or ailment that was bothering him. By this time, the man has gotten to where I was standing and took a seat under the bus shed. He called out , Hi Mate and I responded how are you today.

Not good, not good at all, I am the pill man, he said. I asked him why he is the pill man to which he explained that he takes more than a dozen pills. None of these pills work at curing his ailments but to reduce his pains and sufferings. He mentioned how sad he was and that he is looking forward to the day he will be happy, when his ailments are cured. By this time, the milk of human kindness, which I did not believe I had enough of, have started flowing and I took a seat by him. I tried to make him see each day as a beautiful gift that he should cherish and be happy with. I explained that the journey is of more importance than the destination. He talked of his habits earlier in life and how these destroy his lungs and now to live each day is a struggle. I encouraged him not to give up and we talked on a few more issues and then I saw my bus approaching. Hey, the bus is here, I said let’s go. He said he was not waiting for the bus but was sitting down to catch his breath and will soon be on his way. I said my goodbyes and took my seat in the bus.

I was soon lost, again in my thoughts, and was oblivious to everything else during the entire journey to the office. This time, I thought of how I was so selfish in my personal pursuits that I had not taken stock of the very many things that the good God has made available to me. I thought of my health, my work, my kids and my family and I ended up saying “Thank You Lord”. I also thought of the Pill man and I said a little prayer for him – that God should lay his healing hands on him and bring joy his way.

On Wednesday, I had a very different day at work and at home, all because I met the Pill Man.

On 17th November 2012, Fareed Zakaria lived to his billing – a good orator with sharp insights of the undercurrents that shape politics and economy. I am pretty sure that neither Airtel (the organizers of the Night of Influence) nor the 500 influential men and women that attended the event were disappointed.

Fareed came, delivered his message, (most likely collected his speaker’s honorarium) and has since left the shores of Nigeria, maybe never to step back. What I find disheartening is that there is simply nothing new that Fareed has told us that we did not know about. To be fair to Fareed, this was not due to lack of research or preparation on his part. No! Simply put, there is nothing new that we need to hear as to how to fix our country.

A couple of months ago, I was at a professional conference in Abuja. The invited speaker was asked to come and speak to us regarding corruption. This wise sage, who has also grown weary about being invited to lecture on corruption, came to the podium and announced why he was invited to the conference. Thereafter, he asked the question whether there was anyone in the audience that did not understand what corruption was. No hands came up. Thereafter he followed with the question – “Is there anyone that does not know how to stop corruption”? Still, no hands were raised. As a courtesy, he said he will help us, in case there was anyone in the crowd that doesn’t understand how to stop corruption – do not give and do not take bribes. Thereafter, this man went back to his seat and told the conference organisers to continue with the agenda.

We all know what our problem is in Nigeria – we have leaders who are epitomes of corruption and we have followers who are indifferent and too weak to demand accountability from the leaders. If we simply address these, we need no Fareed nor any sage out there to lecture us on “Political Economy of Africa: the Challenge of Leadership”. Fareed was on point in terms of the weakness in leadership but this is not a new lesson to us. The greater question is how do we address this and are Nigerians really ready to change this? I think the answer is “NO” – Nigerians are simply too resilient, cowardly and will rather continue to be onlookers until the nation is completely plundered.

One maxim that comes handy and that I expect Fareed and everyone that really want to help Nigeria to preach is this – “They only deserve freedom, who are prepared to defend it”. The question is are Nigerians prepared to defend a corrupt free Nigeria? The lesson from the Arab Spring that forced the rulers of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen from power is that when the people are really ready for change, change will definitely come.

Thanks Fareed Zakaria, but we as Nigerians need to step up and determine our fate.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/obasanjo-s-introspection-on-zakaria-s-night/131335

Life is a voyage,
A book with many a page,
A man and a son,
Under the sun,
Walked that path,
Called flat,

Flat was bumpy,
The son was grumpy,
But the man stayed true,
The son had no clue,

Because his years had been few,
And the man had a crew,
A crew of years,
Some came with tears,

And he did not want,
His son that font,
The road was bumpy,
The son was grumpy,

The man guided,
The son back slided,
But at the end,
Towards the end of the bend,

They finished the voyage,
And wrote on the last page,
And then there was a new chapter,
Tribute To The Father.

A poem from Kiiti Abimibola on Father’s day (c) 2012

For those who know her, she must have told you countless of times that she is growing up to become a model, a dancer and a singer.

Well, as we are told, the mighty Iroko tree started from being a small plant. Kiishi, participated in the dance presentation by her age grade in her school recently and the dance effort is here for all to enjoy. She is starting out well on her chosen path and for all you out there that are fans of Beyonce, this is your opportunity to witness the history of a greater than Beyonce.

Her name? Simply call her Kishia (and I hope I spelt this right this time as she has been accusing me to be an awful father that can’t spell her daughter’s name).

Let’s Stand up and give a rousing ovation for Kishia. Please click here for the video.

Prior to arriving in Perth, my son had gained admission to the International School of Western Australia. I had looked up the school on the internet, asked a few questions here and there and concluded it will be the best fit for his education, especially since the school caters for the needs of the international community in Perth and beyond.

Off to Perth, we went with my firm believe that I had a spot for my son. As the situation turned out, the ISWA opportunity was not a best fit. We finally got another school for him and he has been blossoming there. Recently, as part of its course in Media, the school had a music project for his senior students. As parents, we were invited over to the school, one evening, where the children showcased their works and finalist were selected for the awards. While I am pained to say my son’s input did not win an award, I am however thrilled of the ingenuity behind his team’s submission.

Please click on this link

The history of aviation in Nigeria cannot be described as most enviable, we have certainly had our ups and downs. I am impressed with Stella Oduah’s effort in trying to have stronger airlines that are not saddled with capital adequacy issues but when it comes to the way to achieve this , I think differently. So far, she has extended the olive branch to the Airlines to self regulate and create mergers that are not imposed on them by law. So far, the airlines have refused her gesture of goodwill. And so what should be done next?

When it comes to Airlines, certainly the bigger you are, the better positioned you are to manage the fleet of aircraft transversing the air space. All human lives are priceless and we cannot afford another air disaster. If we accept the fact that the Airline business is capital intensive with very little profit margin, then it is easily agreeable that the business is not an all comer one, especially for those who are motivated by short term profits. Scheduled Aircraft Maintenance are necessary to keep these big birds flying and safe. With vehicles, you can miss a scheduled preventive maintenance here and there, the risk you have is that of the complete break down of the vehicle. Since this is on the ground, costly repairs can resuscitate the vehicle. This is not the case with Aircrafts. You need to maintain them before they break, any failure will result in a catastrophic event- the big bird will simply fall down from the air and entomb in itself the people therein. By then, it is too late to repair.

So what do I advice Stella to do?
This is where leadership makes all the difference. It is true that she cannot coerce them to merge, I have not seen such powers granted to the minister or made to form part of the Companies and Allied Matters Act. However, using the various approval powers in her kitty, she can stipulate the minimum capital requirements for operators in the industry. I would add that she can make provisions as to the minimum number of aircrafts and ages that an operator should have to be allowed to fly within the Nigerian Airspace. She can add to this the number of pilots and their flying hours. Simply put, Stella has used the carrot and the airline operators are not responding, it is time to use the stick.

Up till 2005, there were only two (2) Airlines operating in the Republic of Korea – Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. They were efficient, highly capitalised and met the flying needs of the Korean Republic. With a growing needs from 2005 till date, an additional five (5) airlines to fly the air space. In Nigeria, we do not need many airlines. We need airlines that are efficient, can maintain the aircrafts and pay competitive salaries to their employees. Demand is not an issue, the problem is with the quality and not quantity of supply. When it comes to airlines, we need quality and not quantity.

Stella, please do the needful – revisit the qualification criteria for operating an airline in Nigeria and I promise you all the airlines will force themselves into mergers and Nigerians will be better for it. If you don’t believe me, call Sanusi and he will share with you the CBN experience concerning our under capitalised banks. Today, these banks are performing wonders and some of them are now rated high amongst other banks in the world.

The trip had been in planning for some weeks, it comes with the job. I was told this much at the time of taking the offer. In one of my last jobs, before I left Nigeria, I had the unenviable routine of flying to our own version of Barrow every week. It wasn’t exciting then and I felt the flight to Barrow will not be much different, especially if I have to do this on a single engine light aircraft that have to cope with tremendous wind gust on the way. The trip, then, was a Thursday regular and my kids were not always excited about it either. Every Thursday I left home early, drive to VGC and board the float plane for the one hour trip. On a good day it works perfectly well- I leave Lagos by the float plane and return same day by the float plane. When it goes bad, I get yanked off the plane, in most cases because one of the very big shots decided at the last meeting to travel. In such cases I had to take the energy sapping and torturing trip through the Lagos Domestic Airport home. On such days, it was guaranteed that I will get home grumpy, tired and weird. It was also guaranteed that I will do this around eight or nine pm for a journey that commenced by four.

Today, it was a little different. Knowing that my wife will raise hell if I were to ask her to drive me to the Perth Domestic Airport and thereafter pick the kids on the daily school run, marital wisdom acquired over Fifteen years informed that I needed a Taxi. So, the previous day, I went online and booked a Swan taxi to pick me up by quarter to six in the morning.

At my induction, a few weeks before, the facilitator did a great job of instilling in me the fair of the quarantine team. Simply put, Barrow is a class A nature preserve and for our operation there, the Australian government has requested all humans to abide by a very simple set of rules. I summarise these, in my words, in three sentences –
1. If you don’t bring it to Barrow, you can take it away from Barrow;
2. Whatever is not presently existing in living form in Barrow, you cannot take to Barrow and
3. If you are confused, see the quarantine team.
Of course, with every rule, there are exceptions. So we can modify rule two to mean that soils and seeds fall within the term – living form. The rationale for these rules will be discussed at other times but for today, implementing these three is simple rules involve setting up a world class quarantine operation. It is huge, humongous in the words of a friend of mine.

In my preparation the previous night, I painstakingly went through my items one after the other. I turned my bag empty and every single thing that I do not need for my trip I removed. Yes, I checked to see that I had no velcro fastener, that no bug or cockroach has decided at the last minute to be my companion on the trip. I also checked that no seed or soil residue exist anywhere in the bag. My Safety Shoes were just bought the previous day and I entertained no fear that they are quarantine compliant. I chose my trouser with care, ensuring it is not one with out turned folds that can hide any insect, seed or sand. Then it was the shirt, the hard hat, the gloves and the high visibility shirt. Convinced that all was well, I set up my alarms, not one but two of them to wake me up by 5am.

I was already awake before the alarms rang. Still drudgery but knowing I needed to get up, I looked at the still sleepy innocent looking frame on my left side and concluded that this innocence deserves a kiss. I planted a warm one on her cheeks and moved to the bathroom to do my thing. Once done and dressed up, I engage my wife, who was still half asleep, in some little conversations, said my goodbyes and off to the sitting room downstairs I went to wait for my taxi. I haven’t sat down before I heard a voice asking Daddy is today Thursday? Are you leaving now? You promised to be back today? It was my daughter wanting some re-assurance that I will be back. I answered yes to her questions, went to where she was lying down and gave her a kiss. I held her, prayed for her and asked her to promise not to do silly stuffs at school. I do this always, each school day.

To make judicious use of the time I have left, before the Taxi will show up, I continued with the configuration battle with the internet router that I was unable to win the previous day. I was still racking my brains on how this little piece of technology when I perceived that the Taxi had arrived. The taxi man showed up, a short beaded Asian man speaking very fluent English. I eased myself out of the house into the taxi. We were soon on our way to the Airport and the taxi man and I struck it good. In conversation we talked of Pakistan, its weather and diversity of terrain – mountains, beaches and deserts. He informed he has been in Australia for three years and has a general bachelor degree. He wanted to know if I had any knowledge in how to make “tim” (whatever that was, I don’t know) from other materials – with the wave of terrorism plaguing the world he seems lost on the suspicion that such a question earns him. About 35mins later, we were at the Airport. I obtained my boarding pass and moved to the quarantine team for pre-boarding checking. I had to complete the quarantine cards and answer truthfully a set of questions on whether I was carrying anything unlawful to the island. Following this, I had my safety boots, iron brushed to remove any residue of the perth soil and then my bags and pocket turned out entirely, with a careful examination of all the contents that were found on me. It took some time, but I was soon through with the quarantine and strolled into the departure lounge to wait for our flight to be announced for departure. In the quiet world that I rolled in, while sitting at the lounge, my quietness was disturbed by the sight of a quarantine officer and her dog. Moving from one passenger to another, she points at each passenger’s carry on baggage and the dog dips her nose around the bag and move to the next. Nothing was found by the dog from this examination, in this instance. I have heard other stories of how the dog had helped to detect other non quarantine compliant materials on other passengers.

The Cobham plane soon took off and we started the journey that will take us North West from Perth. I was uncomfortable with my sitting position in the plane, I was away from the window and the little view I had was blocked by the plane engines. From where I sat, I could see the farms and their arrays of colours resembling giant rectangular pieces of a jig saw puzzle. It was obvious that the different colours are the result of the different farm produce grown on these lots. Soon this beautiful landscape gave up to the uninhabited far away hills and greyish looking soil that suggest the reason why most of Australia is uninhabited. One of my colleagues soon reached out to me and doused my curiosity – It’s all brown dirt in Barrow.

Two hours later, the jet plane made its descent and we disembark from its cabins into the waiting hands of men, all dressed in uniforms of blue and yellow with reflective bands in it. Our driver, a young, beautiful Aussie lady soon recited the safety precautions and off we were to the construction offices. The work has progressed much, I was made to know that just two and a half years ago, all that existed on the Island was the WA Oil operation with its less than a few dozens man bed spaces. Today, it is astonishing what the labour of the men and women of this project has done. The Jetty, the beds, the tanks, the roads and all that were needed to support one of the biggest projects of all times in the world is taking shape. These things don’t build themselves, they arise from the vision of one man believing that it can be done and all else after this is actualising that vision.

My meeting took hours and when we were done, my hopes of touring the island was dashed, our flight was to leave in a matter of minutes. I picked up my bag and joined the bus and soon we were off the island. Throughout the journey back home, I could not stop to compare the path of development that the Australians have chosen concerning Barrow and what obtains where I come from. Simply, the Aussies are saying that if you need our resources, you must be ready to extract them with the slightest possible harm to the environment. This was the lesson for the trip and a lesson that I hope that someone will awaken from his slumber and require of all those after the natural resources that nigeria has to offer.

It’s strange how things that we normally take for granted bring us to reality and sends a jolt to our spines. Sometimes.

While wondering around in the late evening cool weather of Subiaco Square, my wife suggested that we branch into a coffee shop and have coffee. Given the lively activities in this area, there is a preponderance of coffee shops around and within minutes we found onion our path. We stepped in, as we were meant to do, and requested to be served with a cup of hot choco and another one of capuccino. To make these easy on the stomach, we requested for two slices of ginger bread cake.

Our orders were taken by a cheerful lady with an infectous smile. Once done, we took our seats amongst the other teeming customers. It is easily seen that many are foreigners like ours – the diversity of colors and tonnation of the English language spoken easily betrays this. The atmosphere was pleasant with a soft cool music playing but overridden with the chatting from the different tables. Our seats were carefully chosen by the glass windows so that we may have an unobstructed view of the going ons on Rokeby Road – the road on which the restaurant is located.

My wife and I were soon engrossed in our little chat of how our day went and what life changes we have had to adjust to within our very first month of taking abode here in Perth. Often, we take our eyes off each other to take a look at the activities going on around us. Right on the street, we saw couples holding hands and walking leisurely around. My wife took note of this and pointed out how gracious it is for a couple to grow old together – having a dependable ally by ones side as one sojourn through life. I also noted the young ladies, often in pairs but sometimes in groups. Just diagonally across from us was a movie theater and it didn’t take time for me to figure out that most pedestrian traffic ends there.

Ocassionally, we hear the loud booming noise of retrofitted silencers before seeing the cars. When the cars drive past us, in their different colours and makes, we look at each other and share a smile. What we exchange in our silence is often what life will be when our two bundles of youthful energy have left the house. The sights and sounds of Subi, as many fondly call Subiaco, is alluring. This is the reason why we chose Subi as our home.

A couple of minutes later, our order was delivered. My wife took a sip from her Capuccino and complained that it was bitter than expected. I knew what to expect of my hot choco – not bitterness but a pleasant sugary taste. That was one choice I put some thoughts into before the order. The hot drinks were a pleasant relief from the biting cold. We took slices from the cake and we were satisfied that our choices were right. In the moment we were going through our light meal, a couple of teens entered the coffee shop. From their familiarity with the service lady, this obviously was not their first visit, unlike us. They must have been regulars here. At our far end, we stole a glance and saw a man with grey hairs and slight baldness kissing a lady. She could be his wife or an acquaintance., whichever way you want to describe that, we knew not.

We were soon done with our meal and asked for the bill. The lady showed up. She handed it over with a smile and started packing the cups. I took a look at the bill and exclaimed that it couldn’t be true. I have just been handed a $45 bill for the meal. My wife looked at me and she asked to see it. The look on her face sums up the rest of the story – it is Perth, she said, and this is Subi. I looked into my wallet and grumpily counted the bills, move to the cash register and handed them over.

By the time we strolled into the street, out of the coffee shop, it was dark all around us but the clock on a building by us says 7:30pm.We held hands, cuddled a little and took our time to go through the ten minutes walk home. The sights on the way home were lovely. We passed by the train station with its busy human traffic, walked through Subi Centro while looking at the well manicured flowers, the beautifully designed and brightly coloured apartments and offices. We soon got to the lake at Juniper Bank Way and we wanted to spend a few minutes by the lake with its ducks. Other residents were there already. Some walking their dogs and others engrossed in keep fit activities of different forms. Not sure of what mischief awaits us in the house from our kids, we thought it wise to go home now and come to the lake at some other time. We were soon at the rotary and a few steps after we were answering “my little red pumpkin’s” questions. What took you so long? Why were you not picking your phones? We were so worried? The questions came in torrents and experience had thought me that it is great wisdom to respond back by giving her a big bear hug and apologise. The trip to Subi Square and back had taken less than an hour but it was enjoyable and well worth it.

By the way we’ve been back at the coffee shop and will always go back. Yes, this is expensive but this is Perth and it is also Subi.

The journey that started on Tuesday, with us rushing out of our Lekki abode around 3pm just to be in time for our flight to Dubai, eventually ended, almost 52hours later, when our plane touched down at the Perth Internaional. By this time, we had passed over various terrains. Starting with the Rain Forests of Southern Nigeria, we crossed over the Sahara Dessert and then the Nile, in all its glory, into Dubai. We continued our journey the next day, heading south across the Arabian Sea and then over the Indian Ocean before reaching the western edges of the Australian continent. The journey was long but enjoyable in the comfortable cabins of the Emirate planes and the courtesy limousines provided to pick us and drop us off at the Airports.

Whatever it is with Gold, I am not sure. In Dubai, my wife displayed that feminine attraction to Gold and dragged the family out in the hot and humid weather to the Gold Souk. Despite all my grumblings and the complaints by the kids, by the time we left the Gold Souk, some three to four hours later, I had parted with a sizeable amount of Dollars getting in return a few metals. These, to my senses, were just not value for money. Anyway, my wife was happy and as many married men will confess, once the wife is happy, all is great. While in Dubai, the stay at the JW Marriott was relaxing and the quality of service was just too great. Given that we had spent the previous nights at the Lekki Bellisimo Hotel, it wasn’t too difficult to explain to the kids the difference between “good” and “exemplary”!

Our arrival and passage through the Australian immigration shows that people could still get their jobs done while being courteous to the customers. We had been forewarned about the Australian zero tolerance to plants and animal products that are considered potential threats to the soil, fauna and bio-diversity of the continent. We ensured that we did not have any of such things with us. However, nobody brought our attention to the need to have our Yellow fever vaccination cards with us. As we passed through immigration, I knew it, inside me, that we were going to be pulled over, and we actually got pulled over. The offence? None other than that I did not look like the person in my passport and that we did not have yellow fever vaccination cards. The two officials that were called to attend to us were epitomes of courtesy. They were polite, did the checks that they needed to get done and within minutes, we were on our way to our luggage.

At the carousel, we picked our loads and headed towards the “something to declare” exit since I had with me my set of Golf Clubs and medications, items that I had read online were of potential interests to the quarantine officers. The officer checked what we had, asked a few questions, examined the golf shoes and then we were free. I was amazed at the simplicity with which the team of officers processed us and the other two hundred plus passengers on the flight that landed. They made it look so simple that my thoughts ran to what obtains at the arrival hall of our own dear Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos. Surely, our officers can learn a lot from these courteous Australian officers who are ever so cautious of the fact that they are the first faces of Australia and that first impressions do matter.

Just after collecting our luggage, it seems our luck ran out. We exited into the arrival hall and our expectations that there would be a meet and greet personnel holding high our names was shattered. There simply was no sign of anyone waiting to receive us. Added to this was the quick realisation that my Airtel phone number, which I had requested to be roamed, was not connecting to any network. This digital void and the sheer size of our luggage threw my brains into its supersonic mode – it needed to process all the information available, evaluate the threats and make quick decisions to get us to our Apartment. I changed a few currencies, got to a phone booth and placed a call across to the relocation company. The voice on the other end of the line was friendly and informed that the driver left a couple of minutes earlier when he saw no signs of us coming out of the arrival hall. After a few other calls, the driver was sent back to us. When he showed up, it dawned on him that the vehicle provided was not spacious enough to contain us as well as our luggage. A few more calls later, another vehicle was sent and we breathed a sigh of relief.

In the mild coldness of Perth’s winter morning air, we were driven to the apartment. The driver of our car radiated so much warmth that we soon completed the journey of about twenty minutes without feeling it. He was a chatty person and fed us in with some quick facts about Perth. At the apartment the challenge was to find the receptionist, he simply was no where. I assumed he was probably asleep and we made all the noise we could make but there simply was no receptionist. Calls were made to all the numbers on the front desk, yet the guy was no where to be found. Then, suddenly he appeared. With no apologies and a sense of “why bother me” he checked us in and handed over the keys to the apartment. I was simply stunned and quickly recollected myself realising that some mothers do have ’em. Of all the Aussies we had met so far, he was the worst of the lot. He just dampened my enthisiasm about the people of Perth, whom I have come to consider as very loving and warm to strangers.

At about 3:00am Friday (8:00pm Lagos time) we finally settled into our apartment. What a relief! After such a long journey, the sight of a fluffy bed and cosy interiors was exhilarating.

Life in Perth has just begun.

The news is rife with the Terrorist Designations of Boko Haram Commander Abubakar Shekau, Khalid al-Barnawi and Abubakar Adam Kambar. In a Media Note dated 21st June, the Office of the Spokesperson for the US department of state announced that following consultations with the Departments of Justice and Treasury, the Department of State has designated these three (3) BKH leaders as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224.

This action itself is not news, the whole world saw it coming and knew it was going to happen soon. What is news is the zeal with which the Nigerian nation, its leadership and people, welcomed this development. For the average man on the street, it is seen as the final end of the menace of BKH. With the embarassing failure of leadership in governance, it is well understood why the citizens will welcome this development. After all, many innocent lives have been terminated in their prime with the government response being to hold its arms in despair that the problem defies the ability of its security entities to resolve. for the government, the intervention of the US might have been taken to mean that the government responsibility to solve this uprising and threat to the Nigerian state is now that of the US. What a blunder!

As for me, the issue here is more than the designation of these three (3) people as persons of interests but what happens after? For those who could read between the lines, this action by the department of state means that these three individuals, wherever they may be found, are susceptible to elimination by the US forces and arsenals. In essence, if Abubakar Shekau were to be found in Maiduguri, the US can send its Special Forces or drones to eliminate him there. this is what worries me and unfortunately is of no concerns to our so called Leaders. In fact, to further encourage the US in doing this, the letter from the Nigerian Embassy in New York failed to remind the US government of the territorial sovereignity of the Nigerian State and hence warn it to desist from any act that will violate such. Rather the letter only urged the US government to ensure the safety of neighbours of the targets, whatever is done to deal with them, on the soils of Nigeria.

To put my fears in context, supposing these targets were members of the IRA or ETA, would the US have done the same and could it dream of sending drones on the UK or Spanish soils in order to eliminate such targets? I do not think so. Of more importance than drone attacks is the history regarding US interventions in various conflicts over the years. This history informs that once the US steps in, it never leaves. Evidences of this abound in South Korea, Japan, Afghanistan and Iraq where the US has sort of permanent camps for its forces.

We need to be wary of this greek gift by the US, afterall the US is not a charity and will do nothing except it furthers its interests. This is the more reason why despite the killings going on in Syria, the US has not thought it fit to intervene – that uprising will not impact oil prices! So the question is, what is in this for the US? Apart from the instability to the Nigerian State and the remote potential to affect crude oil eportation to the US, the immediate need of the US is to establish an African command. This has been on the table for a long time and the US has been seeking such opportunity to establish a base where it can host its Aircraft Carriers and launch attacks against targets perceived as enemies of the US.

It was President Bush that first announced plans for formation of a new U.S. military command based in Africa when he promised AFRICOM would “strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa.” However, critics of the plan said the only thing AFRICOM would do was to bolster the U.S. government’s hold on Africa’s resources, especially oil and as such resisted the plan for AFRICOM to be based in Africa. This led to the establishment of the command in Europe. The US State Department views Nigeria as a “failed state,” and wants to make sure oil keeps flowing. I would think that the intervention in this BKH upsurge provides the US the opportunity it’s been looking for to establish a permanent command on our soil. We cannot afford this to happen and should resist it.

The Yorubas are full of wisdom, wisdom most often reflected in their parables. One of these parables says ” Ole ni oun o ba e so ile re, o je fura!”. Literally interpreted, it means that when a thieve offers to help you to watch over your house, you need to be wary. We need to be wary of this US offer. It is time for our government to be emphatic to the US that its presence on our soil is not welcome. We saw what happened to Iraq – Eleven years of US intervention in that state destroyed it totally and even with the commencement of the US troops withdrawal, bombs are still being detonated in that country. We do not want the same for our nation. The message to the US is simply that it can eliminate the BKH threat, whichever way it wants, but should not destroy any other Nigerian live in the process or step unto our soil to commit suc.

The happenings around Nigeria have usually not been great, in the very recent times I mean. However, it had never been as bad as it is these past few weeks when it’s been all tales of tears and sorrow. It is as if we, as a people, are eagerly engaged in a fierce and very severe competition to throw up, dismember and tear down everything that had held us together for the past century from 1914. Added to this is the fact that the God of luck seems to have departed from our shores and left us to face the sad consequences of our collective actions and inactions over time.

As an adult who grew up in this country, I hardly can remember more than a few times, in my sojourn on this side of eternity, that we have had causes as a people to rejoice and say YES, this is the Nigeria of our dreams. Wole Soyinka winning a Nobel prize was one of those periods and those brief moments when Nigeria’s name creep up in the center stage of world activities such as during the Atlanta Olympics with the Golden Eaglet winning Gold and Chioma Ajunwa creating a record in long jump. Oh, how proud I was that Nigeria has arrived. Subtly also when the US gave Nigeria a category 1 rating that makes direct connections between Nigeria and US possible by flight, that was also great.

I wonder if we were to ask a Nigerian kid of his great Nigerian moments if he would have anything to share except recount the tales of woes and horrors about the kidnappings in the Niger Delta, the constant killings in Kano and the new addition to Nigeria’s lexicon – Boko Haram. Nothing pleasant here and I feel for the Nigerian child whose future we have jeopardized with our insensitive ness and lack of care towards each other as a people.

The trajectory of things is heart dampening – not a single cause to shout Hurray in the last one year. Not that we expect so much from a government that derived its ascendancy to the throne from the inner scheming of the selfish and morally corrupt elite circle of power brokers. No, we did not. But was it too much to expect to be able to live our lives in peace? To live fulfilled lives and grow old? To have grey hairs on our heads and see our children’s children? I don’t think this is too much to ask from even the most insane government of them all. We have long given up on having the simplest of expectations – access to good pipe borne water, constant electricity, standard medicare and great social infrastructure. It took us a very long time to realize that, for us, these are just dreams and our leaders will not  and cannot deliver on these! They are too engrained in corruption to see beyond their immediate selfishness.

What do we have, for our expectations? Callous and unnecessary deaths all around. A quick search on google for the word “Nigeria” will bring about tales of woe and I often wonder whether substituting this name with Iraq (during the decade of fights there) or with Syria will make any difference. I don’t think it will. People are dying and in great numbers. Is it the craziness of the onslaught of the Boko Haram set that should not cause alarms in the upper echelon of government or the increasing wave of piracy in the gulf of Guinea all around the Nigerian coasts? Why are we be saddled with leaders that are simply at a loss on what to do? It’s simple to conclude that after decades of abuse, the Nigerian project is finally grinding to a halt but this will be a fair accompli if we choose to think this way.

The news this week was on the preventable loss of 147 innocent lives – many in the prime of their youth when they were most useful in the project of nation building and development. The flying bird just simply got tired of flying and came down. Some will say it did so warily, some 10 nautical miles short of its destination.

And were we not expecting that this would happen? I doubt if anybody, including Harold Demuren himself will answer a No. The fact is we all knew something was bound to go wrong, someday. We just felt that the God of luck was still with us and we could keep on pretending that all was well when in fact nothing is well with our decrepit aviation system. Like the Ostrich, we were comfortable with burying our heads in the sands and hoping against hope that this disaster would pass us by.

The sad story is that all the early warning signals were there and they were visible for all of us to see. Let’s review them – is it the frequent cancellation of flights that our regulators were not aware of? The cancellations were often announced with glee that they were being done due to operational reason – now we know what the operational reasons are. The way our local flight operators were running these planes, we should have had many of these sad stories. We’re we also blind to the sad and sordid states of our terminals? One will ask what have these got to do with it and I will respond that this is a great indicator of how effective the Civil Aviation authorities are in regulating and maintaining sanity of our facilities. If we cannot maintain and regulate immovable properties such as Airports how confident am I that we are doing a great job of regulating movable Aircrafts? For months now, the employees of Nigeria Air have been shouting as to what they perceive are poor management attitude towards maintenance of the aircrafts and paying just wages to make the employees to discharge professional services, is anyone listening? No, not until something happens like the bed that just grew tired.

The actions of the aircraft operators, in response to the high cost and often inadequate availability of aviation fuel is not unknown to our authorities. Many at times, the air conditioning of the aircrafts would not be switched on until take off so as to conserve fuel, little wonder many believed the hypothesis that our flying bird ran out of fuel and could not make it to land at the Airport. This may not be the truth but whatever truth is eventually found out, it will be one of human failure which had happened times and times over and our authorities chose to look the other side without taking actions. Engines don’t just fail! They give warning signals. There are design limits, maintenance schedules which if operated within, these equipments will continue to deliver superior performance.

We lost fellow Nigerians in Majidun, we had lost innocent souls and fine officers in the Hercules crash, the Bellview crash and now it’s Dana, do we ever learn?

Those ruling us in Abuja who feel that they are immune from this should think twice. In the disaster list was Admiral Aikhomu’s son. I mention this not because the young man was deserving of death but to emphasize that we should all be concerned. If they feel protected in flying in the presidential fleet, are their wives, children, aunts, uncles, nephews, cousins protected as well? And will this be forever?

What we do this time around will cause us to make this the last of these perennial disasters in our aviation history or make it a child’s play compared with the next big one that will happen. Is anyone listening and taking action? The bells are already tolling again, for whom we don’t know but it might be anyone of us.

As the Yoruba will say – “Ewu nbe l’oko longe, longe funrare ewu ni”. Simply interpreted, it means there is problem in the horizon. Just this Tuesday, the IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde was in Lagos talking to the leaders of industry in a Ministry of Finance/ NESG sponsored Roundtable. I was there, in Eko Hotel amongst many other captains of Industry.

In her informed views, which she termed as collective wisdom, there are great dangers in the horizon and except Nigeria take appropriate measures now, we are not immuned from the happenings in the European Economy which has the ability to be transmitted by such channels of contagion as (a) Trade; (b)Foreign Investment and (c) Remittances.

What should Nigeria do? She advised that Nigeria needs to tighten its budget and plug wasteful spending. Increase the external reserve, that has dwindled from the 2008 levels, especially through the Sovereign Wealth Bond.Nigeria is encouraged to balance its fiscal adjustments with the need to provide growth friendly policies to act as a catalyst for medium to long term sustained growth. All htese should be done in addition to bringing down inflation.

The IMF crystal ball predicts gloom for the global economy and unlike in the previous meltdown, the economic power houses of China, India and Brazil will not be available to act as buffer to the long persistnet resilience that may be witnessed.

For the detailed report, please visit http://bit.ly/seLNKR.