ARMOURED CARS ARE INEVITABLE dailytrust.info/index.php/columns/monday-columns/8001-armoured-cars-are-inevitable It must be a case of dulled senses. When I first read the online story alleging that the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority [NCAA] bought two armoured BMW cars worth N255million for the use of controversial Aviation Minister Mrs Stella Oduah, I personally doubted it. By the time I saw the reaction of various officials of the Aviation Ministry and its agencies, it occurred to me that I have fallen far behind the times in my understanding of what goes on in the Nigerian public service these days. Maybe this is because when we were school children three and a half decades ago this country’s rulers instituted what they called “low profile campaign.” The Head of State and all the governors rode in locally assembled Peugeot 504s. When General Obasanjo went to the parade ground in Lagos to hand over power on October 1, 1979 he arrived in a Peugeot 504 surrounded by soldiers on horseback. After President Shehu Shagari took his oath of office, he left Tafawa Balewa Square in the same 504, which he rode for another year. Exactly a year later, Shagari arrived at the same venue for the 1980 independence anniversary in a shiny black Mercedes. I remember a screaming newspaper headline the next day that said, “Mercedes obokun ends low profile campaign.” One newspaper had a cartoon of Obasanjo smirking his lips and telling Shagari, “What was good for us khaki boys no fit you agbada people.” Soon that Mercedes was called Shagarinka in Hausaland. You begin to smell a rat when different officials begin to offer different explanations over the same matter. NCAA’s general manager, public affairs Mr Fan Ndubuoke said he was not aware that such vehicles were bought for the minister. But Minister Oduah’s special assistant on media Mr. Joe Obi said the vehicles were bought because when Mrs Oduah took over the Aviation Ministry “she undertook reforms which included reversing some concessions and agreements that were not in the interest of the people and government of Nigeria.” He said “the minister began to receive series of threats to her life, but because of the general lack of security in the land, she did not want to raise an alarm… So those vehicles were purchased in response to the general state of security in the land and the personal threats to her life because of the giant steps she has taken to reposition the sector.” Now, there are 42 ministers in the federal cabinet when the president restores it to full size. Some of them are in charge of portfolios that are more sensitive than Oduah’s aviation in terms of security concerns, revenue volume or plum patronage opportunities. Each one of them could claim that he received death threats and proceed to buy armoured cars from the state treasury, monetisation of benefits notwithstanding. By the time they all buy armoured cars, there will be more armour here than there is in Pentagon stores. Another thing puzzled me from this explanation. Mrs Oduah concluded that the death threat she received was evidence that she is doing good things with aviation sector reforms. This is true only in the minority of death threat cases. The Sicilian Mafia could kill a good cop or a good judge simply because he refused to collaborate in a criminal deed. However, most criminals don’t go that far. If a man knows he is doing something illegal and a good officer stops him from doing that, he will usually grumble and walk away, there to start another scam. Aggression to the point of sending death threats is often caused by a feeling of betrayal. If for example a man gives a kickback upfront in anticipation of a contract and he doesn’t get it, that’s when he feels doubly cheated and could issue such threats. I am not saying this is what Mrs Oduah did; I am only reminding us of the kind of things that often attract death threats. An explanation even more interesting than Obi’s was provided by NCAA’s Director General Dr Fola Akinkuotu. Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Akinkuotu said, “The cars are operational vehicles used in the various operations of the NCAA for transporting the Minister and aviation related foreign dignitaries.” He added, “Aviation is a global industry. NCAA often plays host to international civil aviation bodies such as [he listed 10 of them]. It is internationally customary to convey our Minister and these foreign dignitaries in a security vehicle whenever they are in Nigeria. During such visitation, the security of the members of the delegation is the sole responsibility of the host country. The vehicles are therefore in the pool of the NCAA for these special assignments.” The number of international aviation agencies that send their officials to Nigeria as reeled out by Akinkuotu is impressive. This is however a small fraction of the number of international agencies, not to mention foreign governments, that send their officials on visits to Nigeria. They are hosted by various ministries and agencies. Some of these visitors are military, security or diplomatic officials as well as leading politicians. If all of these hosting agencies now ask to buy armoured cars at N125 million each for visitors’ protection, the Federal Government may not be able to pay salaries for the next 6 months. Let’s forget for now the discrepancy between what Obi said and what Akinkuotu said; while Mrs Oduah’s aide was clear that the cars are for her use, the DG said they are for transporting visitors. That should be sorted out. Akinkuotu also said, “NCAA remains focused on enforcing standards and promoting safety in line with ICAO and Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NCARS) and continues to perform its critical functions and the appropriate resources required for discharging these functions exist within and under the control of NCAA.” The question for Oga Akinkuotu is this: Is it your duty to promote safety on the ground or in the air? Ensuring the safety on people on the ground; is that the work of NCAA or the police? The one that you are supposed to do, ensuring the safety of people who are airborne, have you done it? Instead of concentrating on this primary work, the director general went off on another wild goose chase trying to fish out the person who leaked the car purchase papers. He said, “The Civil Aviation Act made specific provisions with respect to our obligations for our confidentiality and restricted access to certain information… I am not saying this particular information cannot be put in public premises, but how it is obtained… So, we are trying to find the source of this leak.” It looks like NCAA and the Aviation Ministry have either never heard of the Freedom of Information Act or they believe not in its spirit. There are a few other truths about this life that we ought to remind Minister Stella Oduah. You see, even if you sit in an armoured car, that is not the only place where you can be available for assassination. So you must arrange to work in an armoured office as well because some people across the world have been assassinated in their offices. You must arrange to sleep in an armoured bedroom because that is another assassin’s soft target. And then anytime you travel, you need an armoured plane lest somebody does to you a Juvenal Habyarimana, the Rwandan President whose plane was shot up as it landed at Kigali airport in 1994. Earlier this month, when the Associated Airlines’ plane crashed in Lagos and Mrs Oduah was quoted as having said that “accidents are inevitable,” I defended her on the grounds of stress and problematic command of the English language. It now looks to me like she meant what she said. Not only accidents; purchasing armoured cars is also inevitable when you are paranoid.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 22:42:32 +0000
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