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Funmi Iyanda
Lagos, Nigeria
Funmi Iyanda is a multi award-winning producer and broadcast journalist. She is the CEO of Ignite Media and Executive Director of Creation Television
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Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Random thought on the crash

In all the eulogies, (once dead you acquire a halo in Nigeria, yes even Abacha almost made it) there is the tendency to forget the “little” people, just thought to mention that there were only 30 ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctors in Nigeria until Sunday, 3 of them died in that crash i.e. 10%.

Given the tendency to pay lip service to the dead, the minister of aviation who can be described as the chief gravedigger in this unending funeral of crashes was surprisingly quick to blame the dead pilot. He did not wait for the inevitable “investigative” panel report or black box recording; he just knew it was pilot error. What is that talk about the man not waiting for ideal conditions to fly? Which of us in any profession with portions of our lives and work dependent to some level on government wait to work in an ideal situation? Nigeria operates below the lowest line of safety or sanity in peacetime in modern times! I know of doctors concluding operations with rechargeable lamps in teaching hospitals where you have to buy your own cotton wool. Who are they trying to fool? The man should be sacked jo and let the pilot’s soul rest in peace.

Talking about resting in peace what is the maddening talk about God allowing it. God is not a God of tragedies! Why do we have so any tragedies? Because, we, against clear examples from God, creation and clear biblical direction ("God is a God of order and arrangement" is in the good book, I’m not “good” enough to remember the exact location mate, ask one of the chris') are a non-planning, non-executing, non-intellect applying, all talking, all grandstanding nation? We kill all, the young, the old, the gifted, the mediocre, the great, the small with our negligence and complacence. Personally l think all the so murdered souls should refuse to rest in peace until they have hunted the people directly responsible to the great beyond.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now that's a spooky Halloween entry. Mr. Minister will be sleeping with one eye open tonight.

Interesting blog. Admire your contribution to the broadcast media industry in Nigeria. Quite inspiring and definitely opening doors for the up and coming. Kudos

Anonymous said...

The aviation minister's statement yesterday about the cause of the crash is prejudicial - he should have at least allowed a proper investigation to be carried out but I guess he's worked out that blaming the pilot will stop any call for his resignation.

History book since the existence of aviation in the world has shown Borishade to be the most crash-prone minister of all time! When will Nigerian politicians start putting credibility before their ego? A decent decision for any right thinking minister would have been to resign from an office he cannot handle competently. But that isnt the case in Nigeria - the man is still walking about full of pride.

Nigeria is a country where negligence is not seen as an evil deed. There are so many things that aint right but when it leads to death, all we do is to ask God why? We need to start separating religion from 'common sense' and start asking our politicians questions they need to give answers to.

Our systems across the boards need to be reviewed, particularly health and safety legislation - I'm not sure there is any in existence though.

Anonymous said...

Personally l think all the so murdered souls should refuse to rest in peace until they have hunted the people directly responsible to the great beyond.

Now, that is a curse that would stick, if I ever saw one.

The lessons should then be learnt by others who would with fear and trembling but great purpose set things right when they are made responsible for transport, health, education, natural resources and governance.

Anonymous said...

Why take the blame for something when you can channel the finger-pointing to someone else, preferably a dead person as he/she can't defend him/herself. That is exactly what the minister of Aviation is doing(or did). He should leave ASAP, but then again we are talking about Nigeria.

I totally agree with you about how silly the arguement is about God allowing it. The bible says that His plans for us is of good and to bring us to an expected end(something along that lines, though) So why would God whose thoughts for us are good allow such tragedy to happen? Unless, they are talking about someother god, not the One that am serving.

Anonymous said...

Attack is the minister of Aviation's only defence, and it is such a lame defence as all his lapses are glaring for even the blind to see. To say he's the chief gravedigger is an understatement! Where I come from, we call such people "bad head" as his time in this position is fraught with mishaps. I feel sorry for him somehow, though.

Anonymous said...

FI,Borishade is totally shameless, with all the calls for him resign, any other person would have done so, but its more convenient for him to blame the dead pilot.
Sometimes, I think religion has robbed Nigerians of the will to fight and take action to right the wrongs in our country. It also easier to say whatever happened was God's will, that way no human could have done anything to change it so no one is to blame.
BTW (By the way) FI, I shall remain anonymous just so you can look at everybody around you with suspicion and wonder who this is. lol

Dotun said...

spot on funmi, spot on. The way God is brandied by Naija politicians embarrasses even those of that believe in His power.
They outsource their responsibility to God, puts their brain in the central bank and expect things to be well.

Anonymous said...

Hey what do u think this is? Am so sorry to say this is just another massacre. The Obasanjo administration is BLOOD THIRSTY. Again anybody who gets in there way is hewed out of the way asap. Well the two Senators I read have been tackling baba from all angles and I think it was time they stepped out of the way for him. Both coming from a prominent area and personality.
Its so unfortunate. One of the survivors said there was the first blow or bang or whatever and the second before the crash. The pilot is no longer and will no longer be around to defend himself and there is this tradition of nigerians never knowing what ensued at the very last minutes of that aircraft. The content of the black boxes of other crashed planes were never revealed would this one be?. This is just to say how rotten and wicked the OBJ ADMINIATATION is?
Well NIGERIA needs PRAYERS and alot of it. Keep the fire burning Funmi.

Anonymous said...

Hello Funmi,
I am a Cameroonian writing all the way from Yaounde our capital city. I am a big fan of yours, keeping my eyes peeled on your program "A New Dawn with Funmi" whenever my cable provider feels it is okay that we who pay him for his upkeep should watch NTA programs. I'll tell you this, you a one blessed lady and most of all, I admire your courage and frankness that you bring to the fore with your program. The Almighty knows that you are trying your very best to help bring a change to Nigeria and I know that one day it will come to past.
The fact that I did my tertiary education in Nigeria (University of Nigeria, Nsukka: Dept. of Animal Science, Class of 1999) and haven grown up in a neigborhood full of Nigerians (ibos) makes me to consider Nigeria a second home.
Back to the matter at hand. The last aviation accident is more than a wake up call to not only the Nigerian government but also all African States to realise that how important a human life is. We have to travel and communication by the use of aeroplanes must continue, but, the life of each human being comes first which demands that much should be invested to safeguard our lives on the ground and in the air. Airports should be up to international standards in equipment and man power; the planes should also match the required international limits which means our governments should always learn to be proactive instead of being retroactive.
I concur with every bit of what you said and the fact that under the tenure of the same minister and within a single calender year a country can witness 3 plan crashes calls for the resignation of the minister or his booting by his boss, Mr President. Let some one who knows his way about the job step in and get the ministry in order.
Madam Iyanda, the Lord will always direct you and and I look forward to watching your program although my cable operator is taking toplaying god with his channels.
Sunshine of love and the best to you and your wards.

Anonymous said...

Personally l think all the so murdered souls should refuse to rest in peace until they have hunted the people directly responsible to the great beyond.AMEN !!!!
what do you expect form a reader in agric dept who calls himself a prof in athe aviation ministry
Things cannot be better if we continue to put square in round hole !
OBJ SHOULD BE ASHMED FOR IMPOSING A KILLER MINSTER ON US.
Like someone said the air is angry with the ADISA'S,OGIUNLEWE, ANNIEH since they deflied our roads !
i love your blog fummi u say it as it is . POINT BLANK!
a

Anonymous said...

hiya, couldnt stop laughing when i read ur article about the broadband. im thinking thats what il miss most when i move back to nigeria. it was good coming across ur blog. funny thing is u came up in a dicussion eith my friend just yesterday, he said june saprong-a ghanian presenter on channel 4(UK)and im like no comparison- ur far better. anyway look for ward to reading what i miss on tv in nigeria here. ps. does the name ring a bell?

Anonymous said...

I found the thoughts of the annonymous commenter interesting. His/her focus was on the bloodthirsty nature of the Obasanja regime and a conspiracy theory wrt taking out 2 senatos on the plane. I think this distracts from the real issue here-a seriously negligent and incompetent minister and a government in which gorvenors who refuse to be held to account on anything, to flourish.

Anonymous said...

Big Sis FI, It's so sad that we are our own enemies. The yoruba language expresses some phrases the best way one can ever imagine "Eni to kan lo mo" simply means. It's those that are affected that understands the pain and how it hurts. I can't imagine the Aviation Minister can fly....He's such a cruel being; blaming the pilot, shows no sign of been sober or remorse.It's a pity. I imagine the fear he has created.Can't one board a flight to his or her destination anymore? Must innocent people die due to someone's negligence. To be modest, Borishade has no respect for the dead.I can't blame him one bit. God help us all.

Anonymous said...

It's great to see you've got a blog FI, I used to watch you(your daytime TV)programme back in the day. In my estimation, you are certainly one of the best TV personalities ever in Nigerian history. Someone should hook you up for satellite viewing- so peeps in the diaspora can have a taste of the real contemporary naija flavour. I do hope you still ooze that beautiful scent of spot-on professionalism and wit. You should post your pictures(or videos) with your articles(blogs)and think of moving from blogspot to better blog sites where you can be simply, fi.com or funmiyanda.com or something cooler. What do you think?

Anonymous said...

Hello Funmi

I found your blog via Jeremy Weate's (...he is the real British man who loves and thinks Naija) Naijablog.com

In any event, it seems as if people who blame the Aviation Minister for quickly identifying the obvious source of the plane crash 1-4 minutes after take off
from Abuja are mising the point here!

The fact is that Virgin Nigeria and Aero Contractors aircraft along with the ADC plane were on the ground as a result of the information relayed to the pilots
by the control tower to delay take off for another 10 minutes!

The Abuja airport has the latest weather facilities which are the same with the ones at Heathrow airport and they had just been installed.


The ADC pilot haven put in 25 years into flying as a professional cannot be regarded as half-baked but a thorough-bred pilot... But then flying a plane is very similar to driving a car in heavy rainfall because you have to use your DISCRETION. This is when you have to make up your mind based on what you see.


In any event the ADC pilot decided to take off after taxing to the tarmac and then told the control tower that "god is in control" before taking off and then
then plane crashed in less than 4 minutes in very bad weather. This time around the discretionary method of evaluating issues failed!


How then is the Aviation Minister to be blamed for this? It was right for the Minister to have promptly told Nigerians/the world what happened. Otherwise Nigerians would have started calling him a very incompetent man. So, I agree with his decision to let us know what happened and there is a recording of the conversation between the control tower and the pilots of the plane.


If ADC begins operations again, I will continue to fly with them because the last time they had a major aircrash before NOW was in 1986. Even if you have brand new planes like those Bombadiers owned by Arik, aircrashes can still take place... infact a new Bombadier plane crashed in the United States this year.


Finally the silly excuse of using "god" to explain natural and man-made disasters is really an irritant. People should learn to take responsibility for their actions. By doing that we will all learn to grow because we would have been able to identify the origin of our problems and challenges.


For those who may want to know, the bible for instance is not even a literal book but is filled with a lot of fiction and allegories.
Even the tribal god of the bible is portrayed as engaging in a LOT OF negativity and allowed/encouraged RAPE, CANNIBALISM, MURDER, SLAVERY etc, in so many passages of the bible.


YOU may all want to check these websites BELOW in order to understand why in this part of the world, another ethnic group's tribal god is seen as a god to
be "feared" and will take peoples' lives away in anger and throw people into the so-called hell fire. These issues on the websites have been known to the rest of the world and have been in the public domain for more than 300 years. Recently (1999 to be precise), top Israelis like the Archaeologists Israel Finkelstein and Zeev Herzog have also confirmed that the so-called Exodus from Egypt and conquest of the Canaanites NEVER took place. Infact the Kingdom of Edom did NOT exist at the time the mythical Moses and Joshua (aka the old testament Yeshua or Jesus) were said to have lived! The pyramids for instance had even been built before the myth of the enslavement of Hebrews took place. By reading the contents of these Websites, we will then STOP blaming god or saying that "god knows why a plane crash took place" and start facing reality by taking ACTION!


1.http://www.truthbeknown.com/cannibal.htm

Acharya S. and her very revealing website and books: (Cannibalism in the Bible: The God of the bible
threatens Hebrews/Jews with cannibalism as punishment) see also: Deuteronomy 28:53-57 (also Lev 26:29), 2 Kings 6:26-29, Jeremiah 19:9 (also Ezek 5:10)

2.http://hierographics.org/DoubtingTheStoryofTheExodus.html

Doubting the Story of Exodus)
Many scholars have quietly concluded that the epic of Moses never happened, and even Jewish clerics are raising questions.

3.http://hierographics.org/JewsGrappleWithExodusStory.html
(Jews Grapple with Skepticism about Exodus Story)

4.http://www.evilbible.com/Rape.htm(RAPES of young virgins, MURDER of little children and non-virgins in the bible under the watch of the Jewish tribal god and Moses!)

5.
http://www.truthbeknown.com/bible.htm
(FREE online VIDEO: THE BIBLE IS REPULSIVE)
There are more websites and resourses, but I will stop here. Have a lovely and thoughtful read.

6. http://youtube.com/watch?v=J6b_vVNP4nM
(4:28 mins VIDEO: Proving that the Pope has NEVER read the Bible)

7.http://www.truthbeknown.com/biblemyth.htm

(Deconstructing the walls of Jericho: Archeology has demonstrated that much of the Bible is inaccurate as
history).

Anonymous said...

I recently read an article written by a renowned columnist Dr Ruben Abati - Safest Transport
HAS NIGERIA TURNED TO THIS

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear that the Minister of Aviation has swapped position with another imbecile Miniter. That's what we call "same 'ole' same 'ole!. I am disappointed, as a Nigerian, that we only have 'doughy' people in positions who bask in being called "Ministers". These heiffa's; President Obasanjo inclusive, lacks the necesary experience, professionalism and statemanship to steer the rudders of our nation-state out of muddled waters! I am appalled and absolutely disgusted whenever mediocre excuses of "it's the handiwork of God" are given where due negligence, rot in the nation's social and economic polity are common day occurences to ordinary Nigerians.
It's about time young generation Nigerians take back our country from these political half wits before it disentigrate into the throes of abysmal dome!

Funmi Iyanda said...

@ adaure, ...gee! thanks.

@t-man, well he's been moved to culture and tourism to continue his "magic".

@akin, no be curse o na prayer. tha said, they get away with it cos we allow them.

@ cutie, baba no fit sack borisade, na him personal person.

@annoynmous, go on s' ohun.

@lovela, are you sure you are not frm bakassi, i.e. actually Nigerian. l hear you gal and thank you. One day we will have an efective cheap African satellite channel where TV producers dont have to pay to put their shows on air. That is the deal with many channels from 9ja and that is turnng broadcasting on its head.

@ solabomi. would dis b my "lil" cousin solabomi (-:?

@kunle (man with a raging attitude) NTA also has some of the best broadcast equipment in the world (mostly stored in containers), in fact the super four shown on Supersport 3 recently was shot with all NTA equipments but South African crew. Intresetingly NTA also aired it same time using similar equipments, l wish you had seen both. It's not about equipments man. Similarly it's not about the bible. Religion is faith based not fact based and every individual has a right to his religious beliefs.l thus supprt a society that takes religion out of poltics and policy but allows individuals hold and practise whatever views they choose and yes Nigeria's religiosity can be stiffling and blindening.
It is the liberation of the state from overt religious infleunces that allowed the west emerge from the dark era, it took a while. Hopefully Nigeria will get there some day.
@jaheim. l could hug you but l no want wahala. you said it man.

Christian Writer said...

God's will. God's will. God's will. It's enough to make someone tear out one's hair. What happened to responsibility and accountability? God's will, my backside. God's will is not for people to abscond responsibility and mutter when the manure hits the ceiling, 'We'll just pray that this doesn't happen again.' Wrong. It will happen and keep on happening until some people get their obese derrieres in order and do the jobs they were meant to do. This your show. I must see it when I come to Nigeria. By force.

As for your delight in forking out all that money for broadband. Lordamerce! I pay 17 quid a month here and I'm complaining that I'm being robbed. Don't worry Funmi, God dey!

Anonymous said...

This is particularly for that Mr(hope)Kunle (the man with the raging attitude) and everyone he represents. First off, it is unbridled ignorance to use the concept of God as an explanation for the crash and a panacea for victims (so I agree with you, FI & others on that). It is however 'raging ignorance' as well, the type that smears of arrogance and incorrigibility, to think and talk like you did. The God revealled in the Bible is NOT subject to your theories neither is the inspired script. Science is great: but it is also fallible, progressive and finite. If there are any seeming contradictions between science and Bible, be wise, ditch the transient. Have a look Sir at this page and site, you just might increase in learning...

http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/magazines/tj/docs/arch.asp