The Presidential Air Fleet
‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.’ – Martin Luther King
The current government inherited from its’ predecessor a fleet of 10 aircraft which aviation experts claim is the second ‘largest in the country’ – second only to Arik Air, a commercial airline which has 23 aircraft. The Presidential Air Fleet, PAF, has gulped up the sum of N5 billion ‘in the last 15 months’. This figure was said to have been spent on maintenance, spares and subscription services of the aircraft among others. Airline and aircraft maintenance expenses, we’re told, are denominated in dollars so we ask ourselves whether the President needs 10 aircraft. Does he even need one in this austere time?
The subject of the PAF had been analysed and criticised at the onset of this dispensation when PMB himself was reported to have demanded that some of the planes be disposed of. Recommendations were made by experts in the aviation industry and some well-meaning Nigerians that the number of the aircrafts be trimmed down and the redundant planes be used to kick-start a new national carrier.
Just a few days ago, a technical committee was ‘constituted by the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA,’ to make recommendations, on a suitable size for the fleet. It took President Buhari, PMB 15 months to finally take action on cutting down the number of his presidential jets. We’re informed that it was Recession that made him take the decisions. Which means if there was no economic downturn, some brand new jets would have been added to the fleet to prove that our country was the Giant of Africa. Hubris indeed!
Were PMB to have taken this action within his first six months in the saddle of power, many Nigerians would not have fallen out of love with him so soon. The honeymoon would have lingered on much longer. In fact he would have sent out a strong signal of his commitment to salvage or revamp the economy. Is PMB a lone voice in the wilderness? In this government is he ‘alone in his anti-corruption fight’?
Moving on …
Have you attended a party lately? I attended a party just a week ago. It wasn’t a ‘serve-yourself’ party. When my food was served, I noticed that only a piece of meat was served with the food. The ‘moin-moin’ was anaemic. But you know what? I devoured it like a child eating ‘Ndomie’ noodles. Not that I was ‘long throat’. In anticipation of getting some ‘better’ food, I went there on an empty stomach. The convener was known for providing the best food and drinks for guests. That’s now history.
Graduates are being churned out each year. Workers are being laid off in public and private sectors. There’s no job security. Laid-off workers and jobless graduates are swelling the numbers of those waiting on the government. Among those looking up to the government are pensioners who are appealing to PMB to ‘resolve the non-payment of the backlog of their arrears which have piled up over the years’. Only the living among them could make this plea for some of them died of penury while others are now forced to be a burden on friends and families.
A pensioner I know said that she was so happy when her relative was offered a government post. Her fellow pensioners also rejoiced with her. They too were confident that the relative would push their file since ‘a small crab holds on to the big crab’. Here experience and disappointment recalled these lines of mine:
The difference is clear
The lecture was brilliant
The speaker put across
His ideas on social issues
In lucid and simple words
Not for him the ‘isms’
Or sensational words
Which only impress by
Their sound rather than
By their meaning
He answered questions
He didn’t attack opponents
To his ideas or
We all swarmed around
Him thereafter, some to
Pat him on the shoulders
For rendering an intelligent speech
Others came to get his
GSM number and e-mail address
He readily responded to all
With smiles and eagerness
He attended to all, young and old
At the book launch they arrived
They came in flowing agbada
They occupied the high table
Their orderlies, ADC or bodyguard
Standing at attention behind
With a toothpaste smile on
They looked down at the audience
They made pledges of thousands
Millions, billions of naira
The ceremony over
They trooped out of the hall
Their security personnel falling
Over themselves to keep away
The crowd, the same crowd that
‘Voted’ them into office
The people whose interest
They are supposed to be
Defending in Abuja
You cannot reach them
You cannot demand or get their
Phone number or e-mail address
You see how starched their
Agbada are, that’s how rigid
Their hearts are, hearts that
Only thaw in the presence of
The omnipotent NAIRA
