Nigerians woke up on Sunday 25 August, 2013 to learn of a
stowaway teenage boy, Daniel Ohikhena, who flew with Arik’s flight W3 544 from
Benin to Lagos, thinking the plane was US-bound! Daniel, probably, had
fantasised of life in far away America, watched films where some movie stars in
a feign show of bravado, stowaway precariously on fast moving cars and
aircrafts, chose to be the hero in reality, difficult to tell if he was
oblivious of the risk his bluster involved, how far a flight from Benin to US
was, or how he planned to survive extreme weather conditions.
Only the intrepid adolescent had the answers to these
questions. As mother luck would have it, the flight was Lagos-bound.
In other climes, where security breaches – in the face of
increasing global terror attacks – are not treated with kid gloves, heads will
roll in the aviation sector. The laxity of airport officials underscores the
insecurity in the country. Our ‘smart’ airport officials, come alive
when luggage are in sight. Missing baggage and other valuables are common place
in Nigeria’s airports.
The war of words and blame trading between Arik Air and
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has continued unabated. FAAN
investigations revealed “that a passenger on board the flight called the
attention of the cabin crew while the aircraft was waiting to take off at the
threshold of the runway, to the effect that they had seen a young boy go under
the aircraft and had not seen him re-appear on the other side.” It was gathered
that the cabin crew then informed the pilot who radioed the airport control
tower to verify. The airport official ignored the request to conduct a check,
but instead, gave the all clear for take off.
From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that FAAN officials
were complacent, and should accept responsibility that they failed in first,
protecting the airports area from intruders and secondly, conducting a thorough
check on the plane before take-off. Their lackadaisical attitude and negligence
of duty would have brought down the plane in shreds had it been a terrorist was
the stowaway. However, security is a responsibility for all players in the
aviation industry. Arik could have taken it upon themselves to be thorough. The
level of complacency in this country is alarming. If there are no sanctions for
this incident, the task of averting future air mishap becomes a mirage. The
porous state of airport security calls for worry at a time the nation is
struggling to curb the spate of insurgency, terrorists desperate to destabilize
Nigeria and spill as much blood as possible are ever lurking.
But how long will it take the Ministry of Aviation to beef
up security at the nation’s airports is a question only themselves can answer;
starting with the delayed erection of perimeter fences across airports
nationwide. Why for example, should armed bandits raid the gateway airport in
Lagos seamlessly, even with the avalanche of security agencies at the airport?
Remember how the claims by the former Director General of
the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, that the
explosives found on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, did not pass through the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos? The would-be terrorist
eventually opened up that he, indeed, passed through the Lagos airport, twice,
with the deadly devices undetected. Mutallab was said to have told an American
investigator that he got the devices in Yemen and brought them to Lagos. He
then transported them from Lagos to Amsterdam. That is how safe our airports
are.
The shear bravery exhibited by the adolescent stowaway is
what has taken many by awe. Aviation experts are still at a loss how the lad
survived the turbulence at such altitude. Information on Wikipedia reveal that
stowaways in aircraft wheel wells face numerous health risks, many of which are
fatal, which include: being mangled when undercarriage retracts, tinnitus,
deafness, hypothermia, hypoxia, frostbite, acidosis or falling off when the
doors of the compartment reopen. Thirteen cases of stowaway incidents in the
United States alone were reported by a 1997 study, resulting in 8 deaths. The
Arik Air flight from Benin to Lagos is a short trip which did not necessitate
high altitude cruise, else Daniel Ihekina would not have survived. We would
want to think that protocol should have demanded that, the SSS should have
first took him for medical examined before commencing their investigation.
His bravery reminds us of the failure of governance.
Citizens in droves, take to life threatening voyage, to go across borders in
search of greener pastures but never before have we seen a compatriot this
young, this daring. There are some points worthy of note.
First, if at his age, he could muster enough courage to
stowaway, then such energy if properly groomed by education, his services as a
matured adult can be of colossal benefit to the country as a pilot, in the SSS,
military intelligence or any of the nation’s security agencies. It is a pointer
to the abundant human resources the country possesses. As I write, he has been
awarded a scholarship to university level. But was it carefully thought out?
Shouldn’t we be mindful of what we reward in the face of mounting security challenges?
Secondly, the stowaway’s desperado is a reflection of the
frightening level of abject poverty in the county and bleak future starring
Nigerian teenagers and youths in the face. If not, the lad wouldn’t have given
even a second thought to such a dangerous escapade. What is the government of
the day doing to impact the lives of the common man? A teenager of thirteen
years already knows he can live a better life in America. He grows up with that
mindset that nothing good can come out of his country. For now, to be at par
with, or leapfrog America and the rest of the developed world is almost
unrealistic, but government can make life less miserable for its citizens.
The Nigerian people are not asking for too much, just basic
amenities like good roads, electricity, health care, good schools and security
of lives and properties that a teenager will never have to fantasise of going
abroad. An adolescent in his native country, say Germany, Netherlands, Japan or
Qatar never thinks of going overseas in search of greener pastures. Government
can work towards a better Nigeria where even air travel becomes affordable to
everyone and a teenager won’t have any reason to stowaway, if he ever have to
go to the US. And yes, who says Nigeria can’t be greater than America?
The SSS might have to overlook Daniel’s risky adventure if
it is found that he had no intent to terrorise, perpetrate a criminal act or
pose any threat to passengers onboard. Funny as it seem, some give him credit
not only for beating the security officials at their game but also for flying
safely. Incredible, isn’t it?
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