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Hanging Slok by all means
ANDY IKE EZEANI
Once more the
question of what offence exactly Slok Airlines committed that led to its
prolonged grounding has rebound to currency. Interestingly; this time around it
is the promoters of the airline or its stranded employees or even concerned
professional aviation bodies that have raised the Slok matter for renewed public
attention.
The above parties must have exhausted
themselves with remonstrations and pleas that the relevant authorities did not
seem interested in harkening to. The public too, baffled by the manifest
determination of a punitive spirit to exert vengeance on the convicted airline
for some uncertain wrong, has partly given up on entreaties as well. The matter
as such helpless cases go, seems now to be in the hands of God ,or in this very
case, in the hands of some lesser gods first
The official reason for hanging Slok Air
has been far less than satisfactory. Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA),
the agency which directly and so easily passed the death sentence on a ward it
was supposed to nurture, anchored its argument for the sentence on professional
grounds. Even at that, NCAA was not very emphatic at the onset about why it
slammed Slok and IRS.The two airlines had seemed then to have committed some
professional offence which would be sorted out in no time. It turned out that
way for IRS, which was let off the hook in barely one week. Then started the
ordeal of Slok.
It could not have been difficult for many
to link the entangled fate of Slok Airline to the politics of the founder of
Slok Group, Orji Uzor Kalu, now governor of Abia State, and by all reckonings, a
pain both up and down the anatomy of powerful individuals in the government at
the centre. But Kalu had given up the control and leadership of his private
business for the moment, as the demands go with his new station. True to his
character it must be conceded, he spoke and behaved at various instances in a
manner that made him seem too close still to the company he founded. But is it
really different for any one else, even as the rule demands separation?
The common public notion that the ban on
Slok was more political than professional forced NCAA to come out with a paid
advertisement explaining the reason behind its action. According to the
Authority, the airline was cleared off the air because it secured permission to
operate two aircraft, but ended up operating four. For exceeding the number of
aircraft approved for it to fly, a situation that was said to breach safety
regulations, and also for the other charge of one of its pilots landing against
advice, the Air Operators Certificate (AOC) of the company was suspended.
If however, NCAA expected its explanation
to justify the suspension of Slok for the extended period it had lasted then, it
certainly failed on the goal. Almost as one, the public raised a critical
question; if Slok had license for two aircraft and was flying four, was it not
reasonable to ground the extra two and fine the company for its excesses? How
does killing Slok Airline satisfy any concern for safety in the Nigerian
aviation industry? Bringing a Nigerian company to lose N150million in barely ten
weeks due to forced suspension of its activities is a monumental disservice to
the economy and people of the country.
The NCAA effort at explanation did not
alter the common impression that Slok was marked out to be taught a lesson, if
not for its own sins, then for the sins of its parents or grandparents as the
case may be. This impression still subsists.
Now enter President Olusegun Obasanjo.The
comment credited to the President to the effect that Slok Air was floated with
public funds is as serious as it is unfortunate. So now, is this the latest
reason why Slok Airline is suspended? By Obasanjo’s office as president of the
Federal Republic, he should be expected to be above rumour peddling and making
unsubstantiated statements, especially when they challenge the integrity of
other people.Now,if on the other hand it turns out that the President has facts
to back up his comment, his position should propel him to do more than posting
side remarks and grumbling. Or is the President helpless?
The major problem the President faces in
this latest charge against Slok Airline is that of maintaining standard and
coming to equity with clean hands. Ours is a setting fraught with manifest
contradictions. From President Obasanjo with his Ota Farm enterprise, Bukola
Saraki with his bank ties, James Ibori with his paper and publishing company,
Orji Kalu with his Slok octopus and many others in public stations, the link
does not seem adequately severed yet between the men and the businesses they had
before coming into public services. Nor has Dick Cheney effectively distanced
himself from Halliburton in USA.So what is President Obasanjo’s charge?
Unless the President can come forward with
hard evidence to support his remarks on Slok, he surely will be dismissed as
doing no more than throwing a political brick at an irrepressible political
combatant. President Obasanjo should also be ready with proof that Kalu’s
attachment to his business is different from other public officers’ continued
attachment to their investments. More importantly, is this allegation of Slok
being floated with public fund the reason for ensuring that it is off the air?
President Obasanjo sure knows how to spoil his own cases.
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