Following the death of two Nigerians in the recent Boeing 737 Max 8 crash, the Senate Tuesday urged the Federal Ministry of Aviation and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to ensure that all aircraft operating within the country were air worthy.
This was sequel to a motion on the need for Nigeria to protect its airspace from the Ethiopian airlines, Boeing 737 series, pending the determination of its air worthiness by Senator Olugbenga Ashafa (APC, Lagos East) during plenary.
A former United Nations and African Union Deputy Joint Special Representative in Darfur, Sudan, Ambassador Abiodun Bashua, and a Professor of Literary Arts in Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, Pius Adesanmi, were among the 157 victims of the Ethiopian aircraft that killed all its occupants on Sunday, March 10, in Addis Ababa.
The upper legislative chamber, however, commended the Ministry of Aviation and NCAA “for moving swiftly in mitigating the operations of the Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 series aircraft within the Nigerian airspace in order to ensure the safety of all Nigerians.”
Presenting the motion, Ashafa said the two Nigerians who lost their lives in the ill-fated flight ET-302 “are individuals who have distinguished themselves in their fields and till their deaths remained worthy ambassadors of the country in the Diaspora.”
He said sometime in October 2018, a brand new Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 went down over the Java Sea killing 189 people, adding that the Ethiopian Airlines flight that killed 157 people including two illustrious Nigerians was equally a Boeing 737 Max 8 series.
He said “the pilots have reportedly complained about the anti-stall system installed on the aircraft models Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 series,” and commended the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, for giving the assurance that “no Nigerian airlines currently operate the aircraft series.”
Ashafa quoted the minister to have said that Nigeria “has joined other countries, including Ethiopia, United States, United Kingdom and China in banning the operations of Boeing 737 Max 8 series within the Nigerian airspace.”
He also said the NCAA had already issued an advisory statement “that nobody should fly out of Nigeria or into Nigeria using the 737 Max 8 and 9 pending the determination of the actual cause of the crash in Ethiopia and also pending the outcome of the response of the manufacturer themselves which is Messrs Boeing.”
Contributing, Senators Biodun Olujimi (PDP, Ekiti South) and Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP, Abia North) commended the federal government for banning the operations of the aircraft series within the country’s airspace.
While Ohuabunwa called on the federal government to revive its own airline as it used to be in the days of Nigeria Airways, Olujimi stressed the need for proper regulation of all airlines operating in the country and overhauling of their aircrafts with a view to saving the lives of air travellers.
