Black Sunday: Dana Insurance Cover, a myth?

It’s been two weeks now, that Dana Air crashed along with 153 people as well as few others on ground at Iju Ishaga where the plane crashed into. I want to commend every Nigerian for the love and unity shown as well as the Government and all stakeholders for all they have done so far.

However the aftermath of the crash has been filled with activities and a frenzied reaction on the part of Government (as usual, Reactive instead of Proactive they are). Such activities include:

1. Investigations into the crash.

2. Audit of the entire Aviation sector.

3. Reactions by all stakeholders

4. Victim identification and burial arrangements

5. Proceedings geared towards initiation of Insurance payments to the victims/families.

6. A premature and baseless certification of the Nigerian Airspace as the safest in the World by the Minister for Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah (Too bad!)

Permit me however to speak on points 5 and 6, as revelations coming to me from a source at NAICOM has revealed that the much self-acclaimed insurance cover taken by DANA Air may be a ruse after all, Konja (Like my peeps say) and another mythical story told to us Nigerians by Indian Business men foraging on the business landscape of Nigeria.

DANA as revealed to me by my source, has not paid its insurance premiums from 2010 till date, it has only been paying premiums on the international route excluding, to the detriment of its business sustainability and the safety of unsuspecting Nigerians the LOCAL route premiums. The Company is said to be making attempts at paying up the owed premiums NOW, after the incident in order for the Insurance Companies to cover the incident, which they (Insurance companies) are vehemently refusing to do.

If this is true, I cannot help but weep for my Country. However I suggest that:

1.       The present audit been carried out should be extended to not only safety audits but financial and business health audits as most of the time, SAFETY and the MORAL, SOCIAL and ECONOMIC arguments or standards of a company are not mutually exclusive. The degradation in moral, social or economic activities of a Company is a quick and clear indicator of a direct and proportional degradation in safety standards as well and as such most of these Airlines may be flying time bombs or sitting ducks. The Regulator needs to be more proactive and ensure a robust monitoring system if they really know their Jobs.

2.       Nigeria needs to take safety more seriously, even if it means making laws that seek to jail perpetrators of such acts. If DANA management is found wanting in this regard they should be made to pay dearly for the rape of Nigerians economically, the unsafe actions and conditions festered by them and the deaths of so many Nigerians and the consequent traumatization of their families.

Lest I forget about point 6, It is quite unfortunate that the Minister for Aviation has been credited with the statement that “Nigeria has the safest airspace in the world” (I laugh in capital letters) in one of the national dailies, I was dumbfounded when I read that piece.

I doubt very much that a Country that has witnessed up to 45 air crashes, Lack of aviation infrastructure, lack of adequate regulatory activities, Technology, Power failures and corruption can be said to be the custodian of the safest airspace in the world. By what standards did she measure this claim?

Air safety is a term encompassing the theory, investigation and categorization of flight failures, and the prevention of such failures through regulation, education and training. It can also be applied in the context of campaigns that inform the public as to the safety of air travel.

Did she consider?

1.       The fact that weather conditions in Nigeria are not as harsh compared to other Countries, yet such Countries boast of lesser incident rates within the same period, and the fact that Force Majeure claims are not rampant in Nigeria?

2.       The level of Aviation technology and infrastructure in Nigeria as compared to other Countries?

3.       Does she have the data detailing the accident rate per mile travelled, the passenger numbers per mile travelled in her Country compared to others?

4.       The level of Regulation, Education and Training within her sector.

5.       The fact that fatalities may be higher in one air crash incident in Nigeria, as compared to other Countries who even have a higher incident rate due to proactive remedial measures and a robust emergency management systems?

6.       Is she saying for real, that Nigeria’s Airspace is safer than USA's and others?

I am at a loss as to the potency of her claims, and the premature ejaculation of such a statement at a time when a major audit is being initiated in the sector and the outcome of such is yet to be determined.

Is she for real?

sigh, sigh, sigh......