With ten aircraft in the presidential fleet one would have thought no top public officer in urgent need of air transport would have recourse to chartered aircraft.
But nothing is simple, straight-forward or rational in Nigeria. The report that Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke maintains a private jet at public expense – gulping N10 billion for maintenance and other costs in the last two years- is a case in point. The investigation by the House of Representatives should focus on (a) ownership of the jet, (b) who authorised its hiring; (c) which ministry/agency has been paying the expenses and (d) whether there is appropriation in the budget for such expenditure.
Private airlines provide fairly regular coverage of the country, no flight lasts longer than 90 minutes point to point. It therefore amounts to selfish indulgence for public office holders to make private jets their normal mode of air transportation. Both the Queen and the British Prime Minister make regular use of commercial flights for overseas journeys without loss of face or authority. It is no use to argue that petroleum ministers traditionally fly NNPC planes. It should be asked why NNPC should have planes in the first place. Nigeria is not Saudi Arabia; nor is our oil minister Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani. Modesty and humility are virtues that clearly are fast losing their hold on the country’s leadership. This enables governors to use chartered aircraft as routinely as one hails a taxi. Some even acquire aircraft for their states when in fact no state has more than a lone airport.
The excesses of the Executive have been exposed in the instant case: can the nation expect redemption from the Legislature and the Judiciary?
Mohammed Tukur Usman,
Kaduna
