Kudos to Kema
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M. O. Ené
egbedaa@aol.com
New Jersey, USA
Thursday, January 17, 2002
Alhaji Wada Nas is all things to all manner of men, and to no two is he exactly the same. You have to give it to the man, he is fairly consistent: on a macro level, unapologetically pro-North. That's very admirable. Love or loathe his writing, you have to give him a healthy handshake because those who stand for nothing often fall for everything. I believe that this impersonal stance and a good dose of light, above-the-belt jabs make his servings easy to swallow, even to those who don't buy his written wares.
In his penultimate piece on the alleged plot to move the School of Aviation Technology Zaria to Enugu (http://www.gamji.com/wada23.htm), Alhaji Nas stated "that President Obasanjo is in power to teach the North the lessons of its life." I am not qualified to defend the president of the most populous country of Black people in the known world. I must say however that it is very doubtful that President Obasanjo came to teach anyone anything special. Not very few Nigerians would complain that their parts of Dr. Alex Ekwueme's six zones, including Obasanjo's Oduduwa and Nas's Arewa, are being traumatized or marginalized. Didn't we read recently that Obasanjo's extended family members were shopping for a new political party because he had not delivered the Central Bank's minting machine to them. Imagine what the Niger-Delta or Middle Belt would say. You don't have to worry about my Aladimma; the middle name is "Marginalization," and I have shouted myself hoarse.
So I can confidently say that President Obasanjo is not necessarily out to teach the North a lesson or two. Then again, what do I know! You see, the mind is like a bag; everyone carries one. It would be totally unheard of for one man, no matter how highly placed, to cow the great North; no, not with three thousand and one Osamas still suckling their momma's breasts in and around Kano and Gusau. But that is not the kernel of the matter.
What got my goat is the main thrust of the piece: a call for an all-out legal war against a possibly yet-to-be-tabled movement of a school of aviation technology to Enugu. If true, I will drink a Louis XIII to the health of Daa Kema, i.e. Dr. (Mrs.) Kema Nonyerem Chikwe, the Federal Minister of Aviation. I say this because we have heard so much about security for all, roads for all, water for all, and NEPA for all by the year 2002. As the Owerri person would say: "Otu awughi n'ezi." (Not one is true.) Whatever became of the "international" logo slapped on Enugu Airport at Emene? I wonder! If northern Nigerians were to travel as much as eastern Nigerians, there would not be only eight international airports (Kano, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Kaduna, Yola, Ilorin, Jos, and Minna) plus Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja. No, there would be at least TWENTY-ONE serviceable and money-spinning international airports. As of today, and if properly setup and managed, international airports in Asaba, Oba-Onitsha, Owerri, Umuahia-Aba, Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Enugu would hardly cope with the domestic and international air traffic generated by easterners alone.
Before you shake your head, note that three international airports service New York City. The capital city, Washington, DC, is only three hours away, with its own three functional and profitable international airports. We are not counting service and shuttle airfields. Don't forget military airfields such as Andrews and Fort Dix. I drive by three such fields every day, on a relatively short commute of about 40 miles. Yes, if northerners were to travel as widely as easterners, we would not be talking of "subtle attempts to reduce the Aminu Kano International Airport Kano … to a local airport"; we would be debating what best to do with an empty Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos.
I am all for another school of aviation technology in Enugu. It sure gives meaning to "bringing home the bacon." If this could come with functional international status for Enugu and Owerri airports, Dr. Kema Chikwe would have her name embossed in gold. We would stick to Abia's Governor Orji Uzor Kalu's "errand boys" label and never add "errand girls." Tufiakwa! While we are at it, many would also like to see the Port Harcourt and Calabar international routes "auctioned off" -- if that is what it now takes to get the government to let go of things it can't do. Meanwhile, she should continue to raise the quality of life around all airports in the country, which many describe as excellent and as one of the few fine feathers on the cap of President Obasanjo. (GSM's naught-eight-naught is another.) Don't forget that this lady got the best deal from South African Airways for New York route and that she stood strong against the politically powerful who wanted to sell off Nigerian Airways as scrap. Now, to say she is "planted" is an unkind, cold cut. Instead of pulling down the good doctor, we should help her to be the best she can be.
Am I surprised by the brightness of this jewel in the crown of Aso Villa? No! At a reception organized by the Nigerian Community in Newark, New Jersey, then Minister of Transport promised to deliver. Many from her Imo constituency wondered why Owerri airport, built by the people and donated to the government, was not functional. She promised to take it up with the relevant minister. Months later, the project was under her watch. And things are reportedly happening; forget the initial intrastate politicking with a wait-and-take presidential lounge. Let other ministers lay their cards on the table; it would be obvious that the lady is delivering on her promise despite the constraints of power politics and funding. Nigerian women must be glad that she got up there. After her, the next administration should implement the Beijing Declaration to the letter and get up to the minimum 30%, not the current less than 5%. So if Enugu is the next in line for the magic touch of Daa Kema, praise be to Abasi, Allah, Chineke, God, Oluwa, Osa, Tamuno, and Jehovah Yahweh!
Now, why should Zaria be disrobed to robe Enugu? The golden rule of Odinani, the sacred and ancient Igbo religion, says: "Egbe bere; ugo bere." [Let the hawk perch; let the eagle perch.] It is so sad that in our ethnocentrism or regionalism or religiosity or all combined, we lose sight of the general good. Why in this day and age should foreign pilots of any religion or race dominantly fly our air space? Why was the first female pilot produced in 2001 under the watch of a female minister of aviation, Kema Chikwe, years after a 12-year-old female flew solo around America? We don't need just the new and well-equipped aviation school in Enugu we need others in Warri and in Oron and in Kaura Namoda. It is so sad that it took so many years to decentralize the law school in Lagos. It is so curious that every top Nigerian military officer still goes to Command and Staff College, Jaji (Kaduna State). It is so sad that everyone now looks up to Abuja for survival. This sort of super centralization does not a great country make.
I have been to Zaria. The place is cool -- thermally terrible Harmattan weather and all. I still remember Shagalinku eatery with nostalgia. I have watched the small training planes hover around town. I have also closely watched military pilots train in Enugu. I am sure that some sound and solid arguments could be made for the school's relocation from Zaria to Enugu. But it doesn't have to move … just like that, not after so many years of service to Nigeria and of being a part of Amina country. Let Zaria be, and let Enugu "come to become" (apology to Dr. K. O. Mbadiwe). I will thereafter answer the "call on others to join [Wada Nas] in the lawful enterprise." If and when it is approved, we must all support the setting up of an ultra-modern and even profitable aviation school in Enugu, the first city in sub-Saharan Africa to be subjected to modern aerial bombardment. We may not duplicate Wada Nas, but we can surely duplicate an aviation school.
Everything else is embellishment.