Aviation Minister: Capt Dele Ore, you are nothing, you’re a useless old man and I will deal with you

The more one wants to refrain from discussing the issue, the more tempting it has become to write about the allegations, denial of threat to one of Nigeria’s respected aviation professionals.

Captain Dele Ore stunned stakeholders in the aviation industry with an allegation of threat to his life by the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah-Ogiewonyi in a telephone chat last week Friday.

This article is not to apportion blames, but one that could help to bring sanity to a sector that is in dire need of rescue.

In a petition to the President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan which was copied to the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, the Inspector General of Police and other relevant security agencies, Captain Ore said the minister had called him on a mobile phone early in the day ‘raining’ unprintable abuses on him and lastly threatened: “I am going to deal with you.”

In a statement to reporters Ore writes: “At 11:13am, July 27th, 2012, the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah-Ogiewonyi called me from a number “08055024340” and she showered unprintable insults on my person threatening my life while promising to deal with me.”

“This conversation lasted for 3 mins and 8 secs, and she claimed that I have been writing rubbish, lies, and fabrication about her in the media. She accused me that I am the one spoiling the industry and grounding aviation to a halt in Nigeria. She said and I quote: ‘Capt Dele Ore, you are nothing, you’re a useless old man and I will deal with you.”

Ore said that the outburst and threat were not only shocking, but one “too demeaning from  a minister”, stressing, “I have worked for all my life since 1963 in the Aviation industry. I have done nothing and said nothing except for the survival and genuine interest of Aviation in Nigeria.

“As President and Co-founder of Aviation Round Table, I have stood for nothing except the truth. May I use this medium to appeal to the President and Commander-In-Chief, the National Security Adviser, the President of the Senate, and the Inspector General of the police to safe-guard my personal safety as a loyal senior citizen of this country.”

In his reaction, spokesman for the minister, Joe Obi, said: “The entire narration being bandied in the press by Capt. Ore is malicious and a figment of his very fertile imagination. The entirety of the Press Release is false and calculated to malign the name, image and integrity of the Hon. Minister. The author is hereby put to the strictest proof.”

Not a few believe that Captain Ore is a thorough-bred professional and exemplary gentleman who inspite of the vagaries of our society has been a contented man all his life. To say the least, Ore is one of the very few professionals in the aviation industry that is not only consistent in his criticisms of bad policies, but one that has sacrificed a lot to see the sector attain the highest height in aviation safety, infrastructure development, security and other that could bring aviation in Nigeria at par with other developed countries.

No wonder he is highly sought after on aviation issues in Nigeria. Ore’s position on issues in the industry has greatly helped to put ministers of aviation on their toes for the betterment of the sector. To say the least, he is an institution that should not be rubbished or threatened as many people rely heavily on his wealth of experience.

One would have expected Stella Oduah Ogiewonyi to hold talks with the veteran pilot, listen to him and convince him and others who do not share in her “transformation agenda” in the style of the minister in giving the nation, aviation sector that everybody will proud of.

There is no doubt, Oduah-Ogiewonyi met a rot of over 20 years on ground, but many are becoming tired of the slow pace of airport remodelling project that has compounded the woes of travellers at various airports.

A visit to Port-Harcourt recently showed that not much had been done at the airport. What one saw was construction work that not only look abandoned but one that had made nonsense of security, facilitation of passengers and a big threat to aviation security.

Speaking to journalists recently, Ore noted that as the 34th Minister of Aviation, the minister should concentrate on aviation policy review which he noted was overdue, tell the public how much airport remodelling project has gulped since the project started.

The airline captain equally lamented the infrastructure decay which included poor airfield lighting system, poor pilot, air controller communication in our airspace, Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) utilisation fund, safety and security of civil aviation operations, hinting: “She should stop chasing shadows.”

He also advised that the minister should wade into aviation fuel pricing and available, an issue he had made airline operation in the country very difficult and one that could threaten safety and how to attract foreign investment to the country.

There should be no love lost about this. A truce must urgently be brokered between these important personalities in the system by people who mean well for the industry.