Poor masses! A one-time Nigerian Minister of Aviation it was, who stated in his "infinite wisdom" that air travel is not for the poor masses. So it is that in the unfortunate event of a plane crash (in Nigeria), the casualty list always reads like the who-is-who in Government, various professional bodies, recognised private sector and of course, the academia. Remember the ADC crash? The Kano crash was, however, different in claiming not only the lives of the rich, but the "wretched of the earth", as well. The rich victims had, of course, voluntarily, paid for the ill-fated flight, while the poor victims met their untimely death (where else?) on the ground. The victims inside the belly of the killer-plane were, as usual, amongst the high and mighty in the society, most notable of whom was the youthful and result-oriented Minister of Sports, Mr. Ishaya Mark Aku, while the hapless victims on the ground were however, residents of the sprawling Gwammaja quarters, on whose houses the ill-fated plane crashed, with its load of persons and petrol. So, for the first time in Nigeria, the poor down-trodden masses, for whom air travel is said to be a taboo, fell victim to an air crash - not within the confines of the airplane, but while they were still on the ground, in their respective houses, pondering on how to make ends meet, as they have done for years on end. Just imagine the irony of these poor fellows dying in an air crash!

Expectedly, our Government responded to the unfortunate, but avoidable air disaster in its usual fire brigade manner. Therefore, for effect, a number of officials in the Aviation Ministry's parastatals charged with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of airlines operations were sacked 'with immediate effect'. Sanctions were also slammed on airline operators by suspending use of the BAC 1-11 series; same as the model that crashed in Kano. Furthermore, aircraft that are 22 years old and above, were banned from operating in the country, while single-aircraft operators were told to either close shop or merge with bigger fish. One thing is clear; nobody is impressed! I have never pretended about or felt ashamed of my fear of flying, especially local flights. For me, every trip by air calls for special prayers and mental preparation. I know of several persons whose cases are slightly worse than mine. The Kano crash hurts the more if one recollects that a few weeks before the crash, a Nigerian journalist had raised alarm over what he saw as the extremely poor state of airworthiness of the aircraft operating in our airspace. Of course, his lone voice was quickly silenced by the Naira power of the operators who bought acres of newspaper pages to deliver some mind-boggling attacks on the defenceless fellow.

This then brings me to the teeming road-travelling masses, several of whose lives are wasted daily as a result of usually avoidable, fatal accidents on our roads. Sometime in 1996 I stopped and watched in horror as the mangled and decaying remains of 62 ordinary Nigerians were buried in a trench few metres off the road along the Benin/Onitsha highway; victims of a very stupid accident. Perhaps it may not surprise us to know that scenarios of such 'decent burials' occur several times daily all over the country. And nobody raises a voice simply because these people are poor! I was very angry at the load of noise that greeted the recent accident, which occurred as a result of the reckless driving of the entourage of the Inspector General of Police. Trust our police, the blame was as usual on the poor fellow who had the effrontery to drive in the same vicinity with the IGP of Nigeria.

For years now, I have noticed with great concern and pain, the little or no attention paid to the endless road mishaps occurring on a daily basis in the country, as opposed to the furore associated with the occasional air mishaps. For the avoidance of doubt, I am not against the expression of grief and sorrow in response to the loss of lives in air mishaps. I am only worried about the apparent disproportionate response to the loss of lives on our roads. Available figures indicate that for every air accident in this country, there are several thousands fatal road accidents; and for every death through air accident, the same situation applies! It seems to me therefore that the deaths resulting from road accidents across the country have come to be accepted as a fact of life, perhaps not unconnected with the fact that the victims of the carnage on our roads are in the main, the poor (expendable) masses. I believe that the powers that be should also spare a thought for these faceless, hapless victims of needless carnage on our roads, the same way attention is now being focussed on sanitising the aviation sector.

Some of the major causes of preventable road accidents in the country include, but are not limited to the following: (1) Obstruction of visibility due to the emission of thick black smoke from wrongly - positioned exhaust pipes, especially of heavy goods trucks and lorries. (2) Obstruction of visibility at night due to illegally mounted fog lamps on luxury buses and other heavy goods trucks and lorries. (3) Road blocks mounted by police, sometimes at road junctions or shard bends, usually for toll collection, a.k.a "family support". (4) Poorly maintained, rickety vehicles, with bad tyres, brakes, etc .(5) Pothole-ridden (and sometimes, very narrow) roads, despite the billions of Naira "expended" yearly ostensibly for road construction and maintenance. (6) Over-speeding and dangerous over-taking, especially by commercial vehicle and Government vehicle drivers. (7) Unlicensed and dubiously licensed drivers, lacking basic driving skills, knowledge of traffic regulations and sometimes, poor eyesight. (8) Driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs that impair concentration.

A multitude of government agencies already exist for the sole purpose of enforcing safety regulations on our roads. These include the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), recently merged with the Nigeria Police, the Motor Traffic Division (MTD), also of the Nigeria Police, as well as the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO). Records however show that since 1988 when the FRSC was established, accidents on our roads have indeed increased both in number and level of devastation. Harder to believe perhaps is the fact that the Road Traffic Laws and Regulations currently in use in the country have remained in the main unchanged for the past 40 years! Though one is not advocating the mass sacking of these public servants, it is strongly suggested that these agencies be completely over-hauled and their personnel re-oriented to discharge their duties more effectively. When that is done, we can rest assured that accidents related to poor vehicles and drivers as enumerated above will be brought to the barest minimum. In like manner, and in the spirit of transparency and accountability of the present administration, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing should be made to treat the issues of road construction, maintenance and rehabilitation with a lot more seriousness than obtains at present. Emergency services, including blood banks and ambulance services should also be established and adequately equipped with functional facilities, including communication gadgets, and stationed at least every 100 kilometre along our major thoroughfares.

Of equal importance is the need to realise that so much has changed in our transport system in the past 40 years and therefore, the imperative to revisit the laws and regulations that guide us, as well as carry out regular enlightenment campaigns on the media, motor parks and in organisations, which employ many drivers, so as to instill good driving practices in our drivers. Once again, I fervently appeal to all concerned to treat the issue of avoidable carnage on our roads with the seriousness it deserves. While we lament the avoidable loss of lives due to the recent air crash in Kano, let us please remember that the poor also die - and they die in their numbers daily, on our roads.