Tears As Lagos Govt, Relatives Remember Dana Crash Victims

Tears still flowed a year after, yesterday, as the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, unveiled a cenotaph to mark the first anniversary of the tragic Dana plane crash that claimed the lives of 153 people.

Amid the wailing, some victims of the crash took the centre to protest the non-payment of the compensation initially agreed by the management of Dana Airline.
Not pleased with the way their issues had been handled, the relatives of the victims of departed 153 passengers on board the ill-fated aircraft demanded the detailed technical reports of the cause of the crash to enable all concerned stakeholders guard against recurrence of the tragic incident.

They called on relevant authorities, especially those in the aviation sector to, as a matter of urgency, critically address the sharp practices in the sector, saying only when this was done would their relatives not die in vain.

Speaking at the unveiling of the memorial cenotaph, the Lagos State Governor, Fashola, lamented the tragic incident, saying the incident threw many families into a state of perpetual mourning.
He explained that the state government did all it could from the management of the disaster scene to the identification of the remains of the victims through DNA tests, which cost N22 million.

“We experienced a tragic accident whose cause remains yet unknown. But while the cause was at the time unknown, our collective tragedy was immediately unfolding.

Many nations and their nationalities from India, China, the United States and Nigeria were united by a common grief – the loss of their loved ones. It was an accident that took place in Lagos. But its impact and reach were beyond our borders.
Men and women, Muslims and Christians, Hindus and atheists, became joined by a common pain. It was a horrific day. “A year may seem like a long time but for the families and friends of the men, women and children we lost, that day does not feel like history.

The memories of that day are probably as fresh as they are painful; particularly today when you are forced to confront the thoughts you may have pushed to the innermost recesses of your minds, just to enable you get from one day to the next.

“What does one say at a time like this? What does one say when words will never be enough? Many of us cannot even begin to imagine how great your suffering must have been this last one year.

We can only empathise with you, in the hope that our empathy will bring some relief. We can only utter words we know will never fill the voids but which we nonetheless pray will bring some comfort.”

Recalling the stories of families of victims of the airline, the governor also remembered the ground victims who never boarded the crashed plane but were killed by the flight. Fashola charged the nation’s aviation sector to place priority on the safety of lives of the people rather than profit, saying the worse tragedy to befall the nation was to forget the pains of the crash.

He said, “it will be more important for all who have authority and responsibility to act with a preventive purpose to ensure that it does not happen again. The watchword for decision making must be safety and not profit.”

Harping on the essence of the cenotaph, Fashola said, “this monument will stand as a permanent memorial to these family men, women and children and we will cherish each of their stories – stories of potential and of fulfilment, stories of true heroes.”

Also speaking, the Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, George Affam, said the Federal Government had put measures in place to forestall recurrence.

He added that government was working with Dana Airline management to ensure compensation issues were amicably resolved. Dr. Ben Ayene, who lost six relatives to the aircrash bemoaned the delay in the technical report of the cause of the crash, even as he condemned the continuous operation of the airline despite the National Assembly order to suspend the operation.

He lauded the Lagos State government for sponsoring the DNA tests carried out on the bodies of the victims to enable them to organise befitting burial for their departed relatives.

He took a swipe at the management of Dana Airline for playing politics with the plight of the relatives, saying the Federal Ministry of Aviation had not been pro-active in designing measures to forestall the incident.

The Director of Human Resources, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Chizoba Mojekwu who lost a cousin and eight colleagues from the CBN, urged the Federal Government to do everything possible to avert future occurrence of the crash.

June 04, 2013