This is even as the ground victims of the crash protested the nonpayment of the compensation initially agreed by the management of the airline.
Also the relatives of the victims of the 153 passengers on board demanded detailed technical reports on the cause of the crash to guard against a recurrence. Many broke down in tears as they spoke at the events. Some of them lost more than three members of their families to the crash.
There was also laying of wreaths in honour of the victims just as prayers were said for the repose of the souls of the departed. President Jonathan, in Abuja, restated his administration’s commitment to make the Nigerian airspace safe for air travellers while commiserating with the families.
The President gave the assurance in his speech after unveiling the memorial cenotaph built to immortalise the dead victims of the air disaster at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
He recounted how the nation was thrown into mourning, stressing that government would ensure that such a tragedy did not happen again. “I recalled my deep anguish when I was informed of the accident. The Nigerian families will continue to mourn all those who lost their lives in the unfortunate disaster.
“We commiserate with their families and loved ones especially on the first anniversary of that terrible tragedy; we also share and feel the same sense of profound loss of all other aviation accidents that have occurred in this country,” President Jonathan said.
While recalling the devastation the tragedy caused the country in terms of human casualties and the unquantifiable socio-economic losses associated with it, the President said he had to constitute a special technical and administrative panel to review the operational, technical and managerial practices in all airlines.
He explained that the assignment of the panel was separate from the statutory investigation of the accident by the Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, pointing out that the panel was specifically constituted “to uncover any contributory systemic lapses that may have existed in the industry so that they could be speedily addressed to enhance the overall safety of the Nigerian aviation sector.”
President Jonathan, who commended the Ministry of Aviation for its speedy implementation of the panel’s recommendations, said one of the key measures taken to ensure improved safety in air travel in the country was the Revised National Aviation Policy 2013, which was approved last week.
Earlier, at the memorial service held for the victims of the accident at the main hall of the domestic wing of the airport, the Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Most Rev. Mathew Kukah, advised the relations of the deceased to take solace in the assured love and mercies of the Almighty God.
“When events like this happen, many are wont to contemplate in their minds whether God is still there or not or may ask some questions based on the deep pains they are going through. But the truth is that God is always there and knows about all that happens.
“These are indeed difficult times for our country but we are going to triumph because God will never abandon us. Despite all that we are going through now, a new day shall surely break for our country,” Kukah said.
A member of one of the bereaved families, Mrs. Grace Mbong, appealed to government to ensure that all those who lost their loved ones in the crash get their insured claims paid without delay so that they can cope with the losses suffered.
In Lagos, the solemn ceremony attracted members of the Lagos State Executive Council, members of the diplomatic corps, Senators Gbenga Ashafa and Ganiyu Solomon, traditional rulers and relatives of the victims.
Speaking before unveiling the memorial cenotaph, Fashola, who described the tragic incident as one crash too many, said it had brought untold hardship to various families. He added that the state government spent N22m on the identification of the remains of the victims through DNA testing.
The governor said: “We had 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. 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, 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 vain hope that our empathy will bring some relief. We can only utter words we know will never fill the void but which we nonetheless pray will bring some comfort.”
The governor who took time to recall the stories of families of the deceased also remembered the ground victims of the crash. He charged the decision makers, especially those in the aviation sector to place priority on the safety of lives of the people rather than profit.
“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. The watchword for decision making must be safety and not profit.
“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,” he said.
The Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, George Affam, assured that Federal Government would provide measures to forestall a recurrence, saying that government was working with the airline’s management to ensure compensation issues were amicably resolved.
Victims’ relatives protest
Dr. Ben Ayene, who lost six relatives to the crash, decried the delay in the release of the technical report of the cause of the crash, even as he bemoaned the continued operation of the airline in spite of the National Assembly’s order suspending the operation. He commended the Lagos State Government for sponsoring the DNA tests, which enabled the families to give the victims befitting burials.
The Director of Human Resources, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mrs. Chizoba Mojekwu, who lost a cousin and eight colleagues, urged the Federal Government to avert a similar occurrence in the future.
However, some relatives of the victims protested the exclusion of their loved ones from the list of the dead victims whose names were engraved on the cenotaph.
They blamed the state government for failing to include their relatives who were killed on the ground. Many of them said their relatives bought the flight tickets from some of those whose names were enlisted among the departed victims.
Mr. Steven Abuyere, whose mother died in the crash, flayed the Lagos State government for failing to rectify the list of the victims by including his mother’s name, Maria Abuyere, on the memorial cenotaph after he had raised objections to the initial victims’ list.
He said that her mother bought the flight ticket from one Huriyyah Lawal whose name was engraved in the memorial cenotaph to board the illfated aircraft.
Amid anger, he said: “Huriyyah Lawal did not board that plane. She is alive instead it was Maria Abuyere, my mother that boarded the plane. We have complained to Dana Air and they have corrected it but the Lagos State failed to correct it in spite of the correction we had made in the course of the meetings with the state government officials.
“We are surprised to find our mother’s name missing among the victims instead someone who is alive is enlisted on the cenotaph as dead. How can my mother’s name be missing while someone who is alive is listed?”
The lawyer to the 30 ground victims, Mr. Gbenga Oguntola, said the names of four people who died on the ground were not included in the cenotaph. “It is disheartening to know that despite the hardship the crash has brought to my clients,
Dana Air has done nothing to cushion the effect on the ground victims. We will not relent, we are still in court. They must ensure these people are duly compensated,” the lawyer said.
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