BY TONNIE IREDIA
With the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999 after several years of military rule, many Nigerians had looked forward to a new way of life different from impunity, rigidity and on the spot decisions that can hardly stand the test of time. More than 25 years after, governance has only slightly moved away from the idea of ‘immediate effect’ and is now being replaced by a new approach in which everyone is encouraged to see any subject from the same perspective. We are now in an era where only one side to a story is involuntarily accepted. Last week, it became the turn of our aviation sector to unleash on Nigerians, the belief that too many citizens are basically unruly. The story is that outside our shores, our people behave so well by following procedures set up in other climes for the free flow of life but do the opposite in their own country.
According to the chroniclers, airline passengers in Nigeria break every rule or guideline thereby making the country unimpressive to anyone. People allegedly get to the airport late; they reportedly refuse to follow a queue and of recent they now ‘assault’ airline personnel. As a result, there is now evidence that unruly behaviour in our airports has increased to a point of discomfort to all. As to what constitutes unruly behaviour, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) says “assaulting, intimidating, or threatening any flight or cabin crew member, using a mobile phone and/or other communication/electronic gadget on board aircraft against the instruction of the pilot-in-command or flight crew or cabin crew, among others” are part of unacceptable conduct by passengers.
There have been three stories of passenger/airline skirmishes in our airports in the last few months. First, was the publicised case of Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North), who in June was seen confronting Air Peace staff members over their handling of a scheduled Lagos–Abuja flight. Two other cases which have since occurred include that of a Nigerian musician, Wasiu Ayinde, popularly known as KWAM 1. Ayinde was said to have defied airline instructions by insisting on consuming alcohol on board a ValueJet aircraft; and at one point attempted to physically prevent the aircraft from taking off. The most recent of the cases was that of passenger, Comfort Emmanson, who was accused of assaulting Ibom Air officials after being asked to switch off her phone during take-off.
In all these cases, the dominant story was that each of the three citizens suddenly became unruly without just cause making it appear that they were all unreasonable. Luckily for the airlines, most people believed their version of the stories. Even the media whose profession demands balance and objectivity in the coverage of events did not give the same prominence to the versions of the accused. Oshiomhole and Ayinde in particular are well known frequent flyers and till today, no one has bothered to assess the level of provocation that could have led to their behaviour on those special days. Many years ago, alcohol which used to be served as part of in-flight entertainment is now a taboo. As for the issue of switching off phones on board, our airlines have different rules. While some allow phones on ‘Airplane Mode’ others insist on complete switch off of all phones and every electronic gadget.
Could it be that any airline insisting on total switch-off has an ancient aircraft or is it that those allowing Airplane Mode don’t care if they crash? Why in fact did phone manufacturers include that mode in their sets? Was it not tested and found safe before the mode was introduced? Again, why is it that outside Nigeria, airlines commercialize the use of mobile phones during flights? Answers to questions such as these would enlighten Nigerians better than the call by the AON for the enlightenment of passengers on the acceptable conduct expected of them. This is because public enlightenment has since moved from the era of directives, instructions and possible sanctions to proper education of people on the rationale for any subject. A simple explanation that our local airlines do not have capacity for the use of phones on board, will halt skirmishes between airlines and passengers.
Considering that the relationship between both parties is supposed to be contractual, no one knows the real terms of the contract. In Nigeria, all we hear are rules which empower airlines to do and undo with very little reference to the obligations of airlines. Indeed, the greatest problem in the aviation sector in our clime is the fact that our airlines are virtually ungovernable. They all delay flights at will with no one comparing them with the orderliness we see abroad. Some even cancel flights with irritating apologies. For a passenger to get to his destination on schedule has consistently been a matter of sheer luck which seems to suggest that people justifiably have no faith in our airlines.
Reactions to airline behaviour are quite often determined by the degree of discomfort that each person experiences. Even the much-eulogised Ibom Air once delayed my flight scheduled to depart Port Harcourt to Abuja for as long as 10 hours with a notification to that effect received only at the gate of the airport. The staff on ground didn’t show any signs of remorse when I got there leaving me with an impression that such negatives can hardly happen elsewhere. Whereas an airline may or may not offer any persuasive apology for disappointing a passenger, the same airline is empowered to swiftly sanction any passenger who reports late to a flight no matter the circumstances. With such an unequal relationship between passengers and airlines some people may unfortunately become violent especially after more than one experience.
Some people now actively and strongly engage airlines on their unacceptable conduct probably because they may have experienced the same overbearing conduct a number of times. Elsewhere, the cases of Oshiomhole, Ayinde and Emmanson would have been similarly handled but not so in our clime. Apart from selective justice, what we see often is reference to provisions of laws spelling out the consequences of passenger behaviour at airport terminals and onboard aircraft- a good example being the popular reference to Section 85 of the Civil Aviation Act, 2022 and Part 17 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, 2023. Where are the provisions spelling out sanctions for offending airlines and who is to help Nigerians publicise them? We can only hope it is not the same regulators who have over the years done nothing to the notorious habit of delayed and cancelled flights which adversely affect passengers.
If such provisions are not enforceable or do not exist, should the airline not begin to expect jungle justice from now on? One would have answered in the negative in view of media reports that the National Assembly is set to intervene in the legal gaps in the aviation industry. The Senate Committee on Aviation said last week that it would engage regulatory agencies, airline operators, security agencies, and public interest groups in an extensive review of aviation procedures to close any procedural gaps in the sector. More importantly, the lawmakers will also investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged unruly behaviours of some passengers at the nation’s airport in the recent past and proffer possible solutions to curb future occurrences.
While it is good to give the senate a chance to show capacity to do what its aviation committee chairman has promised, there are critics who think it is probably risky to rely entirely on our legislature to resolve the problem. Such critics believe that our lawmakers are usually more interested in issues concerning electoral act and budgetary matters on constituency projects like boreholes and street lights. Besides, the elite class cannot support the average citizen against the airlines. They are rather more likely to be on the side of the airlines in any conflict because a disruption to flights will negatively affect them more than anyone else. One can therefore not rule out the possibility of a new law that may provide more sanctions for perceived unruly behaviour of passengers.
The solution in our opinion is not to be found in law reviews. Instead, Festus Keyamo, our pragmatic aviation minister must apply more pressure on the regulators in his ministry to be more committed to not only the viability of airlines but more to the welfare of the citizenry. It is certainly time to bring to an end the old order where airlines come to equity with unclean hands. Except that is done quickly and effectively too, many aggrieved passengers will continue to be provoked to resort to unruly behaviour which government has a duty to stop.
