Pastor Wale Ojo recounts his shocking experience on the plane which crashed in Lagos (Must Read) | This Is Miss Petite Nigeria Blog

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Pastor Wale Ojo recounts his shocking experience on the plane which crashed in Lagos (Must Read)

The Agagu family claims that the plane was in a bad state and that Feyi Agagu almost didn't want to board the plane after seeing it's condition
Coincidentally I just found this real-life experience written by  Pastor Wale Ojo on his facebook wall with the title"The crashed plane and my plain experience

It was in February, 2012. A Revival in Port-Harcourt and a quick visit to two friends of mine in Abuja surged me to journey home. In twenty-four years I had not seen Tony Akhiotu, now Managing Director, DAAR Communication. Nothing of course would be wrong to say hello to him as he was expecting me. The Adebayos too, (Wole & Anita) extended to me a warm invite to visit their place. The choice was no longer mine; I had to see my friends in the capital of Nigeria, that’s what friends are for. A table had been prepared before me in the presence of my friends.



Each time I travel to Nigeria, I just have to stay at least two nights in my place of birth. It’s a covenant of sort with Ibadan that I will not break. Everything seemed set in place for this, and I was looking forward to a refreshing time in Abuja. flying out of Ibadan was a deserving beat of the crazy Lagos traffic I would have run into if I were to fly out of MMA2, and driving down the treacherous death-trap called Ibadan-Lagos expressway to catch a flight in Lagos was not what I looked forward to. 

Cordelia Ekwueme, a minister in my church in Milwaukee who had just relocated to Nigeria was just beginning to revamp and run the run-down Associated Airline as the new Managing Director. A handful of Airlines fly out of Ibadan to Abuja, Cordelia told me, and one of them was Associated Airline that she had just begun to manage. I didn’t have to pray to jump on the offer to fly Associated as a VIP. It was a sweet offer.
At the airport I checked in my lone bag, passed through security check and headed straight for the gate, and I saw the plane. It looked like an abandoned piece of scrap metals fit for the junk yard. It was a kind of flying chariot of iron ready to take Elijah to heaven. But I am not Elijah, and not ready to go! If your nostrils are so designed, you could smell death. My heart started beating, but I am a man of God.

Crowning the aircraft were some rickety, rusty propellers swinging like a 1959 ceiling fan we had in our parlor in Ibadan growing up. I hated that fan, and I hated these propellers too. They looked like they had teeth that were set to bite life out of anything that had life. I hesitated on boarding, but one of the luggage boys who noticed the behavior smiled and said to me; “it’s a good plane sir”. I was not actually looking for a good plane; I just wanted a safe one. This plane did not look safe.
We were ushered in and I took my seat on seat 1, I don’t remember if it was 1A or B, but it was to the left of the aircraft and almost directly behind the pilot who definitely was a Nigerian. All the seats were just a little big bigger than my sons’ car-seats when they were babies. I relaxed, because I had to. It was too late to change my mind. I knew I would land somewhere, either in Abuja or in Abraham’s bosom. I was not prepared for the latter.
Then the noise! It was both deafening and disruptive. It seemed as if the propellers and the aircraft engine were in a competition to determine which was loudest- a combination of rattling, cranking, and booming noise. I thought about my children, my wife, my church, and the Pounded Yam with Efo Riro waiting for me on Anita Adebayo’s table in Abuja. The hunger and the salivation quickly disappeared.
Then the plane attempted taking off, just like a reluctant child who doesn’t want to go to school when you wake him up early in the morning. That was the mechanical attitude of this plane. The baby didn’t want to go to school, but the Daddy (pilot) forced him to. In seconds, however, with the accompanying noise, the baby lifted up.

I tried looking around and all the passengers had closed their eyes. Why? I didn’t have anyone to ask, I just closed mine too. The noise, and the tilting, and the swerving of the plane mid-air made me sleepless. People might have closed their eyes, I am sure they were not asleep. Nobody could sleep with that kind of noise, not with that kind of “break-dancing” in the air. I grabbed a newspaper and pretended to be reading. The contents on the pages of the newspaper, in my mind, switched between looking blank and looking like they were written in Chinese, as I watched the time slowly ticking by. Then the pilot announced we would be landing in Abuja shortly. I muttered to myself; “I would never come to Nigeria again”. Far-fetched? Yes, but that was how I felt. Then we landed, and it was smooth. I applauded the pilot.

After my experience, I reported to my sister Cordelia who wanted to know how the flight was. I didn’t hold back. I heard that the she had ordered the plane grounded until the problems were addressed. But problems are not addressed in Nigeria; they are dressed up as angels of light. And my sister, just coming from America after over 30 years sojourn, didn’t know that. She was learning how to live in Nigeria. What doesn’t work in Nigeria is never grounded, it is exalted. The working stuff, working idea, working technocrats, working policies, working people, working teams are grounded. My Friends, that was the same plane that crashed in Lagos on Thursday!

SMACKDOWN STRAIGHTUP TALK!!!

15 comments:

  1. This is serious buy he should have raised alarm then

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  2. but why was nothing done until the plane crashed.father have mercy.

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  3. All these stories male me scared to get on planes

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  4. We really need help...Nigerians buy used old planes from overseas....it is well, I thank God for HIS mercies.

    PLEASE VISIT WWW.THEBANQUETHALL.BLOGSPOT.COM
    IT'S A CHRISTIAN BLOG FOR YOU.

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  5. Thank God my Italiano has no choice but to buy me a private jet whoooop

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  6. My Dad said he had d same experience. From benin to Abuja

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    1. Can U̶̲̥̅̊ Imagine so they have bn managing dt plane since and see wt happened now they just wasted pple's life for nothing and there are bodies that are suppose †☺ be in charge of †ђǝ good health of dt plane? Pls wt v they bn doing God will surely ask for lots of people's blood from U̶̲̥̅̊ cs U̶̲̥̅̊ are responsible for their death. People are selfish and so heartless may God punish U̶̲̥̅̊ all. YK

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  7. Hmmmn so this has nothing to do with Agagu's family or rituals.

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  8. Mrs Cordelia is not fit to be an M.D. These days, Chief Executives do not sit on exalted chairs looking down subordinates who work their asses off. Chief Executives who make a difference in their organizations actually are part and parcel of the working modes of their organizations. Richard Brandson of Virgin Atlantic does not fly First Class, he flies economy so as to experience what majority of his clients go through. Same for Chick-Fill-A and 7Eleven bosses in America. They go into their restaurants' kitchen, roll up their sleeves and put on the chef's apron and cap and join the staffs to roll the dough. ( all under cover). We saw how some staffs destroyed their carreer with their acidic mouth, speaking rudely to their mates and their undercover boss. While some got their lives changed for the better with their commitment and hard work. These are all in U.S.A where Mrs. Cordelia lived for 30 years. And now back in Nigeria, the likes of Fola Adeola, former Chief Executive of GTBank pioneered what have come to be known as "Guest Teller". He goes into any of his branches randomly to work as a teller and this changed the face of banking in Nigeria. Mrs Cordelia asked her staff to ground the rickety plane and she did not follow up on her staff to ensure that the deliverables are prompt and adhered to. Which plane was she flying anytime she needed to fly out of Abuja? Does she have a private jet? If she had flown one of her products, she would have experienced what the likes of Pastor Wale Ojo and other Nigerians have been passing through. Maybe, just maybe, she would have effected the needed change. And to Pastor Wale, you didnt help the situation. You didnt shout enough. You didnt berate your 'Sister' and 'minister' enough. Why didnt you write about your experience and send it to the Nigerian press. I trust that they would have made enough noise loud enough for Abuja and 'deaf' Aso Rock to hear. Maybe and just maybe, this disaster would have been averted. Maybe these souls would not have been sent to their graves in hot anguish, burning and melting.If Pastor had overlooked relationship and taken on the mantle of a social reformer which is an aspect of Jesus' ministry, I believe strongly that this evil would have been averted. If the likes of Deji Falae ( God rest his beautiful soul) had lent his voice to the complaints of Feyi Agagu when they saw the ugly moving coffin called plane, maybe they all would have abandoned the plane and chosen to drive to Akure and three hours would have been enough sacrifice to avert their death.May God forgive everyone who could have stopped this but didn't. May He also comfort those who are mourning right now and send help to their dependents. Ese Falae and co, God will comfort you and heal your bleeding heart. He will take care of your children..

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  9. Mrs Cordelia is not fit to be an M.D. These days, Chief Executives do not sit on exalted chairs looking down subordinates who work their asses off. Chief Executives who make a difference in their organizations actually are part and parcel of the working modes of their organizations. Richard Brandson of Virgin Atlantic does not fly First Class, he flies economy so as to experience what majority of his clients go through. Same for Chick-Fill-A and 7Eleven bosses in America. They go into their restaurants' kitchen, roll up their sleeves and put on the chef's apron and cap and join the staffs to roll the dough. ( all under cover). We saw how some staffs destroyed their carreer with their acidic mouth, speaking rudely to their mates and their undercover boss. While some got their lives changed for the better with their commitment and hard work. These are all in U.S.A where Mrs. Cordelia lived for 30 years. And now back in Nigeria, the likes of Fola Adeola, former Chief Executive of GTBank pioneered what have come to be known as "Guest Teller". He goes into any of his branches randomly to work as a teller and this changed the face of banking in Nigeria. Mrs Cordelia asked her staff to ground the rickety plane and she did not follow up on her staff to ensure that the deliverables are prompt and adhered to. Which plane was she flying anytime she needed to fly out of Abuja? Does she have a private jet? If she had flown one of her products, she would have experienced what the likes of Pastor Wale Ojo and other Nigerians have been passing through. Maybe, just maybe, she would have effected the needed change. And to Pastor Wale, you didnt help the situation. You didnt shout enough. You didnt berate your 'Sister' and 'minister' enough. Why didnt you write about your experience and send it to the Nigerian press. I trust that they would have made enough noise loud enough for Abuja and 'deaf' Aso Rock to hear. Maybe and just maybe, this disaster would have been averted. Maybe these souls would not have been sent to their graves in hot anguish, burning and melting.If Pastor had overlooked relationship and taken on the mantle of a social reformer which is an aspect of Jesus' ministry, I believe strongly that this evil would have been averted. If the likes of Deji Falae ( God rest his beautiful soul) had lent his voice to the complaints of Feyi Agagu when they saw the ugly moving coffin called plane, maybe they all would have abandoned the plane and chosen to drive to Akure and three hours would have been enough sacrifice to avert their death.May God forgive everyone who could have stopped this but didn't. May He also comfort those who are mourning right now and send help to their dependents. Ese Falae and co, God will comfort you and heal your bleeding heart. He will take care of your children..

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    Replies
    1. Well said. And Stella Oduah had the guts to say it was an act of God. What a callous statement.

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  10. this is just too bad. we don't value lives in this country. the authurities responsible for aviation safety in this country have blood on their hands. their negligence has cost us so many lives

    shrek

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  11. Overland air is another one to watch. His description fits perfectly with their planes. Always a scary experience flying overland I tell ya!

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