My journey to ‘space’

In December last year, the Independent Corrupt Practices and
Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Federal
Ministry of Aviation (FMA) launched what was labelled a
cleansing exercise in the aviation sector. It was specifically
designed to minimize, if not totally stamp out corrupt
practices at our international airports. On December 16, 2014,
I jetted out aboard United Airline through the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport (MMA) in Lagos to George
Bush International Airport in Houston, United States of
America, USA.
I arrived at MMA in good time to check in. For the first time in
the many years that I have been passing through border point,
I witnessed a 60- per cent free flow of travellers through
different immigration desks. It was a remarkable improvement
on what used to be. Though the menace of touts was still
there, as I could smell and feel them right from the entrance
up to the departure lounge; I was welcomed by two urchins
begging to assist me with my light luggage. I quietly declined.
Even at that, they still pursued me to the security checking
point begging for a token from me.
Walking through immigration after my luggage was okayed
without any official pestering me with the usual plea: ‘Sir,
anything for the boys?’ That kept me wandering whether the
ICPC/FMA partnership to sanitise our international airports
had started yielding dividends.
My curiosity made me ask one of the officials at the final
departure point why I was not pestered with demands for tip.
He smiled and said: “Our Director General met us yesterday
and told us about the ICPC/FMA war against corruption at the
airports and that whoever that is caught demanding bribe or
tip risks going to jail.” He then added a caveat: “I hope this is
not just a one-off thing. It happened like this before during
Madam Chikwe’s era as the Minister of Aviation, and that
order never lasted than three months.”
However, whatever sense of pride I was feeling at those points
vanished with an encounter I had at the United Airlines’ final
check point leading to boarding gate where an officer without
a name tag frisked me. As he began, he looked at me and
started a conversation in a low tone.
“I saw you when you came into the airport; a lady was
carrying your bag,” he began. I had to look back to be sure I
was the one he was talking to because only my driver came
with me to the airport. I told him sharply that I was not the
person. But he was not deterred. He said: “Baba, we are at
your service O! Anything for me?’ I just looked at him, smiled,
and then, walked briskly into the bowel of the brand new
Dreamliner.
Moments later, the big bird slid out of the hangar, and hit the
tarmac, to begin the 13- hour non-stop flight to George Bush
International Airport, Houston. It was the smoothest flight I
ever had. We landed in the wee hours of December 17, and
walked into the calm and cool bosom of the magnificent
airport. There was no noise. There was ethereal peace as
travelers passed through Immigration points without
molestation. It took me only 10 minutes to complete the
arrival procedures. There were no touts nor any official
pestering you with, “wetin you carry?”
After spending a week in Houston, I moved to Silicon Valley in
San Jose. Again, like in Houston, there were no delays.
Everything was done with computerized precision. The little
delay we experienced, and which everybody understood, came
through the strict security checks travellers were subjected to.
It was understandable. The fear of terrorists has become the
beginning of wisdom for all countries all over the world.
My return journey from Silicon Valley, through San Jose
Airport, was less stressful as my luggage was checked and
routed straight to Lagos through George Bush International
Airport in Houston. The three-hour flight to San Jose to
connect my flight in Houston for my journey back home was
flawless. There was no security check again at George Bush
Airport, as this had been done at San Jose Airport. I took
notice of how Internet Technology had taken over virtually all
transactions for air travels. You cannot see anyone loitering
around you, pretending to want to assist you in whatever
name. There were free trolleys to move my luggage.
Coming back home, I had expected things to be better. Sadly,
it was the same confusion. As I disembarked from the bowel
of United Airline Dreamliner that ferried over 200 passengers
to Lagos, a gust of harmattan haze hit me on the face. How I
wished the harmattan saturated the Murtala International
Airport terminal building, because most of the air conditioners
had either packed up or were working far below their optimum
capacity.
But I noticed a remarkable improvement in the immigration
formalities for passengers. My clearance formalities were done
in less than 10 minutes. But to foul my mood, I had to wait
endlessly to collect my luggage at baggage claim. First, most
of us were forced to pay N200 per trolley that had a price tag
of N150.00. The lady issuing the ticket feigned not having N50
change. I understand it is worse in Abuja airport where
passengers have to pay N400 for a trolley. United Aircraft
landed 4.45p.m., Nigerian time, but most passengers,
including myself, did not get their luggage until two and a half
hours later. This delay should earn Nigeria a place in the
Guinness Book Record as one destination where a passenger
spends the longest time waiting for his luggage.
Whatever one went through at the arrival hall was nothing
compared to the hell outside. As soon as you stepped out of
the terminal building, touts swooped on you like ants do over
honey. A cacophony of voices welcomed you, offering one
service or another. “Oga, we are registered. You can tºrust us
with luggage; it’s safe,” one solicited. “I have taxi at
affordable price,” another said. “My car is good. It is a
Camry.”
Moneychangers became serious pests as they thrust wads of
naira notes at your face, begging you to come and change
“Dollars. Pounds Sterling.” I asked one of them whether the
ban on touts and touting imposed by the Minister of Aviation
few weeks ago had been repealed. He replied with a wry smile:
“Even if heaven falls, nothing can remove touts from this
airport. This is where we get our daily bread. Nobody can
remove us.” I couldn’t help but wonder whether sanity would
ever prevail at this very important gateway to Nigeria.
United airline
United Airline is in business in Nigeria. The way Nigerians are
migrating to the United States is making the airline to bloom.
It now operates two flights one to Houston and the other to
Atlanta. This is not to talk of other airlines like Delta and our
own Arik, ferrying passengers to the USA on a regular basis.
You may wonder why this rush out of the country and why
most of these Nigerians are taking American citizenship. My
guess is that they are running away from Nigeria for greener
pasture in the USA because of the worsening state of the
economy.
However, not all that glisters that is gold! The economy in the
USA is even worse than what most Nigerians would have
imagined. It’s even worse for those migrating without sound
education. Such people would simply be moving into second
slavery. My prayers are for the leadership of our country to
improve the welfare of the downtrodden so they could stay at
home and enjoy the opportunities offered by their fatherland.
A word for United Airline cabin crew
They should show some respect for their passengers. A
situation where a member of cabin crew spills water and
drinks on passengers is horrifying. I was a victim. And I think
that is not dignifying. However, I enjoyed flying in their brand
new Dreamliner. The big bird could tempt you to always burn
the kilometres. The brand new aircraft has one simple alluring
feature. It has no window blinds. Instead, it has a blue screen
that keeps the inside serene.
My trip to nasa centre
On December 22, 2014, my in-law, Pastor Gbenga Oso, who
resides in Houston, drove me and my cousin, Gbolabo, his
wife, and their two lovely daughters to the National
Aeronautics and Space Centre in the city. The centre,
established 56 years ago, is an aerospace research and
development facility for missions to space.
The centre, open to the public, is one of the money-spinning
tourist centres dotting America. In 2014, the centre won the
Best Tourist Centre of the year. People’s curiosity about why
and how the USA ventured into space is answered by a
number of questions, namely: how does the universe work?
How did we get here? Are we alone? It takes about one hour
for tourists to move around the complex in an arranged
motorized cabin. Intermittently, tourists are allowed to visit
some of the laboratories where astronauts are prepared for
space travels, and conduct research into what they found in
space. The visit was an eye opener as to how the US has
navigated a total of 168 missions into space.
NASA, according to Wikipedia, has conducted many manned
and unmanned space flight programmes throughout its
history. The unmanned programme launched the first
American artificial satellites into earth orbit for scientific and
communication purposes.
The United States won the space race with the Soviet Union
by landing 12 men on the moon between1969 and 1972 in the
Apollo programmes. To date, NASA has launched a total of
166 manned space missions. One could not but recall some of
the accidents that nearly scuttled the programmes – the two
space exploration shuttle orbiters with 14 astronauts that lost
their lives – the Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003.
The Space shuttle, according to Wikipedia, had 135 missions
before it was suspended on July 21, 2011, with the successful
landing in space of Shuttle Atlantis. In all, the programmes
spanned 30 years with over 300 astronauts sent into space.