By Chuks Okoh
Ten years after he was felled by bullets from yet to be ascertained assassins , family members , aviation industry players and associates Sunday held a remembrance anniversary for slain aviation martyr Captain Jerry Agbeyegbe .The remembrance anniversary was held at the family residence in Ifako Ijaiye axis of Ogba in Lagos.
Captain Agbeyegbe was the general secretary of Nigerian Aviation Safety Initiative,( NASI), the aviation safety watchdog group . He was felled by assassins bullet on Tuesday October 12, 2004 along Oworoshoki axis of the Lagos / Ibadan Expressway.Captain Jerry Agbeyegbe was critical about sore points affecting air safety in the industry .
A former president of National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers( NAAPE), Agbeyegbe led a safety campaign in the industry in the late 1990s and 2004.
He led many protests against the liquidation of the former national carrier: Nigeria Airways Limited and the take off of Virgin Nigeria Airways.
Agbeyegbe was consistent in his clamour for safer airspace , in particular the need to ensure that navigational aids at airports were calibrated .Captain Agbeyegbe, a former President of the National association of Airline Pilot and engineers (NAAPE) was Nigeria’s foremost airspace system inspection specialist, with over 25 years experience in the aviation industry, spanning corporate and charter, training school, commuter airline, regulatory authority and special application-aerial inspections operations.
“As a former chief pilot in charge of airspace system inspection in the defunct Federal Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA), Agbeyegbe under a joint United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), “Rehabilitation of Nigerian Airspace Project” was responsible for restoring some measure of confidence in the nation’s airspace by the international aviation community in the early 90’s.
He was a member of a three-man ICAO/UNDP committee, which drafted an Airspace Systems Inspection Procedure manual for the country and was equally actively involved as a calibration pilot/instructor, in the training and manpower development programmes for flight inspection/Calibration personnel.
“A qualified instrument Enroute and Approach Procedures Development specialist, the first Nigerian calibration pilot to be so privileged, Captain Agbeyegbe also pioneered the first ever airspace safety audit in the country, widely acclaimed by the International Federation of Airline Pilots Association (IFALPA), during his tenure as the president of the pilots and engineers association. NAAPE also rededicated itself to upholding professional integrity and safe aircraft operations became the thrust of his tenure.
In a statement signed by Orighomisan Kay Agbeyegbe on behalf of the family reads :” Exactly ten years ago, on a regular Tuesday morning on the 12th day of October 2004. Captain Jerry Eyituoyo Omakpome Agbeyegbe was felled by the bullets of assassins.
“Today we look back and imagine all what could have been, were our husband, brother and father still with us today. We are however much grateful to God for his mercies & consoled by our belief that he is resting at the bosom of the Almighty. Or maybe not, as we also imagine that Jerry, the aviation activist popularly called “Mr. Safety, would be standing up in the heavens, still keeping a watch over the Nigerian skies, with his charismatic broad smile on his face and saying “As regulatory officials, airline operators, air traffic controller, pilots and engineers, we must all strive to conduct our operations with the highest consideration for safety, even at great economic risk.
“For all of us, safety must not just be spoken words and broken promises, but should be in our every deed and action, it must be a way of life, this is the only way we can restore public confidence and guaranty the survival of the aviation industry”
“Captain Agbeyegbe was Director of Operation at Millennium Air Aerial patrol, a private sector initiative towards addressing the threats of pipeline vandalisation, environmental pollution and airspace systems unreliability.It is on record that Capt. Agbeyegbe said he would like to see the establishment of a quality control department at NAMA to be called the “Airspace Systems Standards” To cater for the crucial role of auditing the services provided by the agency. NAMA must develop the capability to determine and guaranty the quality of services being provided in the airspace, be they Communication, Navigation or Surveillance. The agency’s commitment to safety demands no less. This must be top priority at NAMA.
“The practice of relying on ASCENA, the Dakar based French calibration company to calibrate our navaids should not be entertained beyond serving as a stop-gap measure, it is neither cost effective, nor a pragmatic response to the challenges of meeting with ICAO navigational aids flight checking periodicity requirements. Given the number of facilities it has responsibility over, the ultimate goal of the agency should be to develop an in-house flight checking capability.
“Jerry was the founder and former Chairman of Concerned aviation Professionals (CAP), a non-governmental, non-profit group, and the Nigerian Aviation Safety Initiative (NASI) an NGO dedicated to the ideals of promoting Aviation safety in concert with other NGOs, professional bodies and Civil liberty organizations such as national Association of Airline Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), the aviation roundtable (ART), Air Transport Service Senior Staff association (ATSSSAN) and the National Union of Air Transport Employee (NUATE) to mention a few.
“Captain Agbeyegbe a recipient of Numerous Awards, like a superhuman racing against time to save the skies, had his eventful life cut short at the age of 49 years by yet to be apprehended assailants. We say a big thank you to all those who offered us a shoulder of comfort over the last ten years, and pray for us all that Safety First becomes A Way Of Life”
