Nigeria: Obasanjo Planned to Outsource Local Airports to Foreigners - Wikileaks

Following the crash of Bellview aeroplane in 2005, then President Olusegun Obasanjo and aviation minister Babalola Borishade contemplated kicking out the airport authorities in Nigeria to give way to foreign outsourced personnel, whistle blowing site, Wikileaks has revealed.

The crash had occurred on Saturday, October 22, 2005 in the Village of Lisa, Ogun State. The United States Government (USG) forensic team arrived at the crash site on November 3 for investigation into what led to the accident.

All 117 people aboard the ill fated aircraft died including the crew. All the cables were classified secret.

Specifically, Borishade said he was considering hiring experienced airport operations management personnel from abroad to oversee the international airports at Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano, out of concern the necessary expertise is not available in Nigeria. Borishade told the Consul General Brown he had discussed this with the President, who agreed, but adequate funding must be provided, the cable said.

The cable said, incoming British Deputy High Commissioner told (the US) Consul General that British Airways and other European-based international carriers serving Lagos were seriously considering cancelling that service until the lone barely functioning runway was resurfaced. He stated that the High Commission, joined by his Spanish, Italian, German and Dutch counterparts, was going to make this demarche to President Obasanjo in the next week or two."

In a diplomatic cable sent to the United States, apart from the continuous rainfall that hampered the US team investigation, the Nigerian government teams were uncoordinated and did not give the needed support to the Americans. The post was created on November 9, 2005.

The Consul General wrote "No Nigerian official is coordinating collection efforts on site. The Navy, local police, the Red Cross, a Bellview representative, one Ogun State secret serviceman, and the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were at the scene, but are not acting in a coordinated manner."

Another cable created on November 10, 2005 however said the team of explosive experts from the US found no smoking gun, which effectively ruled out the possibility of an onboard explosion. Further investigations were to be done at the FBI laboratory in America, according to the post.

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