Kudos as NAAPE remembers late Captain Jerry Agbeyegbe

IF it was possible for the dead to express joy in its grave, for sure, the late Captain Jerry Eyituoyo Agbeyegbe would have willingly done so recently when the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) decided to honour him posthumously.

Late Captain Agbeyegbe was remembered by NAAPE fourteen years after he was silenced on the 12th October, 2004 precisely under a suspicious circumstance by yet to be identified anyone including the government.

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Before he was silenced, ‘Jerry Boy’, as he was popularly called in the country’s aviation sector was very vocal against anything or any act that seemed contrary not only to aviation rules and standards, but the general being of workers in the sector.

In other words, Jerry was a thorn in the flesh of anyone or government official who failed to follow due process on issues affecting the sector.

In carrying out this critical role, the late professional pilot feared no one except his maker even at the expense of his life just to show his love and passion for the aviation sector in Nigeria.

At a point, he became the lonely voice still carrying on the struggle to ensure that even the then government did not rock the boat with unjustifiable policies while many other associates abandoned him.

Before giving out the posthumous award to the wife and family of the late Captain, NAAPE, a professional association which Jerry led meritoriously for  years, acknowledged his critical role in the effective and efficient contributions to the development of the sector as he was ever ready to confront anybody particularly aviation ministers who attempted to promote unjustifiable policies.

According to NAAPE, “late Captain Jerry worked with the Flying Unit under the then Ministry of Aviation and his pressure on the government and the industry to do the right thing was so much that he was suspended and later retired from service. This gave him more time to focus on his advocacy which was not limited to air safety but even labour issues. He was at the forefront for the struggle for the payment of benefits of Nigeria Airways ex-workers as if he was a beneficiary.”

The name of Captain Jerry Agbeyegbe a trained flight calibration pilot, a journalist, an activist, a labour leader and an advocate for aviation safety became ‘terrifying’ to any chief executive or minister who might want to engage in any shady transaction as he never hid his disdain for any airline found to be operating below Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) as he was capable of tackling such an airline whether it had government support or not to a standstill.

The last struggle he started which he never lived to accomplish was the then government’s decision to engage the Virgin Atlantic to help float a new national carrier, Virgin Nigeria, a decision which he attempted to challenge in court but could not before he was killed.

Since his death in 2004, the aviation sector has never been able to have another Jerry and it is not certain that another Jerry will come too soon while all the issues he fought and died for have now become the order of the day in the sector.

Subsequent governments, airlines and other stakeholders across the sector now handle issues with reckless abandon without recourse to aviation rules and standards unchallenged by anyone.

Had Jerry being alive till today, it is almost uncertain if the former workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways will still be begging for their final entitlements to be paid while a new national carrier is being packaged for December.

Other issues he would have tackled headlong include the lopsided Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA), indebtedness of airlines to their workers, unemployed pilots and engineers and the controversial plan to concession airports among many other critical issues.

Obviously, the death of Jerry, to many was a great relief for them to have their way which is responsible for why no group or person could challenge his death while many even avoid being linked to him.

The peoples’ Captain was abandoned by many of his associates and those he fought for 14 years until NAAPE broke the jinx under the better late than never notion by not only recognising his efforts of keeping relevant authorities on their toes but also bestowing on him a posthumous award.

In doing that, NAAPE under the present leadership has done well in an area where many others have failed. In doing this, if it was possible, Jerry will not only have shifted position in his grave but smiled to appreciate that a body he once belonged to still remember him even in death.

The posthumous honour has only shown that the late captain did not die in vain which will go a long way in encouraging those who have a similar spirit not to wake up and rescue the sector from so many injustices tearing it down.