Why They Are After My Downfall – Stella Oduah Speaks

Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, has said her detractors
remained unrelenting in the criticisms of her and the
aviation industry because she has stopped them from
ripping off the sector.

Speaking, yesterday, in Abuja, Oduah noted that apart from
the political side to her travails, "entrenched interests in the
aviation sector which have been ripping off the sector in the
past 38 years and held the sector and stifling its
development" were behind orchestrated attempts to
disparage her.

She however made it clear that she would not abandon the
transformation agenda she was vigorously pursuing in the
aviation sector because of the antics of her traducers so that
Nigerians could derive maximum benefits from her
struggle.

"For the over 38 years that our airports were a damning
commentary on our status as part of the civilised world; or
when our airspace existed without the requisite navigational
facilities to make the airspace safe; these category of
persons saw no evil and heard no evil while they happily
clapped their ways to the banks!

"This group has carried on with bitter venom, throwing
decency and honour overboard, lying and misleading the
Nigerian populace even when they know the truth because
my team and I changed the game in favour of Nigeria
attaining her pride of place in the comity of nations.

"For this category, that is the entrenched, corrupt and
profligate individuals and entities who have caused the
serious rot in the aviation sector, I owe no apologies.

"All I owe them is to further inform them that the current
generation has seen through them and are no longer willing
to tolerate their antics."

Preferring not to comment on the controversial armoured
cars saga, Oduah said the transformation agenda of
President Goodluck Jonathan had changed the ways of
doing things significantly in the country as the president
recognised the infrastructural deficit in the nation and taken
very bold steps to address them in order to bequeath to the
next generation a nation that can compete favourably in the
comity of nations and imbue our next generation with pride
and patriotism.

She said, "The massive investment and the aggressive
prosecution of this agenda in this regard have seen the
aviation sector being transformed. Today, 22 airports
owned by the Federal Government are at various stages of
becoming decent and world class terminals.

"Nigeria's airspace has become one of the safest in the
world with the deployment of modern navigational
equipments and infrastructures. The oversight capacity of
the whole sector has been strengthened with the relevant
regulations in place and the training and retraining of
personnel," Oduah said.