 President Olusegun Obasanjo grounded two private Nigerian airlines Tuesday after plane crashes killed 224 people in seven weeks. Blaming corruption for some of the industry's problems, Obasanjo also announced a review of all aircraft flying in Nigeria, saying experts would be brought in from the International Civil Aviation Organization.
| Do you get the impression Nigerians could introduce corruption into running a noodle stand? |
One of the grounded carriers, Sosoliso Airlines, operated the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 that crashed Saturday in the southern city of Port Harcourt, killing 107 people, most of them schoolchildren. The second carrier grounded, Chanchangi Airlines, operated a plane that skidded off the runway in Lagos earlier this year and another craft that returned to Abuja this month after developing problems following takeoff. Obasanjo announced the groundings after meeting with airline carriers and government regulators to discuss public concerns over Nigeria's aviation industry.
| "Get on one of those? No way, Jose!" |
"People are asking when will this stop? How will this stop?" the president told officials in the capital. "And we have to answer these questions." |