Sunday, May 16, 2010

Africa responsible for 26% of aircraft crashes

"Although the continent accounts for only 2% of global traffic, figures show it was responsible for 26% of aircraft crashes last year. In 2009 accidents on the continent increased sharply from 2.12 to 9.94 accidents per 1.4m flights. The worldwide rate was one accident every 1.4m flights. Bad infrastructure, poor maintenance of aircraft and lack of investment in new technologies are regarded as some of the main culprits. But the African skies are also thick with politics. Some 111 carriers from 13 African countries have been blacklisted by the European Union and banned from its airspace."


Tripoli tragedy highlights Africa's unenviable record on air safety

Bad infrastructure and poor maintenance contribute to continent's relatively high number of plane crashes

Sunday, 16 May 2010

A teacher, a retired manager, a cabin crew trainer and an award-winning writer. Five seconds was the difference between a safe landing and the crash that killed these and 99 other passengers on Afriqiyah Airways flight 771 at Tripoli airport last week.

Nine-year-old Dutch boy Ruben van Assouw was the sole survivor of the carnage that also left two Britons dead. The plane had been due to stop over on its way from Johannesburg to London.

Afriqiyah Airways, born in 2001, is owned by the Libyan government and promotes itself as a cheap way to get to Africa from Europe. It is popular with backpackers and independent travellers and boasts: "We connect Africa to the world." But last week's accident underlined how far Africa has to go to shake off its reputation as the most dangerous place to fly in the world.

Although the continent accounts for only 2% of global traffic, figures show it was responsible for 26% of aircraft crashes last year. In 2009 accidents on the continent increased sharply from 2.12 to 9.94 accidents per 1.4m flights. The worldwide rate was one accident every 1.4m flights. Bad infrastructure, poor maintenance of aircraft and lack of investment in new technologies are regarded as some of the main culprits. But the African skies are also thick with politics. Some 111 carriers from 13 African countries have been blacklisted by the European Union and banned from its airspace. This does not sit well with the African Airlines Association, which accuses Europe of taking commercial advantage. "We are the first to admit that Africa needs to improve its air safety record," Nick Fadugba, secretary general of the association, said last month. "However, while the EU list may be well-intended, its main achievement has been to undermine international confidence in the African airline industry. The ultimate beneficiaries of the ban are European airlines, which dominate the African skies to the disadvantage of African carriers."

The industry in Africa is not taking the criticism lying down, pointing out that not all its airlines should be tarred with the same brush. Earlier this month the Flight Africa Blog published a list of the 10 safest airlines on the continent, in rank order: South African Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Air Botswana, Air Mauritius, Air Seychelles, Kenya Airways, Tunisair, Royal Air Maroc, Nigerian Eagle Airlines and Air Zimbabwe.

The inclusion of Air Zimbabwe shows it has stood up well despite the economic and political meltdown in the country. But nobody's perfect: last year one of its planes veered off the runway after colliding with a warthog.

More hazardous than commercial travel, however, are the lives of mercenaries and smugglers who pilot ageing Soviet-era aircraft until they no longer work. The planes have been described as "flying coffins".

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2010

See also: http://theblogazette.nnoromazuonye.com/2005/12/air-disasters-nigeria-holds-top-spot.html

Friday, May 07, 2010

This and That (May 15, 2010)

SENTINEL LITERARY QUARTERLY POETRY COMPETITION JULY 2010
Previously unpublished poems on any subject, in any style, up to 40 lines long.
Prizes: £150, £60, and £40, plus first publication in Sentinel Literary Quarterly (online).
15 poems from this competition will be published in Sentinel Champions (Print) magazine.
Entry Fees: £3.00 per poem or £12.00 for 5 poems.
Judge: Derek Adams
Results announced 31st July 2010
Deadline: June 25, 2010
Cheques/Postal Orders in GBP only payable to Sentinel Poetry Movement,
Unit 136, #113-115 George Lane, London E18 1AB.
Details/Enter online at www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk
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SENTINEL LITERARY QUARTERLY SHORT STORY COMPETITION JULY 2010
Previously unpublished short stories on any subject, in any style, up to 1,500 words long.
Prizes: £150, £60, and £40, plus first publication in Sentinel Literary Quarterly (online).
4 stories from this competition will be published in Sentinel Champions (Print) magazine.
Entry fees: £5/1 story, £9/2 stories and £12/3 stories.
Judge: Laura Solomon
Results announced 31st July 2010
Deadline: June 25, 2010
Cheques/Postal Orders in GBP only payable to Sentinel Poetry Movement,
Unit 136, #113-115 George Lane, London E18 1AB.
Details/Enter online at www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk
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SENTINEL LITERATURE FESTIVAL POETRY COMPETITION 2010
Previously unpublished poems on any subject, in any style, up to 40 lines long.
Prizes: £250, £130, and £70, plus first publication in Sentinel Literature Festival Anthology.
Entry Fees: £5.00 per poem, £13/3poems or £20/5poems.
Judge: Roger Elkin
Results announced 30th September, 2010
Deadline: August 20, 2010
Cheques/Postal Orders in GBP only payable to Sentinel Poetry Movement,
Unit 136, #113-115 George Lane, London E18 1AB.
Details/Enter online at www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk

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GOD BLESS THE DEAD!

About a fortnight ago, Professor Onuora Enekwe, one of my former professors passed away. I posted an obituary on this blog, and considering my history with him, and the fact that we did not get along, I was actually quite gracious in the obituary announcement. I praised his work, because his work was good. As much as I tried to dress it up, I was not falling over myself in praise the way he was as a person to me and a lot of people I know. Apparently I offended some of Enekwe's fans with my post and I have deleted it. I also felt sorry for some of the fools who attacked me on this blog because they did not have the courage to put their names against their crude comments in which they called curses upon their own heads and warning me to be careful what I say about the dead. Why, so that I will not die? Who is it that will not die? God bless Ossie Enekwe. I look forward to wonderful eulogies about Enekwe the man, not Enekwe the writer. These will help me know him the way I never had a chance to.


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ESIABA IROBI - MISTREL BECOMES SONG

On May 3, 2010, Esiaba Irobi, the self-styled 'Intellectual Terrorist', iconoclast, poet, playwright, actor, singer, and academic was called off the stage by the Almighty director. As sad as it seems, as painful as it is, as difficult as it is to swallow, I keep asking, what more could Esiaba Irobi have given us? He had already given us Nwokedi, Hangmen Also Die, A Tent to Pass the Night, The Colour of Rusting Gold, What Song do Mosquitoes Sing?, The Fronded Circle, Put out the House Lights, Cemetry Road, The Vagina Also Has Teeth, Cotyledons, Inflorescence, What is Tender about Ted Hughes? and Why I Don't Like Philip Larkin and Other Poems. His novel, The Intellectual Terrorist will now only be published post-humously.

The July - September issue of Sentinel Literary Quarterly will be dedicated to the memory of Esiaba Irobi. If you wish to write a tribute to him, dedicate a poem or short play to him, please send to editor@sentinelquarterly.com by the 30th of June, 2010.

I have previously written a tribute to him in Next on Sunday: Esiaba Irobi, the intellectual terrorist.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

A Song About What Happens

(For The Minstrel, Esiaba Irobi)

This is the song I told you about,
in the vernacular of spirit
channelled through men like me
lyrics unfettered chip and stir,
then from recesses blow veils away
until lives presumed ordinary
yield unusual stories.

The song rises equally -
for the first breath, and
the certain stillness afterwards;

women whose brows bear kaolin art
dance and ululate through the village.
Where a cry of infancy rises,
there is relief; the woman
with a swollen belly was, thankfully,
only heavy with life.

Men stand in small groups,
to dirge forth fallen kin through
the gateway of ancestral lodges,
the seat of justice.

The song rises for feet that kiss,
feet that shuffle by still, or
rolling feet, on life's dance floor -
when birds and insects sing to unite
the animate and the inanimate,
cousins in one universe.

Do chairs know people sit on them?
Do aeroplanes know they fly?
Do cars know they are driven by men?

Why do lips and heels crack in the harmattan?
Why do crocuses sprout in springtime?
Why do birds lay eggs and humans don't?
Why do men raise arms against men?
Why do we grow old and die?
Why do we cry when a loved on dies?

This song enslaves me
in waking hours,
the story of life couched in rhythms
of screams and silences,
fear and fun.

Listen to the beats…
they are alive, punching tongues
unto paths of honour,
new ways of thinking,
these beats, optimistic, hopeful,
celebrate pockets of friendship;
survivors of unnecessary wars
and hardship.

This song, a journey into the core
of breath, is sometimes just that –
a song, meaning nothing,
like morning breeze
cool and fresh in the face.

This is the song I told you about,
mirror to my face, and the core?
If there is hope and joy
in the lines of our faces,
let there be laughter.
If there is fear and sadness
in the lines of our faces,
let there be tears.

I am a songwriter,
and all I have is this song.

by Nnorom Azuonye

Dr Esiaba Irobi went into transition on May 3, 2010. You can read my tribute to him in Next on Sunday here: http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/ArtsandCulture/Books/5564729-147/story.csp


"A Song about What Happens" was first published in Other Voices International e-Anthology vol. 15. (November 6, 2005) http://www.othervoicespoetry.org/vol15/azuonye/index.html


Saturday, May 01, 2010

The Blogazette This and That (May 1, 2010)

- Breaking Jack Bauer

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Breaking Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer is a character that I have grown to admire for his resourcefulness and focus on results. I like Jack because whenever he fails on a mission or assignment, it would never be for lack of effort or commitment. He gives 200% all the time. In Season 8 of 24, Jack has been showing more emotion than he showed in Seasons 1 to 7. I put this down to his discovery that he is now a grandfather, to Teri, named after his late beloved wife. In Season 7, I suspected that the writers of the hit TV series were setting up Renee Walker as Jack's love interest, but it never quite happened. However in Season 8, Jack actually made a promise to Renee that he would be there for her after the crisis they were facing with IRK terrorists who were working hard to derail the peace summit brokered by US President Taylor. I waited with bated breath for the moment that Jack would cross the carnal rubicon, or at least get into a non-violent tango with the troubled spirit that was Renee. The moment came between 8am and 9am, after Jack and Renee left the scene of President Omar Hassan's matyrdom, I see Hassan as a matyr because he was a man willing to die that the world might have peace, and a man who sacrificed himself to save hundreds of thousands of American lives. His giving of himself this way was almost Christlike. The death of Hassan, and the manner of it hit Jack Bauer pretty bad, but what happened next; returning to his bachelor pad, and then having the anticipated sexual encounter with Renee, only for Renee to be gunned down by a Russian hitman, finally broke Mr Bauer. As the hour wound up with a shattered Jack weeping over the lifeless body of Renee Walker, I imagine he will be a man on a revenge mission from 9am onwards. I can't wait to see how those Russian crooks get their comeuppance.


By NNOROM AZUONYE