Caverton Airlines: The Error of Federal Judgement

On Tuesday, 7th of April, the governor of Rivers State led some security forces to the office of Caverton airlines to effect some arrests. Governor Nyesom Wike had ordered for the arrest of two Caverton pilots for flying into his state some expartriates, in violation of coronavirus disease regulations in his state. That action by Wike has seemingly pitted him against the federal government, with the federal minister of aviation, Hon Hadi Sirika, condemning Wike for acting ultra vires.

Was Gov Wike right in his action? Was Minister Sirika right in his assertion? I will try to look at both stances and summarily reach a conclusion which would be obvious in the review itself. There was a border closure order in Rivers State, which was widely publicized and of which I think the Caverton airlines and its clearing authority, the Federal Ministry of Aviation- acting for the federal government  should have known.

The order by the River state government was to the effect that all forms of entry into the state's geography, whether by land, air or the waters be prevented for the time being. It was a very crucial order and one that was welcomed by most discerning people, considering the very reality of the coronavirus pandemic faced globally and the urgent need to stem the onward tide of infection.

To have acted in defiance to the executive directive, especially without having obtained a contrary nod that would have at least forced down the power of the substantive restriction was to have done wrongly, and this is as it regards to whoever. The arguments that the issue of aviation was under the federal-centric exclusive list and that the federal might supercedes that of the state principally presented by both Caverton airlines and the honourable minister of aviation do not hold water enough to convince the reasoning mind. 

The deep-seated fact, which the face value of might cannot undermine, was that there was an executive order, a law, in place and whoever that disobeyed it has proven to be lawless. It doesn't matter whether the person or the institution was considered to be above or having obtained an instruction from a more powerful entity than the ordering power; a law is a law and a respecter of no persons.

If indeed, just as presented by Minister Hadi Sirika, in his weak defense of the flub his ministry has created in the impasse that broils, the president for the purpose of revenue accruals had made some exemptions of services, to which he'd like to include the operational services offered by the airline in the eyes of the storm, shouldn't it have been mature and to be seen as intergovernmental collaboration to have informed, engaged and sought the permission of the Rivers State government to allow for such crucial movement that was for the "national interest"?

Such liaison wouldn't have caused anything than the understanding that these expartriates ferried by Caverton airlines are embarking on a very crucial assignment and are doing so having met the simple criteria that sees them as fit to enter the state and not expose residents to a pandemic that has currently being adjudged as incurable. That interaction would have created a synergy that would benefit the federal government and also ensure that the motive of the restriction order in safeguarding the lives and health of the people and residents of Rivers State is not derailed.

To have gotten a higher federal permit isn't enough reason to open the borders to individuals whose health status as it concerns the coronavirus disease is uncertain and risk the lives of Innocent and unsuspecting individuals. It is the height of supreme indiscretion to state that because the clearance having come from the power above, unscreened and unchecked movement that's in sharp rebuff of a goodly intended move to safeguard the lives of people should be allowed. 

Let's not forget that it was this same senselessness from higher power that prevailed on the necessary border health checks and allowed powerful individuals with such connections that see them as above the law trooped in from high-risk countries in flagrant abuse of noble protocols, some bringing in the deadly virus with them. The consequences of this overriding influence is something that glares us in the face, with the federal power that bred such disregarding impetus, doing abysmally to checkmate the tide that has been unleashed in its name.

The COVID-19 situation in Nigeria, which most cases owe their genesis to influx of individuals who habitually had broken health protocols at entry point chiefly because they are connected to overriding influence, has continued to rise- negatively impacting on the economic and health lives of those who have been law-abiding and were never part of this shameless disregard fanned by obsessive powerful influence. Everyone right now is feeling the heat. It would be the height of stupidity, at this time when all efforts should be geared at stemming the tide, that the same error is sustained with the obvious effect of a growing spread.

Obviously, the clearance granted Caverton to make that journey by the federal government without liaising with Rivers state was erroneous. Caverton was not given an essentially needed health clearance by the force in place in Rivers state, neither did the federal government communicate to the government of Rivers state particularly as it concerns this flight it deemed was essential and also as it concerns the health interest of Rivers state that had its lawful order in place. This ignominy on the part of the Federal Ministry of Aviation should be highly regretted rather than being magnified as seen to be done by Caverton and Minister Sirika.