KWAM 1&2: When Ego Takes Flight...

By now, the Nigerian Aviation sector is becoming a tragic-comedic theatre where the unexpected happens. The protagonist and Villain have been revealed, thanks to KWAM 1 and 2. We have also seen the directors and producers of the play; the Keyamo, NCAA and Airline staff well trained in office politics. Everyone played their role perfectly, but unfortunately, the unlucky one becomes the collateral damage behind the scene.

And moving on, She will probably consider a course in Anger Management after this mess, seeing clearly that she has no safety net to curtail her ego. Oh well! Two different flights. Two similar breaches. Two drastically different verdicts. Welcome to our aviation version of Animal Farm; where all passengers are equal, but some are more equal than others.

First, there was K1 De Ultimate, Fuji legend, cultural icon, and, as recent events prove, an aviation daredevil. Reports have it that he allegedly backed an aircraft on the tarmac. Not metaphorically. Literally. The kind of move that, if you drew it in a safety manual, would earn you a red “X” and a stern voiceover saying: “Don’t try this at home or at 30,000 feet.”

Assuming the plane’s wing had kissed the back of his head, K1 might have gone from “Ultimate” to “Ultimately Gone” in seconds. Yet, the drama didn’t end there. The pilot was wrong to taxi close, yes, but K1’s alleged response was unruly, defiant, and in violation of extant aviation protocol and can be considered an equal sin against common sense.

The law is clear: endangering the safe operation of an aircraft is a treasonous offence under our aviation laws, with possible interpretation under terrorism statutes. In countries where aviation rules aren’t treated like wedding vows that can be broken conveniently, such acts can earn you a long, reflective stay behind bars. But here? K1 was spared the indignity of being frog-marched by security.

No handcuffs. No video of him half-stripped on the tarmac. Instead, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority handed him a six-month suspension, an equivalence of a short sabbatical. The ink wasn’t dry before some of us started placing bets on which London politician’s birthday he’d be serenading before the year ends.

Then came Comfort. Same Country. Same category of unruly conduct capable of disrupting aviation operations. But this time, the law suddenly grew biceps. Comfort was arrested, dragged, stripped half-naked in public view, and banned indefinitely from flying with the airline.

The video went viral faster than a rumor in a motor park. Nobody talked about “diplomacy” or “settling amicably.” She was made the poster child of aviation discipline, with a punishment so swift it made the K1 case look like a court adjournment in slow motion.

And that, my friends, is the heart of the matter; selective justice. Same offence, same environment, but different treatments because of different social standings. The stick of justice, bent to accommodate status, becomes useless for maintaining order. If the same law is good for Comfort, it should be good for K1. If one is “treasonable,” so is the other. Anything else is not justice, it’s Nollywood.

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We can argue about their individual faults, yes, Comfort could have been handled more diplomatically to avoid the national disgrace for both individual and institution. But let’s not pretend: if K1 had been stripped on the tarmac, I doubt he would have had the calmness to issue that post-event apology his defenders’ wave like a magic wand.

And until we enforce laws with blindfolds on; applying them equally whether you’re a market woman or a music legend, we will keep seeing justice sacrificed on the altar of selective judgement. And like all bad sacrifices, it will keep attracting the wrong gods.