Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a news reported by NAN has confirmed he was indeed among those on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight that nearly crashed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Wednesday. There have been series of rumours whether Obasanjo was on board but with serious speculation rising, the fearless former number one citizen has come out to explain how it all happened
OBJ as he is fondly called by his admirers explained that the pilot actually had some difficulties landing the plane amidst strong winds and heavy rain. The Ethiopian Airlines aircraft, ET-901, it was reported had departed the Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, which is exactly 7:00a.m. Nigerian time.
The former president was coming back to the country having attended a stakeholders’ dialogue on Continental Trade and Strengthening Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in Ethiopia. Close to 400 passengers are said to be on board the flight, which had been smooth until the pilot attempted to land in Lagos.
Obasanjo, said he “remained calm” while reading his papers during the chaotic situation.
“One man, who was next to me, said, ‘Oga you no worry?’ I said, ‘Íf I worry, what will I do? If you are on a plane and you have a situation like this, why should you worry?’ I left everything in the hands of God,” the former president was quoted to have said.
“The pilot thought he could land. And he landed. He touched down. But I think he took a swift decision that he had to take off again. He took off and apologised and landed again at about 12.30. We spent just about 10 minutes in the air before we landed again. So he took off. If he did not, I think he probably would have overrun the runway. He then apologised and said he would try to land again. He tried again, and we landed safely and we all clapped.”
