FLIGHT LIEUTENANT A. DAIRO — MY HERO

As I look at this bobo, all I want to say first is that I hope he is not married. I have two daughters, Chantal and Annette, both very brilliant and extremely intelligent he can choose from. I will not mind being father-in-law to this bobo.

When I first heard the news of the crash, I panicked. You know my new best friend is AVM Sunday Makinde and when I met up with him at the Afang Summit, I declared in his honor. I asked him if he dey fear to ‘enter a military plane’, He said no.

“Edgar, I am a Military Engineer and our planes are maintained in a world class manner”.
So when the news broke, we saw that the plane was shot down by bandits, or is it Boko-Haram? Another round of fear catch me. So, these people now have weapons that could bring down planes. This is taking it to the next level. What if they started bringing down civilian planes, where will we get parachutes to all jump out with o?

Then I read his story. It was a story that showed a very admirable mix. It was a story of courage and bravery mixed with good training and a very powerful support system. I was proud to be a Nigerian. This na the thing that Americans will be showing us in films and we will be shouting kai. But today, the Nigerian Air Force has shown that they have the capacity to stand by their heroes and ensure their safety.

The part of the story wey sweet me pass was the role of the Air Force as they used air might to keep the ‘idiots’ away from this soldier. Then the role of the Army who finally got him, and much more importantly, the villagers who kept him, fed him and ensured his safety before they handed him over to the Army sweet my bele.

You see, I want to cry. And some mumu people will be saying Nigeria is finished.
We are not finished. We still have heroes. Our Armed Forces are still doing well and we still love each other. Dairo with his courage has shown us this.
I think the President should award him with the highest honour in the land and also reward everybody that played a role in this operation.

I salute the President, the Chiefs of Air Staff and Army, the Defence Chief and the Village Head that protected him. This was a job well done. Makes me proud to be a Nigerian all over again.

Bro, when you are relaxed, you can come over for some bouts of Afang. By that time, I go don pay Yemi Shodimu the money I owe him for the last Afang Summit, so there will be palm wine all over the place. Well done bro, God bless you.