Former Commander of the Presidential Fleet, Capt. Dele Ore, has expressed his displeasure towards the Nigerian government.
OsunDaily News reports that the octogenarian said he was unhappy with the Nigerian government for not honouring him with a national award.
Ore, made his submission in Lagos at the unveiling of a book, titled “Nigeria’s Aviation: Unsung Heroes and Heroines” written by Wole Shadare and Gboyega Adeoye and the launch of the annual Aviation Hall of Fame event.
Ore, who was one-time Director of Flight Operations of the defunct Nigeria Airways said the failure of the Nigerian government to honour him with a national award cost him an award from the Angola government.
According to him, the Angola government wanted to honour him with a national award 30 years ago, but because he had no concurrent honour in his home country, he missed the award.
He said the Angola government wrote to the government of Nigeria at the time but up till today there was no response.
Ore, however, said it was a rare privilege for him to have commanded the presidential fleet as Special Cabinet Fleet and flew many Nigerian Heads of State, diplomats, foreign leaders and so on.
The octogenarian who was inducted into the hall of fame, advanced that “I was dining and wining with the President of Guinea. I was given a national award by President Sekou Toure (former President of Guinea) and I was sitting side by side with him and his Prime Minister.
“Now, I can walk into any Guinea Embassy in the world and collect my diplomatic passport. I didn’t ask for it.
“I feel sad because the government and people of Angola were going to give me a national award but they were following a diplomatic way of doing things by asking the Nigerian government to please give a concurrent award. That is nearly 30 years ago now, the Nigerian government is yet to reply to them. That to me, I felt very, very sad about it.
“I have made a case. I feel great for deeming it fit to honour me with this award. I cherish this more than any national award.”
Others listed in the Hall of Fame include the former Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Harold Demuren; former President of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Dr. Bernard Aliu, among others.
