Olu Allen
Nigerian airports, everyone is “equal” —
but some are first-class equal.
Take Kwam O, Senator Adams Oshiomhole. He once shut down a runway for three full hours as if it were a private estate in Edo.
Staff scattered like pigeons, operations halted, flights delayed. No fines. No lawsuits. Just a few mumbled “Oga, no vex” and life moved on.
Kwam 1, the Fuji god himself, physically blocked aircraft from taxiing. Multiple flights grounded. Safety protocols tossed aside like expired gala.
Punishment? A delayed six-month flying ban, only after two days of chest-thumping and a video apology that sounded more like “Do you know who I am?” than any real remorse.
Now, meet Kwam 2 — Comfort Emmanuel. No titles. No godfathers. Just an economy ticket and a mobile phone. Her offence? Refusing to turn it off.
A misdemeanor. But she wasn’t just removed from the flight — she was manhandled, stripped, filmed, and her humiliation broadcast online, uncensored, for the world to consume.
One VIP gets a polite PR slap. Another gets a token sanction. The ordinary Nigerian gets public degradation.
Let’s be clear: Kwam 2 was wrong. But Ibom Air went rogue.
They are not AVSEC.
They are not nightclub bouncers.
They are cabin crew acting as judge, jury, and content creators.
Filming her humiliation? Circulating it for clout? That’s not enforcement — that’s exploitation. It’s a message to the public: “See how we crush the small people.”
This is the Nigerian justice gap:
Where the powerful get leniency, the powerless get spectacle.
Where a uniform can be armour for impunity.
Where the law bends to surnames, not statutes.
And here’s the truth worth quoting:
“In Nigeria, the price of breaking the law is measured by the size of your name.”
“Our airlines have no business turning safety violations into Instagram content.”
“Justice that kneels to VIPs will trample the rest of us.”
What should have happened?
- Stand down and call AVSEC — the law’s actual enforcers.
- Document the incident — but don’t turn it into a viral circus.
- Sanction misconduct — without stripping away dignity.
What must change?
One rulebook for all. No “big man” exceptions.
Dignity clauses in airline protocols.
Sanctions for airlines that bypass legal processes.
Because if justice wears agbada for Kwam O but rags for Kwam 2, none of us are safe — whether in First Class, Economy, or sweating in a danfo on Third Mainland Bridge.
