I was roused from sleep in the early hours of the morning. As i stifled a yawn with the back of my hand, my brother's words connected with a part of my brain. A Nigerian Plane has been missing for more than 8 hours. 114 persons are believed to be on board. It was sunday morning, 5am, the 23rd of October 2005.

I rushed to the teevee and there i spent most part of the day as i monitored progress of search and rescue efforts to locate the missing plane, by jumping from one channel to the other in an effort to grasp all the information and misinformation that was been bradcasted.

It took more than 13 hours to find the rubbles, but in the midst of the confusion...yet another tragedy was announced, the passing away of the First lady of Nigeria, Chief Stella Obasanjo, the Wife of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

At around noon, news reached Nigerians that the plane has been located in Kishi, Oyo State in Nigeria and a government official was quoted as confirming that there were about 50 survivors. Hope raised...emotions stirred. Whose relatives are alive. Whose could not win the battle with death.

Hours later, a TV station AIT, broke the news, the plane has blown into smithereens and the rubbles discovered in Ifo Local Government of Ogun State, some few nautical Miles from lagos where the plane departed from.

I was stunned, shocked and drained as i watched on screen, mangled bodies and twisted metals...it was obvious, there were no survivors.

Nigeria was thrown into mourning, and indeed double tragedy as it was also confirmed by a presidential aide that the wife of the president has kicked the bucket.

Despite the shock, the pain for those of us who lost friends and greater pain for the families and relatives of the victims, so many question begs for answer.

Why did it take 13 hours or more to locate a missing plane in Nigeria?

How did the Control tower lost both Communication contact and radio contact within 3 minutes of take-off?

Who honestly should be in charge of such a search and rescue operation?

Is Nigeria skyline safe for travel?

These questions begs for answers.

Nigerians need the truth..mo matter how bitter it is. The government need to honour the memory of the dead by letting us know what happened to the ill-fated flight.

These must not happeen again. It is so much loss for one country in just one day.

As we all mourn the great loss, i join thousands of other Nigerians to sign an e-condolence register (as i could not physically sign one), i pray that God will give Mr. President, the fortitude to bear the loss.

I also should point out that Nigerian politicians seem united in this tragedy.

God bless Nigeria. Long live Nigeria!