I feel obliged as an aviation professional to set matters straight as to the true picture of aviation safety in Nigeria. The aviation industry like the rest of Nigeria is lagging behind where it should be due to Corruption and incompetence.
The biggest danger to the flying public is the HUMAN FACTOR. Majority of air crashes are due to human factors, a.k.a. human error. But the airline industry decades ago realised this and procedures and regulations have been put into place to reduce human-factor related accidents. So why does Nigeria still have an abysmal safety record? Corruption and incompetence.
Various professionals within the industry have the duty of forming various layers of safety that protect you, the flying public. Below are the various ways they have failed in nigeria:

GOVERNMENT
The various government agencies tasked with ensuring aviation safety fail in their duties because of corruption and incompetence.
There are staff shortages in areas of critical importance e.g. NCAA safety inspectors. Most agencies have their fairshare of incomptetent workers who got in either usually via neoptism (e.g. from the minister's village) or just by default. Quite an number of avaition goverment workers are not competent enough to secure jobs in the private aviation companies.
Corruption is ramptant across the board. Those tasked with oversight function turn the blind eye to unsafe practices one their palms have been adequately "greased". During foreign assignments, most government inpectors are too preoccupied with shopping than their primary safety function ( that's how a lot of junk airplanes ended up in Nigeria). Funds meant for navigational aids and airport maintenance are diverted just as in every other government agency.
Most crashes in Nigeria have been investigated with the aim of achieving politically acceptable results, regardless of the true cause. the BAC111 ban, the age 22 rule are all pilotical with no technical basis.
Therefore the government contributes to the low level of aviation safety in Nigeria.

AIRLINES
The typical airline owner is no different from the typical business owner in Nigeria. Ego-driven with very little business sense. The hundereds of billions of Naira spent on bailing out airlines was a waste becuase up till now these airlines are still back at square one due to bad management. Most owners micromanage their airlines and do not let tecnocrats do their jobs. Then the HUMAN FACTOR [/b]thing rears it ugly head over and over again. But the NCAA has the authority to ensure regulatory compliance but [b]Corruption and incompetence prevent them from doing their job.
Airlines violate labor laws with activities such as late/non-payement of salaries, as well as other labor violations. these prevent technocrats from being able to operate to an acceptable level of safety, HUMAN FACTORS. Government agencies (e.g. ministry of labor) turn a blind eye Corruption and incompetence
The general operating philosophy of Nigerian airlines is 50 years behind the rest of the industry. Also this bad spate of management means that very few airlines in the history of Nigeria have operated for more than 4 years.
Therefore the airlines contribute to the low level of avaition safety in Nigeria.

OLD AIRCRAFT
75% of crashes are caused by errors on the part of human beings. Transport aircraft are built and operated to a very high standards and age has nothing to do with the overall safety picture. The Age22 rule was created for political reasons to elimate certain airlines and has had no impact on Nigeria's safety record. At the moment, the clowns in Abuja are delibrating on a possible 10 or 15 year rule, again political to favor certain airlines. Aeroplanes have a life cycle based on cycles (takeoff and landings)and operating hours. Aeroplanes have a maintenance schedule that gets more rigorous with age. Aircraft parts have a life cycle based on time and frequency of usage. So you could have a 3 year old airplane flying with 3 year old engines and a 15 year old aircraft flying with brand new engines, which is safer? No aircraft crash today has been linked to age. A 40 year old well maintained aircraft is safer than a brand new aircraft that is not well maintained.

The reason we have old aircraft in Nigeria is because of the lack of financing. Most airline start up with used aircraft and then get newer ones once they have stabilized operations. Most Nigerian airlines do not operate long enough to achieve this.

The average age of the United states air force aircraft is 23 years. The B52 bombers have just been upgraded to operate till they are 80 years old.
A lot of old aircraft crash in their later lives because they are transferred to operators in the third world (e.g. Nigeria) who do not operate the aircraft as required HUMAN FACTORS + CORRUPTION + INCOMPETENCE

Until the trio of HUMAN FACTORS + CORRUPTION + INCOMPETENCE in Nigerian aviation are dealt with, we should all expect some time in the near future to come and pour out our condolences/outrage/etc following another crash.

Hope it has been educative, i can answer any other questions you have to ask.

Nice. Keep it up

Lets cut the technical jargon and lets look at one of the recent crashes, Sosoliso 1145 on Dec 10 2005

The 32 year old DC9 took of from Abuja for Port Harcourt Intl Airport with 110 persons onboard including 61 students of Loyola Jesuit College. The DC9 is the airborne equivalent of an old datsun, a tried and tested workhorse that served major airlines around the world.

The accident occurred during approach to Port Harcourt in adverse weather - windshear, rain and lightning.
Human factors: depending on the severity of weather pilots may delay their decision to commence an approach to landing till the weather improves. External factors may put pressure on the pilots' judgement. A Chanchangi Airlines B737 commence a successful approach to landing a few minutes prior. this might have influenced the crew of 1145 to make the decision to try to land. Another reason is commercial, in those days (pre-internet booking) passengers bought tickets of whichever airline landed first, this always put pressure on pilots to try and land before the competition.

Unable to make out the unlit runway through the rain, the captain called for a go around (missed approach) at an altitude of about 200ft (approximately 120ft above the ground). This call was made about 100ft below the "decision altitude".
Human factors: The runway lights were unserviceable due to corruption. Today we still have lots of runways without lights (Lagos 18L/36R, Benin, Owerri, Enugu, Yola, etc all major domestic destinations). The pressures mentioned earlier may have influenced pilots to wanna sneak in a few feet to see if the runway may appear in sight. Both pilots were known as cautious professionals and not cowboys. But you become a product of your environment. I have witnessed both foriegn and nigerian flight crew violate set limits because of the pressures from their operating environment.

The missed approach procedure was carried out incorrectly, and the aircraft struck the ground approximately 70 meters left of the runway.
Human factors: The little i Knew about sosoliso (from former pilots) was that their training may have been a little on the short side. Windshear recovery (a procedure used by pilots to recover the aircraft from this adverse weather condidtion) is usually covered during simulator training, and has been complusory in most conutries for decades. NCAA approved the training manuals and programs of Sosoliso. The NCAA has its problems ranging from staff shortages to corruption, this was most likely due to staff shortages which means the inspectors have less time to analyse manuals submitted to them for approval. So its likely the pilots never recieved adequate training for this maneuver.

It collided heavily with a concrete drainage culvert, disintegrated and caught fire
Human factors: There had been at least 2 crashes (including a 3 year old Nigerian airways Airbus A310) in the past in PHC were the aircraft hit this same drainage culvert. Accident reports recommended that the culvert be removed but nothing was done. If the aircraft had not hit the culvery there would have been more survivors.

Many passengers survived the initial impact and died in the resulting fire. Port Harcourt Airport had one fire truck and no ambulances
Human factors: the absence of adequate rescue equipment and personnel led to the death of most passengers and crew.

So folks there we have it. The outcome wouldn't have been different if the aircraft way 1 year old or 51 years old. But if these human factors had been addressed, I probably wouldnt have anything to write about today.
RIP to the dead. Condolences to the bereaved. And I pray for complete healing for the 2 survivors including Miss Kechi okwuchi who had to undergo dozens of surgeries.