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Lisa’s Onilisa, Oba Oladele Najeem Ayinla Odugbemi, has renewed his appeal to federal governments and the state of Ogun to urgently rehabilitate the Bellview Airline Memorial Arcade and its access path, almost two decades after the tragic plane crash of 2005 which caused a life to 117.
The monarch made the call during an interdenomination prayer session held on the accident site in the city of Lisa, in the area of the local IFO government, as part of the activities that marked the day of Iseese this year.
Oba Odugbemi expressed dismayed for the fact that the Arcade Memorial, once a symbol of national pain and memory, had been left to rot. He observed that the site was now invaded by the weeds and its structures seriously lapped.
He also complained about the poor state of the 10.5 kilometers that connects Ogba-Iyo to Ijoko on the site through Oyero, describing it as impractical.
The monarch recalled that the road, once paved, deteriorated less than a year after the construction due to seasonal floods.
“We are appealing to federal and state governments to restore this important site. It is not only the rest of 117 souls – both Nigerians and foreigners, but also a national symbol of collective memory,” said the monarch.
“We have made several representations in the past. With the approach of the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, we again urgent an urgent intervention.”
The Arcade Memorial, inaugurated in 2006 by the then President Olusgun Obasanjo and the former governor Gbenga Daniel, hosts the tombs of all 117 victims of Bellview Airlines Flight 210. Many of the tombstones, once carefully erected, are now visibly Herod.
Onilisa has urged governments to officially recognize the site as a monument to the national heritage and develop it in a commemorative and educational center of the aviation.
He underlined that the rehabilitation of the access road would not only improve the memory, but would also increase the socio-economic development in the Lisa community.
Ask that they led the prayers to the ceremony – including reverend O. Emmanuel, president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and the head of the Imam Musemil Junaid – acted the monarch in asking for an urgent government action. The traditional rites were also performed by the main masquerade of the city, Ajofoyinbo, who offered Libagioni for the deceased souls.
The monarch praised the young people of Lisa, the leaders of the community and the security groups such as so-Safe Corps, Amotekun and local vigilants for eliminating the site invaded in front of the commemorative prayers.
The preparations are already underway for a great commemoration on 22 October 2025, scoring 20 years from the accident.
The tragedy, one of the most fatal aerial catastrophes in Nigeria, claimed all 117 passengers and crew shortly after the plane took off from Lagos on a course for Abuja.
The Times platform reports that for the city of Lisa, which has become the last rest place of the victims, the site remains both a painful reminder of the national tragedy and a Nigeria commitment test to preserve collective memory.
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