Nigerian politician Ned Nwoko has explained how his country’s obligations stopped him from participating in the tragic Titan submarine expedition.
Nwoko, a Senator representing Delta North in the country’s South South zone, is known to be friends with one of the deceased persons aboard the submersible, Captain Hermish Harding.
He posted on his social media handles on June 23 that he had lost a friend and business partner, detailing a number of past adventures that they had undertaken.
On the issue of the widely-reported upon submersible and the invitation extended to him by Harding, he wrote: “he also invited me on his space shuttle last year and this very Titan ill-fated adventure but I was tied down with national duties.”
Meanwhile, Nigerians on social media have been mocking the account of Nwoko with some asking what national assignment in particular had obstructed him.
Read Nwkoko’s full post on Instagram below
I have lost a very dear friend and business partner. Captain hermish Harding. We both went on a very dangerous expedition to the Southpole Antarctica few years back.
He was a gulf stream pilot who flew across the world in a record breaking expedition by Guinness world record for circumnavigation of the earth some years ago.
He descended into the Mariana. he also invited me on his space shuttle last year and this very Titan ill-fated adventure but I was tied down with national duties.
Above all he was a partner on the various researches into eradication of malaria in Africa project. He was very enthusiastic about it and always gave his support at every given opportunity.
His last message to me was this last Sunday when he told me they were ready to dive to the titanic if the weather permits. He loved adventure and challenges. My heart bleeds for his dear wife and kids who have become family friends over the years. We will surely miss his wealth of experience.
Reuters report about the accident
A deep-sea submersible carrying five people on a voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic was found in pieces from a “catastrophic implosion” that killed everyone aboard, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday, ending a multinational five-day search for the vessel.
A robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian ship discovered a debris field from the submersible Titan on Thursday morning on the seabed some 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, 2 1/2 miles (4 km) beneath the surface, in a remote corner of the North Atlantic, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters.
The Titan, operated by the U.S.-based company OceanGate Expeditions, had been missing since it lost contact with its surface support ship on Sunday morning about an hour, 45 minutes into what should have been a two-hour dive to the world’s most famous shipwreck.
“The debris field here is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vehicle,” Mauger said.
Even before the Coast Guard’s press conference, OceanGate issued a statement saying there were no survivors among the five men aboard the Titan, including the company’s founder and chief executive officer, Stockton Rush, who was piloting the Titan.
The four others were British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding, 58; Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman, both British citizens; and French oceanographer and renowned Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, who had visited the wreck dozens of times.