YUSUF Ali, a senior advocate of Nigeria and Yusuf Ali, the managing editor of The Nation are two Nigerians who had the privileges of experiencing how their loved ones could have reacted to news of their death in a plane crash.

Not that the duo are afraid of death but they never imagined that their loved ones could exhibit such deep concern as many of them ceaselessly called the mobile phones of the two Alis to ascertain that they were not the Yusuf Ali whose name appeared in the manifest of the ill-fated plane that crashed in Lagos.

According to Ali, the Ilorin based legal luminary, in a chat with The Guardian in Ilorin, "I had never in my life received the number of calls I got from the time the manifest was released and now. I was overwhelmed. The calibre of senior members of the Bar that called me, and many other Nigerians, since that unfortunate incident occurred made me to be overwhelmed.

"Some of them did not even believe that it was me who was on the other side. They thought I was deceiving them or somebody was playing pranks on them. Some of them called and they started weeping. I could not help but weeping too. Some showed me how their reactions could have been if I was the one."

Ali, while condoling with the families of those who lost their lives in the disaster, urged the Federal Government to investigate the causes of the crash, prevent recurrence and make the nation's air space safer.

For Ali the journalist," I never knew there was a name sake of mine involved in the crash until my people started calling me, wanting to find out where I was. I thank every concerned person for the show of love to me and my family. I pray for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives in the unfortunate disaster."

Meanwhile the Kwara State branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has denied the death of any of its members in the crash. According to the local Chairman of the NBA, Rafiu Balogun, on Monday, in a chat with reporters in Ilorin, "members should be informed that our own Yusuf Ali (SAN) is not the one involved in the plane crash in Lagos.

"Ali is currently attending NBA seminar in Asaba, Delta State with me. We however mourn the departed souls in the plane crash. It was a major disaster to Nigeria as a nation and we pray such never occurs again."