It was euphoric when the bill was passed in 2006 that made the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) autonomous, known as 2006 Civil Aviation Act. What that meant was that the regulatory body had become free from government interferences in carrying its responsibility of regulating air transportation in the country.
NCAA embarks on safety, economic and security regulation of the aviation industry and issues Air Operator Certificate (AOC), which is a legal approval of an airline to operate in the country.
But according to industry observers, since it obtained this autonomy through legislation, there has been no cessation of the demand for NCAA autonomy. Some would hurriedly say that NCAA autonomy is in paper; not in practice. Then there is the endless call that any government of the day should recognise NCAA autonomy.
However, industry observers say NCAA has really practiced its autonomy to the hilt. THISDAY is privy to the efforts in the past for the regulatory body to issue AOC to some upcoming airlines by some top government officials but such request or directive was rebuffed by the Director-General of NCAA.
It has to be noted that every country that is signatory to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which regulates air transport in the world, has civil aviation authority (CAAs) that ideally should be insulated from government interferences while it carries out its regulatory functions. Compared to other CAAs in Africa, NCAA is highly commended to have insulated itself from the so-called government or political interferences.
But few years ago, the spokesman of NCAA, Sam Adurogboye told THISDAY that one of the many functions of NCAA was to implement the policies of the federal government in the aviation industry. This means that NCAA cannot work in isolation of government representatives both politicians and public servants. This is because these are involved in the implementation of government policies in aviation.
THISDAY investigation has also revealed that while there is the agitation for politicians and other government officials not to interfere in the affairs of NCAA, there is no one that is checking the abuse of authority by top NCAA officials.
For example, it is on record that some of the airports without airfield lighting in their runways built by state governments were approved by NCAA for daylight operation. While NCAA could defend the phrase “daylight operation” it also knew that once those airports were approved, the state government would not deploy funds to complete other needed facilities at those airports. Recently in Gombe airport, Aero had to use ladder to disembark its passengers because there was no air stairs. If that airport and other state owned airports are subjected to audit, some of them will be grounded.
Another case in point is the Asaba airport. When NCAA inspected it before it approved it for daylight operation, but it was noticed that there were technical defects with its runway and its environs; yet it still approved it for flights. In the first place, these airports should not have been approved by NCAA. It was later that some airlines, seeing the danger in operating into the Asaba airport decided to withdraw their services, prompting the state government to rebuild the runway and provide other facilities to meet given standards. So the question is, who will check the excesses of NCAA and its arbitrariness?
Industry observers recalled that some years ago two airlines were involved in air crash that consumed lives; while one airline was allowed to continue flying, the other was permanently grounded. Although NCAA said the one that was permanently grounded did not have insurance and therefore did not compensate the victims of the crash. But who ensures that airlines underwrite their aircraft? The regulatory body also said the other was allowed to continue operation immediately after the accident because it paid compensation to the victims of the crash, but today the issue is still raised in the industry that the airline that was allowed to continue flying did not compensate all the victims of the crash.
Reacting to the alleged political interference, the CEO of OAS Helicopters and a seasoned pilot, Captain Evarest Nnaji described the lamentation about political interference as hypocritical.
“I have read a lot of sanctimonious sermons from aviation practitioners over the years about the evil of political interference in our industry in Nigeria. It makes a nice pulsating conversation as it often radiates and resonates well when dressed and ornamented in safety. Anything hooded around safety will always elicit interest and sympathy in aviation world, home and abroad.
But as a practitioner, an aviator and investor, I have seen a lot about ‘interference’ whether political and institutional. To me interference can come from political office holders or from regulators themselves. It just depends on the intention of the one who is interfering and whether the interference is for good or for evil purpose,” Nnaji said.
He disclosed that he has been a victim of the arbitrariness of NCAA Director General at a time.
“I, for an example, in no distant past, have had to encounter a regulator who either did not like my gut or did not like the size of my ears and thereby decided alongside his lieutenants to close down my operation.
“Every inconceivable, written and unwritten, regulatory clauses man can fathom were quoted and bandied to inflict damage and circumvent our operation. Practically, in one occasion, it took just a phone call from a politician who reported that a helicopter landed on a “walk-way” in his area for our entire operations, in the whole of Nigeria, to be grounded for two days. And that was ever before sending an inspector to find out or to clarify what the caller meant by walkway, or ever hearing from us, the operator. I heard threats and harassments heading precipitously towards grounding my operation and destroying my investment before I reached out for ‘political interference,’” the OAS CEO said.
He recalled that “some years after in my office, someone who was in the band actually, over a glass of wine, joked and said, ‘I remember when we were mandated to come up with something to close down this place.’”
On the autonomy of NCAA, Nnaji said the aviators and operators in the industry fought for it until it was secured in 2006.
“We stampeded and taunted government officials and policy makers until they had nowhere to turn to than to cave in. That was a great success and our collective energy and effort, including that of regulators as well as operators. So, I cannot in all honesty state here that political interference, or any interference for that matter; is a way forward, but our society is still bedeviled with demonised humans who if completely left unchecked can be palpable monsters. In other words, some of our people are not yet broad minded enough to be completely trusted to be “honest and transparent.”
So while the autonomy for NCAA will grant it has all the powers to ensure safe and secure air operations, government should oversight the activities of top officials of the regulatory agency to ensure they do not stray from probity.
CULLED FROM THISDAY
