The Minister of Transportation Chibuike Rotimi Amechi has commended efforts being made by aviation agencies, especially the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for improving safety and security of the nation’s airspace through modernization and acquisition of new equipment.
NAMA has introduced electronic flight clearance solution, which tracks and monitors every aircraft flying anywhere in the country and boosts t
he agency’s revenues.
NCAA is also undergoing advanced audit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) aimed at making Nigeria operational hub for West Africa.
Amechi who was in company of the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, expressed satisfaction with the modernization of airspace management and improvement on security and safety in air safety in Nigeria.
Amechi said that agencies judiciously spent the funds available to them, considering their achievements, adding that with the little amount of money they generate they had been prudent with the acquisition of safety equipment, which had improved safety and security at airports, unlike some government parastatals in the country.
The Minister who was presented with the workings of the electronic flight clearance system said aviation in Nigeria had grown from paper clearance to electronic clearance and could compete with its counterparts anywhere in the world.
He explained that with the migration to e-clearance, the industry would earn more revenues while less time would be used to process clearance by airlines.
“With what I have seen here today, it shows that Nigerian aviation industry can be compared to any developed ones anywhere in the world. This is unlike in the past where you waste time processing papers.
” I remember my experience at Akure Airport, which was sordid. The Airport Manager, a female came to me and said the airport was technically closed. But, I believe that didn’t happen to me alone as it equally affected others too.
“But, with this software, you can manage your time better and earn some revenues for yourself. The government should be commended for what it has done recently. What we saw in NIMASA was nothing to write home about when you compare the money they earn and the facilities you see on ground.”
Earlier the Director-General of the NCAA, Capt. Muhtar Usman promised that the agencies management would continually drive the government’s vision of improving facilities.
Usman declared that as the regulator, NCAA had to continually amend its regulations, which it recently did with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulatuons, (NCARs).
He recalled that Nigeria recently passed two audits; the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category One Status and ICAO, Security Audit, which it scaled with 96 per cent, adding that the industry was preparing for another safety audit in the first quarter of 2016 and assured that the country would scale the audit.
” We are prepared for another audit, which I assure you, sir that we will scale through as we have prepared very well for this, just as we did in the past,” he said.
