The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu has commended the agency and the aviation industry for the air safety Nigeria has recoeded in the last five years with zero accident involving commercial airliner.
Nuhu also hailed aviation correspondents for contributing through their write ups and broadcast for that feat and promised to continue to improve on grey areas in the sector.
Speaking in his keynote address during the 2020 edition of League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) training at Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, the Director General has also recorded consistent successes in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Recertification, various International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Audits and the Transport Security Administration (TSA) approvals and noted that the watchdog role of the media motivated the agencies in the sector and the Ministry to work hard to attain such enviable success.
“As a matter of fact, the contributions of LAAC to the industry are not recent but age long and we hope it will continue. The watchdog role of the media has undoubtedly motivated the aviation agency and the supervising ministry to work really hard. This robust contribution of the agencies has attained global recognition.
“This is not entirely unexpected as the industry has experienced zero accident in the commercial category in the last five years. This is against the background of consistent successes in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Recertification, various International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Audits and the Transport Security Administration (TSA) approvals. It will however, be appropriate to mention that this feat is an industry feat and not only NCAA. The other agencies similarly deserve commendation for their roles in the zero accident run.
“The Airline Operators in Nigeria have taken self regulation of their operations a notch higher and much more seriously. This is due to increased awareness, quality staff and additional investment in training.
” It is clear there is no utopian situation in any human endeavour, NCAA, the agencies and the airline operators will definitely continue to improve on noticeable grey areas in the industry”, he said.
Nuhu urged participants to reflect in their reportage, the knowledge they have acquired from the training in order to achieve balanced reports.
“After this training, it is expected that there will be continuous improvement in the approach and reportage of the industry. It is my humble view that there should be a paradigm shift from approvals to developmental journalism.
“Let me state this for the avoidance of doubt, due acknowledgement must be accorded any excellent achievement in the industry. It could be an individual or an organisation. Kudos must be given to whom it’s due to”, he added.
Meanwhile, the Rector of NCAT, Captain Mohammed Abdusalami said part of the reasons Zero accident was achievable was because of frequent training and retraining of personnel.
“Training is very important in any business, one of the successes attributable to Zero accident is training and retraining of personnel. Government agencies spend a lot of money on training of personnel and infrastructure. Human capital is now known as ‘invisible infrastructure’ that will help the physical infrastructure to work, therefore, we encourage organisations to take the issue of training seriously, we can see that the training is yielding fruits”, he said.
He disclosed that the newly acquired B737NG Simulator for training at NCAT is now awaiting certification by the FAA, adding that it will be shipped into Zaria once certified.
He added that the NCAA has conducted inspection on 6 Diamond 40 (DA40) aircraft acquired for training at the college and would be ferried into the country soon.
Earlier, Mr. Olusegun Koiki, chairman, LAAC in his speech, called on all aviation stakeholders to show more commitment towards the development of the sector.
