The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu has assured the flying public that Nigerian airlines are safe, insisting that there is no cause for alarm.
Captain Nuhu reacted to the reports credited to the Chairman of Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi who was quoted as having warned that aircraft might start falling from the skies because of poor funding of airlines and consequently poor maintenance of their aircraft.
But the Director General of NCAA insisted that Nigerian airlines are safe and their operating aircraft are airworthy, noting that the operators are effectively regulated by the Authority and had grounded some aircraft in the fleet of airlines until they meet the standard of airworthiness.
“I can categorically say that our airplanes are safe. The airplanes that are not safe have been grounded. Some aircraft have been grounded in Nigeria for months because they are not safe and we have insisted that the operators must fix whatever issue they have before they are authorised to fly. The standard as regards airworthiness of airplanes, even I as the Director General I do not have the authority to waive anything as long as it is a safety related issue. All our aircraft flying are safe,” Nuhu said.
He said that it was likely the statement credited to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation might have been misquoted and twisted to make a sensational story.
“I believe this statement came supposedly from the National Assembly and I want to believe there was a misquotation. I will leave it like that. Somehow, the story was twisted by whoever, for whatever to make a sensational story,” he said.
Nuhu noted that the consequence of such false report include bad image for the regulatory authority, local airlines finding it more difficult to access credit facility from international financiers, paying high premium for aircraft insurance and finding it more difficult to lease aircraft.
“What this has done is that it has cast doubt in Nigeria civil aviation with international community and what that will end up doing is that it will make it more difficult for our airlines to assess international funds, to have good lease rate for their aircraft, their insurance premium may go up. Of course, the twisting of the comment has created an impression that Nigeria civil aviation is not safe and I don’t think you want to put your aircraft or money where the system is not safe. It is unfortunate and that is not the state we are in. I can categorically state that all aircraft we are flying in Nigeria are safe and safe to fly. You can quote me on that,” Nuhu stressed.
Speaking on post COVID-19 efforts to ensure safe flight operations, the Director General explained that NCAA made changes and took decisions to suit the reality of the time.
“When we closed the airports, we made sure they were not reopened until FAAN (the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria) meet some certain requirements. I must commend the Managing Director of FAAN and his team for doing an excellent job. All the protocols are still there and there are certain things that the public may not necessarily see especially at the airside. Like what we call the Fire Fighting and Rescue Services; we made sure FAAN did what it was supposed to do in this. That was why we didn’t open all the airports at the same time,” Nuhu explained.
