The federal government has approved the appointment of Matthew Pwajok as the acting managing director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
Pwajok, a former director of operations at NAMA, who retired in December 2021, succeeds Fola Akinkuotu whose tenure expired on January 7, 2022.
The appointment of Pwajok was conveyed in a letter dated January 12, 2022, from the federal ministry of aviation, and addressed to the immediate past MD of NAMA.
S.D. Muhammad, director of human resources, signed the letter on behalf of Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation.
“I am directed to inform you that the honourable minister has approved that Mr Pwajok Mathew Lawrence, Director of Operations, oversee the Office of the Managing Director/CEO pending the appointment of a substantive MD/CEO,” the letter reads.
“You are to kindly accord the director all the necessary support and cooperation he needs while overseeing the office. While thanking you for your usual cooperation, please accept the esteem regards of the honourable minister.”
NAMA was established to develop airspace infrastructure to meet the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs).
The agency provides air navigation services to ensure safe and efficient flight operations.
The minister also announced the appointment and redeployment of directors and special assistants to his office, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), NAMA, and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
The notice said officers deployed to the minister’s office are to continue to draw their salaries and other entitlements from the agencies of deployment.
NCAA prepares for 2022 ICAO audit
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) has said that the industry is adequately prepared for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA) which is to take place in the first quarter of 2022.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the League of Aviation and Airport Correspondents (LAAC) training, at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, the Director-General of NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu, who was represented by the Assistant General Manager of Air Transport Regulation, Kaduna Regional Office, Mr Lulufa Vongtau, said Nigeria will excel again after the audit because of its proactiveness and existing regime of robust regulations and over eight years of zero accidents in commercial flight operations.
He then appealed to all stakeholders including the media to join hands with NCAA to ensure a successful audit.
‘All your reports are very sensitive, so let us eschew sensationalism capable of putting the nation in a bad light. I will advise anyone to endeavour to verify and confirm his/her stories before publishing, if in doubt. It is my view that your watchdog role plays a very important part in fostering stability in the industry.
‘These balancing, developmental and promotional stories are the hallmark of a burgeoning aviation industry like ours. Let us present our aviation industry as the most improved that it is. There is no doubt that there is increased confidence in the sector as new airlines are coming in and existing operators are expanding their routes. Expectedly, our coast of the surveillance programme and other oversight responsibilities as the regulator of the industry has increased correspondingly,’ he explained.
He said that continuous human capacity development is one of the NCAA’s administration core values and it considers training as a key component of aviation development in Nigeria.
‘Training and retraining is a capital project for us as it is critical to our operations as the country’s apex regulatory authority for civil aviation in Nigeria. Our personnel are exposed to appropriate training all over the world so as to maintain and enhance their competence,’ he said.
