By ZAINAB JUNAID
Just as the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), is currently helping Liberia’s aviation authorities to audit its aviation system and regulations to meet up with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Safety and Recommended Practices (SARPs), the regulatory body has simultaneously saved the country over $20 million as it avert overseas training of some of its key mandatory courses with its inspectors. Over 400 courses and training meant to be held in overseas but due the COVID-19 pandemic was held in the country.
Speaking at the on going 7th Africa-Indian Ocean (AFI) Aviation Week in Abuja, Director General of the Authority, Captain Musa Nuhu, disclosed this, explaining that the Authority would have spent that amount to train just 50 aircraft inspectors and other critical personnel overseas, but having the training and courses in the country, more personnels gained from the training in Nigeria. Besides, the Authority was able to boycott foreign exchange issue.
His words, “We could not have sent more than 50 people for those training. What we have done in the last 18 months would have taken us 8 to 10 years to do and would have caused us a lot in foreign exchange in millions of dollars. What we have done, we sent them to different cities in Nigeria, in all the places”. “The money we would have taken out has remained in Nigeria. With that money, we train lots of people over a period of time. So, what we have done; We have saved well over $20 million in this process if we had done that outside Nigeria. You can imagine these programmes that would have cost us so much for ten years squeezed into 18 months and the great impact it has on the system. We have a long way to go but certainly, there is a lot more to be done. We have started the process and it can only get better. We have a lot of programmes that we are implementing to make NCAA much more efficient,” he said.
Captain Nuhu also revealed that the NCAA’s Director of Airworthiness, Kayode Ajiboye just came back from Liberia where he and his team had gone to help Liberia with their audit, emphasizing that NCAA has in-house capacity to help other nations in need of technical assistance. The NCAA chief who spoke on the sidelines AFI Aviation week said the conference is the biggest regional conference that ICAO has for the African region and the Indian Ocean which comprises different regional plans for the continent. The programme over the years has led to tremendous improvements that bother on safety and security facilitations in many African countries. “Although, there is still a long way to go it is very important for all countries and it is important for the implementation of the Africa Union Agenda 2023,” Nuhu said.
One of the key components of the AU Agenda is the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) which is a flagship project of the African Union Agenda 2063, an initiative of the African Union to create a single unified air transport market in Africa to advance the liberalization of civil aviation in Africa and act as an impetus to the continent’s economic integration agenda. S
AATM will ensure aviation plays a major role in connecting Africa, promoting its social, economic, and political integration, and boosting intra-Africa trade and tourism as a result. The SAATM was created to expedite the full implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision.
Nuhu opined that for the agenda to work there are certain eligibility requirements that nations within Africa need to have which is within the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit safety and security, hinting that Nigeria has exceeded the eligibility requirements.
“You must get a baseline minimum of 60 percent to be able to participate in SAATM. That is the connection. If you don’t meet both eligibility requirements, you cannot participate, Nigeria has exceeded both, ” he maintained.
