Why Stakeholders Fault Merging Of Aviation Agencies

The adoption of the report of the Presidential Committee on restructuring and rationalisation of Federal Government parastatals, commissions and agencies as it concerns the aviation sector which will eventually result in the merging of its three agencies, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigerian Airspace management Agency (NAMA) and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) came as a rude shock to industry stakeholders.

 

They have faulted the move as not being in line with the standard and recommended practices (SARPS) of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Some industry critics and analysts have said such a move is retrogressive and capable of stunting the growth of the aviation industry which is already in line with current global trends in aviation.
Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) said the decision was totally against section 8335 of ICAO regulation which made for the separation of aviation agencies. According to the ICAO, “Separation of provision from the regulation is consistent with principles of good governance; the regulatory oversight function must be seen as independent and transparent.”

According to Nogie Meggison, the chairman, AON, “It is not right to have the NCAA as the referee and the player at the same time. NCAA has been statutorily established in compliance with ICAO set standards and practices.

“We believe that the information given to the committee set up in 2011 to make that decision is obviously obsolete and outdated now with regard to the ICAO regulation which Nigeria is not only a signatory to but has also produced the first African ICAO president.He was the one who headed the committee in 1999 which separated the agencies from the then federal Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA) in line with the ICAO regulation quoted above.”

He said it was unfortunate that after other countries like Ghana and South Africa visited Nigeria to understudy how the separation of regulatory and service provider agencies worked in order to replicate them in their countries, Nigeria was talking about merging them. “Unfortunately, this is like a move from the analogue to digital and back to analogue system again. We know that government is trying to cut cost because of the recurrent expenditure being 80 per cent of the budget, but these agencies are self-sustaining without government funding them.

“We plead with the government to take a second look at the recommendation because of the danger it portends for the industry at large,” Meggison said.

An aviation analyst, Olumide Ohunayo, was not totally against merging some of the agencies but insisted that the regulatory authority should not be merged with the service providers.

“I am really disappointed with the recommendations and approvals. The industry has moved and grown beyond merging all the agencies. I support the merging of NIMET and NAMA to reduce cost. But NCAA should be left alone to regulate the others,” he said, adding that merging the service providers with NCAA would dilute the powers of the regulatory authority.

Also some industry workers insisted that the recommendation would not work because the aviation agencies were established based on Acts of Parliament and as such will also take Acts of Parliament to merge them into one entity.

The secretary-general, Nigerian Aviation Professional Association (NAPA), Mr Abdul Rasaq Saidu, said the step has been taken before but had failed.

According to him, the industry came to its current state because of the failure of the last system which merged all the agencies together resulting in so much bottlenecks and inefficiency.

Saidu warned that such a move was capable of costing the industry the most coveted Category One certification from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

He said the government was ill advised because such step has been taken before but it failed, it didn’t work when the Retired Air Vice Marshal Nsikak Eduok, practiced it. Secondly, aviation is global and it is being regulated by international bodies like ICAO, International Air Transport Association (IATA) and so on and if they do that Nigeria may lose the Category One status. I don’t know who advised them, I think that they are been misadvised.

SOURCE

Aviation workers back sector’s master plan

According to The Nation
Aviation workers endorsed yesterday the “sector‘s Master Plan and Implementation Road Map” by a team of consultants.
The implementation of the master plan, according to its proponents, has prospects to unlock the potential for foreign direct investments (FDIs), create jobs and bring about massive upgrade of airport infrastructure.
The workers, through their spokesman, Emmanuel Chukwu, chairman of Aviation Associates, spoke at a forum in Lagos.
Chukwu assured that aviation workers were committed to the implementation of the master plan, a key document expected to transform the sector.
An effective implementation of the master plan is expected to increase the contribution of the sector to over N110 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the next few years.
Besides increasing the sector’s contribution to the economy, the master plan is also expected to yield more revenue for the development of the sector.
The plan will also boost human capacity development, investment in infrastructure and welfare of workers.
At an “Aviation Workers’ Buy-In” into the master plan forum in Lagos, Aviation Minister Princess Stella Oduah said the plan has inherent benefits for aviation workers.
The minister stressed that the sector’s workers are expected to drive the implementation of the master plan.
At the forum were workers of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), among others.
Ms Oduah said the implementation of the master plan had led to the transformation of 22 airports to world-class standards.
She said: “The master plan is a compass that guides our path to the true, real and sustainable development of the Aviation sector. It caters for the infrastructure, safety and security needs of the sector.
“It has the potential to attract the much-needed foreign direct investments into the sector to help grow the economy. It also provides the surest path to the self-sustainability of the sector. It will ultimately lead to better conditions and standard of living for workers.

“Already, through the guided implementation of the master plan, we have rehabilitated and remodelled 22 airports.
“We shall have more revenue to contribute to the federal coffers and retain a reasonable percentage for our welfare and well-being.
“With more investment and more money , we will initiate schemes to take care of workers’ holidays, improve access to medicare, enhanced salary and allowances, create greater access to local and international capacity building and have a improve conditions for the the average worker.
“…The foregoing is a snippet of the huge promise which the master plan holds for the sector, for the nation and for our individual and collective interests.
“There is no reason an aviation worker cannot have the same standard of living as his counterparts in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) or other ‘glamorous’ Federal Government corporations!
“The difference lies in the choice or choices we make, starting from this moment. Our destiny is in our hands as our fortunes are; as Siamese twins, intrinsically tied to the fortunes of the sector. So, why don’t we take a decision today to improve the sector to guarantee a higher standard of living for ourselves?”
Oduah added: “It makes adequate provision for a programmed development of critical infrastructure in the industry, caters to its safety and security needs as well as welfare and capacity needs of staff.
“It has potential to attract direct foreign investments and help grow the economy.
“Above all, the master plan provides the path to self-sustainability, leading to better conditions for workers.”
The minister also dwelt on challenges the sector might face in implementing the master plan.
She said: “Needless to say that in the course of our intervention efforts to reposition the sector, we may have stepped on some toes. Obviously, our modest effort to have a paradigm shift in the way the sector was managed has unsettled persons who have ever since vowed to distract us from our objectives. But we have a message for them: we refuse to be intimidated, distracted or derailed.
“Let me reassure you that as co-drivers on the transformation train, we would not lose sight of our destination. With you (stakeholders) on our side, we are convinced that those who desire to drag us back to the sordid past will not have their way.”

Source: The Nation