Civil society organisation, Network for the Actualisation of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD), yesterday described the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s (NCAA) recent directive to ban the use of mobile phones in “aeroplane mode” during flights as a regressive policy that exposed the country to global ridicule.

According to the organisation’s Country Head of Office, Omoniyi Akingunola, in a statement made available to journalists, the directive indicated serious international embarrassment to Nigeria.

The Director General of NCAA, Capt. Chris Najomo, at a stakeholders’ meeting themed “National Civil Aviation Security Committee Meeting” in Abuja on Tuesday, had declared that all passengers must now completely switch off their electronic devices during flights, thereby ending the long-standing “flight mode” practice.

Following the development, the NEFGAD accused the aviation regulatory agency of attempting to cover up what it described as its organisational ineptitude by enforcing an obsolete rule, rather than addressing the core technological deficiencies within the country’s aviation sector.

While disclosing that NEFGAD has also petitioned the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) to verify the technology status of Nigerian airlines, Akingunola argued that the NCAA’s position “smacks of incompetence and inefficiency”, capable of sending dangerous signals to the international community about the state of Nigeria’s airspace.