NAMA pledges support to new condition of service, pension

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has pledged support to the approval and prompt implementation of the new Condition of Service (CoS), consequential adjustment of salaries and payment of pension.

Acting Managing Director of the agency, Lawrence Pwajok, said it was regrettable that the protocol for upward review of payments had stalled, yet the parties remained committed to speedy passage.

A coalition of aviation workers’ unions, made up of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), have consistently drawn the attention to the government’s failure to release the negotiated Conditions of Service of the six aviation agencies since 2013 and non-implementation of Minimum Wage and Consequential Adjustment since 2019.

Pwajok, at the just-concluded Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) Day in Abuja, noted that the pending approvals would be instrumental to boost the morale of the workforce and all hands must be on deck to have them implemented.

In the interim, he urged all NAMA staff to continue to be patient while the process progresses to the ratification stages.

On pension, he explained that the management had also taken steps to ensure that accrued pension benefits were paid regularly to retirees.

“In order to clear the outstanding pension payments, the management has increased monthly payments significantly. I would like to assure you that NAMA management is fully committed to the off-setting of all outstanding pension payments as quickly as possible while handling any future retirements in a timely manner,” he said.

Pwajok called on AIM staff in NAMA to continue to support and cooperate with the agency, while personnel should further rededicate themselves to the course of discipline and professional ethics.

President of Aeronautical Information Management Association of Nigeria (AIMAN), Williams Ngerem, earlier complained about the welfare of workers and retirees.

Ngerem raised concern over the issue of non-payment of gratuity and entitlements to NAMA ex-workers that retired as far back as 2018.

He said: “How do we expect them to survive in the face of the many economic challenges in the country today? This is most disturbing, especially when you consider that some of them have died over the years.

“May we, therefore, propose as an interim measure of succour and support to our retirees that the management should consider making a payment of N150,000 non-refundable allowance to retirees on a monthly basis, while their gratuities are being processed and pending the disbursement of their full entitlements to them,” he said.

Ngerem said the payment should commence after one year of retirement, “which would go a long way in encouraging our retirees as well as ensure that management lived up to its responsibilities.”

He also called on the NAMA to speed up the completion and eventual commencement of Aeronautical Information System (AIS) automation and urged the managements of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) to bring their AIS personnel up to speed with the transition from AIS to AIM.