The Federal Government has been urged to strengthen the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) through improved funding, greater autonomy and infrastructure renewal, rather than pursuing privatisation of the country’s air navigation services.

The National Association of Air Traffic Engineers (NAAE) made the call yesterday amid renewed debate over the future and management of vital aviation agencies.

A statement jointly signed by the President and General Secretary, NAAE, Selzing Miri and Muhammadu Shuaibi, said Nigeria’s airspace remained a strategic national asset that must continue to be controlled by the government.

NAAE insisted the challenges facing NAMA were not as a result of inefficiency, but due largely to years of underinvestment, inadequate reinvestment of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), delayed funding for important projects and rising operational costs.

NAAE said the increasing demand on Nigeria’s airspace, coupled with the high cost of maintaining sophisticated Communication, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) systems in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), required urgent government intervention.

The association declared that rather than weakening NAMA through privatisation, the government should implement reforms aimed at strengthening the agency’s institutional capacity, operational efficiency and financial sustainability.

The statement read in part: “Experience across the world demonstrates that the most successful air navigation eervice providers are those that enjoy financial stability, operational independence, sound corporate governance, and sustained government support.

“Whether structured as government agencies, autonomous public corporations, or not-for-profit organizations, they all place safety, reliability, and national interest above commercial profit.”

It noted that whether such organisations operate as government agencies, autonomous public corporations or not-for-profit entities, their primary focus remained safety, reliability and national interest above commercial considerations.

The engineers called on the government to grant NAMA greater financial and operational autonomy to enable faster decision-making and timely execution of safety-critical projects.

They also demanded an end to what they described as excessive deductions from the agency’s internally generated revenue, stressing that a larger portion of the agency’s earnings should be retained and reinvested in modernising air navigation infrastructure.

According to the association, increased capital investment was needed for the replacement of obsolete CNS equipment, deployment of emerging technologies, enhancement of cybersecurity systems and development of resilient backup facilities, among others.

NAAE further called for continuous training, certification, licensing and retraining of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel (ATSEPs), air traffic controllers, aeronautical information service officers and other aviation professionals whose competence directly affects aviation safety.

The body also expressed concern over the migration of highly skilled aviation professionals to foreign organisations due to inadequate welfare packages, poor remuneration and limited career progression opportunities.