The Nigeria Civil Aviation Agency has expressed optimism about securing a higher Effective Implementation (EI) score as the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) commences an audit of Nigeria’s aviation safety.

The audit is a follow-up to the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA) exercise conducted from August to September 2023, in which Nigeria recorded a 70.12 per cent score.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) in Abuja, the Director-General of the

Civil Aviation (DGCA), Chris Najomo, said the agency had remained resolute and steadfast in its commitment to improving the safety oversight capabilities in the sector.

Najomo stated that when the last audit finding result came out, the authority took it in good faith and began to conduct the root cause analysis and promptly developed comprehensive Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) to address the identified gaps.

Najomo stated that through the implementation of the CAPs, the NCAA actualised the deployment of Effective Participation of Member States in ICAO (EPMIC) as the regulatory software, specifically in the automation of personnel licensing and aeromedical processes.

He said during this period, the NCAA agreed with NorthWest Data Solution for the deployment of the SMS Pro software as the digital software to entrench the centralisation and digitalisation of the safety data reporting and management system, ensuring compliance with the ICAO Annex 19 requirements on a Safety Data Collection and Processing System (SDCPS).

In fulfilling its responsibility under ICAO Critical Element 4 on qualified technical personnel, Najomo emphasised that about 100 flight operations and airworthiness inspectors underwent training on special authorisation procedures at a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA-approved training institution in Comiso, Italy and another training organisation in Dubai, UAE.

In furtherance of this, the DGCA disclosed that some inspectors are currently undergoing on-the-job training (OJT), coordinated under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Rwandan Civil Aviation Authority to certify the inspectors in specialised authorisations.

This is in addition to the regular annual training plans that are developed and implemented specially for the NCAA’s aviation safety inspectors.

Besides, emphasised that Nigeria was not subjecting itself to the audits and validation missions merely for the sake of
improving the numerical E.I score, but to institutionalise a resilient safety oversight system that fosters continuous improvement in safety performance, in line with the Federal Government policy on strict adherence to international safety regulations, to elevate Nigeria’s ICAO rating.

The ICAO team lead, Jerome Patoureaux, in his remarks, said the organisation’s mission in Nigeria was to assess its aviation safety oversight through a three-phase process, namely preparation, on-site evaluation and reporting.

Patoureaux pointed out that auditors would review Nigeria’s compliance with key safety standards, including legal frameworks, personnel capacity and enforcement systems.