In a bid to tackle inter agency rivalry amongst aviation agencies, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo t has directed that all agencies will hold monthly meetings at the Ministry headquarters under the Chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary.
Keyamo who regretted that Nigeria got a low rating of 75percent during the last Performance Audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) due to rivalry amongst the aviation agencies said henceforth monthly meetings will be held at the Ministry so that issues that needed to addressed will be done collectively.
The Minister made the pronouncement yesterday in Abuja during the signing of Performance Bond by the newly appointed Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Nigeria Meteorological Service Agency (NIMET) Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) , Nigeria Safety and Investigation Bureau (NSIB) and the Registrar of the African Aviation and Aerospace University (AAAU)
He maintained that the need for the collaboration among the aviation agencies is important for the country to improve in the ICAO rating saying a situation where South Africa scored 92percent in the ICAO rating and Nigeria, being the giant of Africa scored 75percent is unacceptable .
Keyamo while directing the agency to select a focal person to attend the meetings, reminded that ahead of the ICAO security audit coming up in March, the agencies must work assiduously towards ensuring seamless audit.
He also urged the political appointees to get necessary information from bureaucrats in their different agencies before appending their signature on any document.
The Minister recalled that the reshuffling of the agencies reflects the President commitment to enhancing the well-being of the passengers and all stakeholders in the Aviation industry in Nigeria.
He however urged the CEOs to prioritize transparency, efficiency, and collaboration to ensure effective public service delivery saying the end result of the collective efforts is build a safe, secured and efficient aviation industry focused on making Nigeria a hub that meets international standards and best practices for the African continent.
He mentioned that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration plans to focus on optimizing and boosting revenue generation for Nigeria’s Aviation industry and also ensure strict compliance with international regulations and standards.
Keyamo said “Our five-point Agenda is a tool toward achieving the mandate vision and mission of the ministry, including ensure strict compliance with safety regulations and continuous upward movement of Nigeria’s rating by ICAO, support for the growth and sustenance of local airline businesses whilst holding them to the highest international standards in the Aviation industry.
Others includes “Improvement of infrastructures in the Aviation industry.
Development of human capacity within the industry, optimizing revenue generation for the federal government.”
He maintained that to actualize the five-point agenda for the growth of the Nigerian Aviation value chain , the Ministry is looking forward to a new phase of partnership and collaboration, by leveraging on the immense opportunities in the sector to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and joint-venture partnerships with heads of international economic organizations, Presidents of transnational corporations and principals of leading privately-owned enterprises.
