Lagos, Aviation
Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, took us through
her two-year old administration of the aviation
sector. She spoke on the rot she met on her
assumption of office, the reforms she introduced to
make our skies safer, and the airports' remodelling
she initiated as part of the efforts to key into the
Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck
Jonathan.
Opinions differ about the situation on ground in the
aviation sector when you came in as minister in
2011. Some people claim the situation was bad.
Others say it was not so bad. What exactly was the
situation?
The first thing I did upon my appointment as
Minister of Aviation on July 2, 2011, was to take a
comprehensive assessment tour of all airports, all
agencies and parastatals as well as their facilities
and installations across the country. I found that
safety and security-critical equipment and
installations were obsolete, unserviceable or
unavailable. Infrastructure all round-airport
terminals were dilapidated and derelict. Airport
facilities and services such as air conditioning,
toilets, trolleys, elevators, directional signage,
power generators, etc were unserviceable,
unreliable, unavailable or not user-friendly.
Security screening equipment at airports was
obsolete and mostly unreliable.
Airport fire stations and fire fighting equipment
were in poor condition, with fire hydrants
unserviceable and firemen and women had gone
without proper kits for years. Working condition of
staff in airport offices was terrible and unsafe (i.e.
leaking roofs, broken floors, no power supply, etc.).
Working condition for air traffic controllers in the
control towers was poor with serious safety risks for
the industry. Several control tower upgrade
projects spread across the country, about 154, had
been abandoned. Several runways were without
lighting. The Aviation Training College in Zaria had
lost its ability to train students and lacked
adequate equipment and facilities. There was
massive leakage of agencies revenue due to
manipulation of manual revenue collection
processes while there was further loss of agencies'
revenue due to several lopsided so-called
'concession' agreements that were skewed against
the government and the public interest.
We had poor management structures and weak
corporate governance frameworks in agencies and
parastatals which made accountability difficult, if
not impossible. There were extremely unhealthy
domestic airlines and a business model that made
government interventions wasteful and of no
positive effect. Domestic airlines were withholding
money that did not belong to them, and falling to
pay their bills as and when due. There was apathy
by the entire industry to basic customer service
responsibilities. Complete neglect of economic
regulation was seriously compromising overall
safety and proper economic development of the
domestic airline sector.
We had a general aviation sector that was almost
completely unregulated creating a huge safety gap
in the industry and an obsolescent national
aviation policy. There was total lack of planning in
the entire industry. We have at least three major
airports namely Lagos, Kano, Port-Harcourt which
one would have expected the aviation authorities
to take adequate care of, not only because of the
high traffic that passes through them but also
because of what they represent: The symbols of
aviation in Nigeria.
In what state were they? Murtala Muhammed
International Airport (MMIA), the nation's main
gateway, had been left to rot and decay massively
to the point that it had become unbefitting of our
country. Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja
(NAIA) had a domestic terminal better described as
unfit for purpose. The international terminal of
Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano
(MAKIA) was a very sad tale to tell. Port Harcourt
International Airport (PHIA) was by far the worst of
all the airports.
So what was the impact of the sorry state of affairs
of our aviation infrastructure? In terms of safety
and security, the industry was in retrogression,
generally lagging far behind the rest of the world.
Economically, the industry had become a net
liability to government and the national economy.
The industry had established for itself a negative
image and thus had become a very poor symbol of
our national identity. Several intervention funds
injected into the industry resulted in no
identifiable, tangible benefits. The country's
aviation industry was clearly behind the rest of the
world and Africa in all material aspects. As a result,
the industry was not positioned to play the pivotal
role that aviation plays in other countries and that
it ought to have been playing in Nigeria for years.
To cap it all, the aviation industry that we inherited
was moving fast in the opposite direction of the
rest of the progressive world. It was the perfect
example of how not to run a national industry. The
situation was depressing and disgraceful to this
country.
The picture you have painted looks pretty bad and
sure to discourage the lily livered. Any action you
would have taken also had the capacity to pit you
against players who were benefitting from the rot.
What did you do?
We invited IOS PARTNERS, international aviation
consultants from the United States who had carried
out a World Bank Study of the Nigerian aviation
industry in 2006, to brief me comprehensively on
their findings. We also invited an international
consultancy to do a study on all the parastatals and
agencies under the ministry to clarify the state of
their financial affairs.
A human resources consultancy was also invited to
do a study on the human resources status and
practices in all the parastatals and agencies under
the ministry. Armed with what we found on the
ground, the reports from the three studies
commissioned, coupled with my years of business
experience, I appointed a competent team of CEOs
and DGs for all the parastatals and agencies under
the ministry. Together we spent two months
brainstorming and developing an Aviation Master
Plan and Road Map to turn around Nigeria's
aviation industry. The Aviation Master Plan and
Road Map were approved by Mr.President in
January 2012 and, since then, all our actions have
followed the Road Map.
The transformation of the aviation industry could
not begin without making very fundamental
changes. This meant that a number of tough
decisions had to be taken, including exiting from
various lopsided 'concessions' entered into
previously. These decisions adversely affected
several powerful interests benefitting from the
arrangements to the detriment of the industry and
the national interest, who have continued to fight
and distort public perceptions of the actions which
my team and I continue to take to transform the
aviation industry. The aviation authorities have
spoken passionately about the reforms in the
sector.
What they do entail? Our reforms began with an
ambitious Aviation Master Plan – this was the first
ever such plan for the Nigerian aviation industry.
The Master Plan included a Road Map for
institutional changes, infrastructure development,
human capacity development, the strengthening of
domestic carriers, the establishment of a national
carrier, the development of regional hubs and
perishable cargo handling facilities, free trade
zones and Aerotropoli. The paradigm shift required
a review of the existing Civil Aviation Policy,
resulting in a new and robust National Civil
Aviation Policy. Emphasis of the Master Plan and
Road Map is to reposition Nigeria's aviation
industry as pivotal to the economic growth of
Nigeria, in line with Mr. President's Transformation
Agenda.
What is the net effect of the reforms on safety and
security in the aviation sector because the
impression ultimately created by critics is like
nothing to cheer about is happening in the sector?
The critics are even querying your airport
remodelling initiative on the grounds that beautiful
airports without crucial aviation facilities amount to
nothing. It is unfair to query the remodelling
initiative in so far as the terminals are the windows
to the airports. And I make bold to say that the
initiative is already yielding five brand new
terminals viz: Lagos-five million passenger capacity
now expanded to eight million, Abuja – two million
passenger capacity, Port-Harcourt – two million
passenger capacity, Kano – one million passenger
capacity and Enugu – one million passenger
capacity.
All terminals are being remodeled and upgraded,
including air conditioning, stand-by power systems,
baggage belt systems, lifts, escalators and
travelators as well as the general ambience of all
our airport terminals. Now, to the nitty-gritty of the
reforms. NIMET's weather forecasts are now more
accurate and timely and meet world standard.
Windshear is a major weather hazard that
contributed to many aircraft accidents in the past.
By means of LLWAS, the occurrence of low level
windshear can now be detected and early warning
relayed to pilots via the ATC before take -off or
landing. With Doppler weather RADAR, NIMET can
now detect and track hazardous weather systems
on real-time basis.
Calibrated meteorological instruments guarantee
reliability and ensure weather data reliability.
Measurements and observations meet the ICAO
standards. Pilots now obtain accurate and reliable
weather information prior to every flight out of a
Nigerian airport. We are now able to download,
extract, decode and analyse aircraft accident data
from the CVR and FDR (Black Boxes) right here in
Abuja, thus saving time and money, speeding up
the investigation process and upgrading the skills
of our aircraft accident investigators. With the
public release of all nine outstanding accident
investigation reports from previous years, critical
safety information in the form of 36 safety
recommendations have been pushed out for
implementation by the NCAA to aid in further
enhancing the safety net.
The new air traffic management systems deployed
under the TRACON project has improved the safety
of the Nigerian airspace exponentially. The TRACON
and Safe Tower projects have significantly
increased airspace capacity for the industry.
TRACON has helped us to introduce terminal radar
control in addition to the en-route phases of flight,
resulting in Reduced Separation Minima for aircraft,
helping airlines save on flight times and fuel
consumption and thus significantly reducing their
operational costs. Effective Search and Rescue
through real-time radar playback is now available
to Nigeria through TRACON. The National College of
Aviation Technology has been reaccredited to train
industry professionals in accordance with
international standards.
Several aircraft and aircraft engines lying
unserviceable have been overhauled and back in
operation, significantly increasing training capacity
for the college. A new aircraft simulator, helicopter
simulator, gas turbine engine simulator as well as a
high tech 360 degree 3-D control tower simulator
have been procured and installed in the college for
the first time ever. The college that had been all
but grounded and extinct has been revived and is
fast playing its rightful role of developing high
quality professionals for the country's aviation
industry. The NCAA is being restructured to
become a more proactive safety regulator, by
emphasizing surveillance and co-operation with
industry players, rather than a passive and reactive
regulator. A new cadre of inspectors has been
recruited and are being trained to reflect this focus
on effective surveillance.
The NCAA is addressing the shortage of properly
qualified flight inspectors by recruiting vastly
experienced but recently retired training Captains,
to use as external examiners and to beef up its
flight inspectorate. With the restructuring of the
NCAA, Nigeria will have an affective, proactive
aviation safety regulator similar to what is found in
advanced countries of the world. We are now fully
compliant with ICAO standards for fire fighting and
rescue operations, in terms of equipment as well as
personal protective clothing for fire men and
women. We have procedure and deployed hi-tech,
3-in-1 (liquids, metals and explosive detection)
screening equipment at all FAAN's airports,
bringing Nigeria in line with internal standards and
best practices. So your position is that contrary to
what critics say, our skies are much safer than they
were in the past.
The aviation industry is now safer and more
compliant with ICAO standards and international
best practices. Our consistent improvements in
safety standards have resulted in ICAO classifying
Nigeria as above global average in the
implementation of ICAO's Standard and
Recommended Practices (SARPs). Given the
intervention of the Federal Ministry of Aviation and
her parastatals and agencies over last two years, it
is completely false to suggest the aviation industry
is less safe than it was two years ago. In fact, the
opposite is the case.
The industry is now much safer, much more
compliant to ICAO standards and international best
practices and is getting better as we continue to
execute our Road Map. We shall constantly improve
on aviation safety standards and implement
international best practices as we continue to
execute the Aviation Master Plan and Road Map.
The facts are the general aviation is the highest
growth area in the industry and growth had been
largely unregulated thus far. We established this
year for the first time, a new division in the NCAA,
dedicated to the regulation of this industry sector,
headed by a seasoned industry professional.
The purpose of this division is to develop and
enforce standards, systems, procedures and
program plans for general aviation. Certification of
airports was introduced as an added measure by
ICAO in 2005 to equalize airport standards globally.
Every country's CAA was required to adopt the
standard and to begin to apply them in certifying
airports. The requirements for certification have
been met at all Nigeria's international airports with
respect to airfield maneuvering areas, including
navigational and visual aids, airfield markings and
signage, fire and rescue services, as well as apron
markings, signage and operations.
A prerequisite for certification is the requirement
for complete perimeter fencing and operational
fencing of an airport. For Nigeria's airports, which
we inherited without these fences, this requires a
huge capital outlay. To fulfil the airport fencing
requirement, 333 kilometres of concrete perimeter
fencing as well as 200kilometers of wire gauze
operational fencing will be needed for an estimated
sum of N40.8 billion. The Federal Ministry of
Aviation is currently actively seeking to secure this
funding as an urgent and important intervention.
Meanwhile, effective counter measures have been
put in place to ameliorate the associated risks.
MMA, Lagos and NAIA Abuja are scheduled for
certification in the first quarter of 2014, in
accordance with the ministry's program. The fact is
Nigeria's airports are safe. The US Federal Aviation
Authority granted Nigeria Category 1 Status. In
2013, ICAO classified Nigeria as above global
average in the implementation of ICAO's standards.
The irony in your position that our skies are much
safer than they were is the claim in some quarters
that foreign airlines are abandoning Nigeria. The
facts are clear: More and more foreign airlines are
coming into Nigeria and indicating their interests
to come to Nigeria.
The airlines that already fly into Nigeria are
continuously requesting for additional frequencies.
Nigeria is the country in the region with the most
attractive airline market size and dynamics. We are
building the infrastructure to leverage off these
natural advantages.
How do you respond to the allegation that there is
vendetta on the part of the aviation authorities
against some airlines? The safety regulator, the
NCAA, works with rules and regulations. When they
perceive a trend that suggests closer scrutiny, they
have a safety responsibility to take necessary
actions to promote safety. Every action the NCAA
has taken is purely safety driven and nothing else.
Nigerians must have confidence that the NCAA is
an industry capable regulator and headed by a 43-
year veteran of the industry who is one of the
country's most experienced pilots and aircraft
engineer
Sent From David Aniemeka
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