BY OLAPEJU OLUBI
Aviation and Aerospace Minister, Mr Festus Keyamo, rose from a stakeholders’ forum at the weekend with a vow to sanitize the entire industry and reposition it for greater service delivery and revenue generation.
At the event held in Lagos, the Minister frowned at illegal transactions within the agencies and wondered why they were in dire straits when they ought to be revenue generators and excellent service providers.
Keyamo particularly queried the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) on calibration issues, saying that most of its equipment were obsolete, including the ones recently delivered which the Ministry owes millions of dollars for.
He insisted on canceling most of the NAMA contracts captured in the 2024 budget, which are meant for the acquisition of vital navigational equipment.
He said such contracts needed to be thoroughly reviewed to avoid the risk of acquiring outdated ones as has been the case in recent times.
He said it was better to lose the five percent down payment if it got to that, than risk importing equipment that are 90% obsolete.
The Minister thus appealed to the Chairman, House Committee on Aviation to invite technical experts, pilots and other relevant stakeholders for proper assessment of every proposed equipment contained in the 2024 budget, saying questions must be asked if the equipment to be purchased for NAMA are current, serviceable and needed at this point in time.
Keyamo attributed an accident involving a Flint Aero-operated aircraft on Friday, November 3, 2023 at the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport, Ibadan to failure of proper visual due to lack of Instrument Landing System (ILS) and runway lights as identified by stakeholders.
Responding, the Director of Operations, NAMA, Mr. Mathew Pwajok, explained that Ibadan Airport lacked the necessary facilities for sunset landing, adding that the airport’s ILS and that of some other aerodromes in the country have been downgraded from CAT 2&3 to CAT 1 based on the lighting availability.
On illegal fees collection, a lawyer, Lawrence Fubara, revealed that a company, Naebi Dynamics Concept, has been collecting fees for NAMA without due process.
He said the firm had a commercial agreement with the Ministry of Aviation in 2022, but concerns were raised as to why it was taking the job of a government agency (NAMA).
Fubara noted that Naebi Dynamics Concept takes $300 for each landing and taking off of aircraft and argued that it is not NAMA’s responsibility to collect such fees at the airports.
The Minister frowned at the revelation and promptly directed that a petition be written and submitted to him by Monday for proper investigation.
