BY OLAPEJU OLUBI
Accolades came the way of the Director General, Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau(NSIB), Engr. Akin Olateru, who recently bagged the revered ‘Integrity and Anti-corruption Ambassador’ award.
The recognition came from the Nigerian Youth Against Corruption and Transparency Initiative in appreciation of Olateru’s transformational and developmental efforts in taking the Bureau to enviable heights.
Presenting the Award at the Bureau’s Headquarters in Abuja, the Group’s Coordinator, Engineer Abdul Malik Usman, said the decision to recognize Olateru was a unanimous one, as it was clear to members that he has contributed immensely to the development and fortification of the nation’s aviation safety policies and programmes; through the rapid transformation of the Bureau to become one of the best accident investigating bodies in the world.
He said: “Our organisation is very proud of the transformation and developmental strides in the NSIB, which cannot be over-emphasized.
Your unrelenting dedication to a corruption-free society, contribution to nation building, among others, called for appreciation and recognition and to this end, we decided to honour you with this award”.
Receiving the award, Olateru appreciated members of the organisation for recognising his modest contributions to aviation safety through the investigation of occurrences and timely release of reports along with safety recommendations.
He said it was soothing to see the efforts of the Bureau being appreciated, adding that the findings and recommendations of investigated accidents are contained in reports which are usually addressed to industry stakeholders such as the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA), the affected airlines, Aircraft Manufacturers, among others, to prevent the recurrence of the incident.
According to Olateru, the Bureau was established in 2006 and since 2017 when he assumed duties as the head, had continued to strive to fulfill its mandate of probing air accidents/ incidents; while ensuring timely release of reports for a safer airspace in Nigeria and beyond.
He informed the organisation that the government, in recognition of the roles played by the Bureau, signed into law the NSIB Act 2022 for the expansion of its mandate and scope as a multi-modal agency; to investigate not just air accidents and incidents, but maritime, railway and any other modes of transportation across the country.
“And that has put Nigeria at par with countries like the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, among others, to have a single agency doing all the investigations,” he stated.
Additionally, Olateru said the reason behind the expansion of its activities was to ensure transparency and objectivity in the investigation of occurrences in the transportation sector.
He noted that there are three legs to any transportation system. You have the service providers, you have the regulators, and then, the investigators.
The NSIB boss explained; “During occurrences, sometimes it could be the regulators that might have caused the reason for the occurrence. That is why you can’t be a regulator and an investigator all together.
“Nigeria used to have this arrangement, but the wisdom of government to separate regulatory from investigating responsibilities has not just improved air safety, it has also enabled air transport business to dramatically rise in Nigeria .
“Gone are the days when people hesitated boarding an aircraft. Today, this is not so as the conscious efforts put in place by the Bureau in collaboration with other relevant agencies have ensured a safer airspace for the flying public.
“Safety is not achieved by accident. It is not something that just happened at a go. Conscious efforts had gone into it. For a safer airspace to have been in place, the regulatory body, the investigating agency and other industry stakeholders must have contributed their bits to the overall safety networks”.
Olateru assured of the Bureau’s continuous prompt response to occurrences and timely release of its reports along with right safety recommendations to deal with the reason why a particular occurrence happened. This, he said, is the only way the agency can continue to protect the system from reoccurrence.
He noted that the Agency, under his leadership, enhances air safety from the rear; which explained his delight at being identified and bestowed with the award.
“We enhance safety from the rear. And that is why I’m so happy that you spotted us. I really want to thank you for this initiative and for giving us the encouragement to do more, “ he added.
