Hadi Sirika, the minister of State, Aviation has said that the aviation sector recorded an average growth of 33 per cent on domestic operations and 13.5 per cent on international operations between January, 2017 to June, 2018, amounting to 18 months period.
Sirika said this growth is unprecedented in the country adding that the Buhari’s administration provided the enabling environment for domestic airlines in the country to attain certification in the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA); currently five Nigerian domestic airlines have certification, while some were designated for international operations.
Speaking recently to journalists, he said that in the areas of State Safety Programmes, Nigeria has attained Level three out of four levels, thereby moving Nigeria from red to green on the ICAO dashboard.
He added that in line with ICAO and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) standards, in July 2017, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency acquired ISO 9001 2015 certificate, which qualifies it to offer aeronautical meteorological services, making the agency the first in Africa to be so certified in that category.
“The Ministry has recorded significant achievements in virtually all aspects of the sector in the past three years as follows: Growing and Sustaining the domestic aviation industry; re-introduction of zero import duties on aircraft, engine and introduction of same for spare parts; intervention to rescue Arik Air and Aero Contractors from total collapse is another milestone, which would have led to the demise of the two airlines and cause huge loss of jobs by professionals in the sector. The two airlines are today still in operation, under receivership.
“Just last December, this government through the approval of President Buhari paid 50 percent of severance and retirement benefits to 5,966 staff of the former national carrier, Nigeria Airways. The beneficiaries even held a ‘thank you’ rally to appreciate Buhari for walking the talk.
“You will recall that the airline was liquidated in 2003 and since its liquidation, several ministers and governments in this country refused to pay them their severance packages, which i think was bad for the system. You don’t treat your citizens bad and expect the younger ones to put in their best into the system, but Buhari ensured that they were paid part of their benefits. I can however assure you that the remaining balance would be paid as promised,” Sirika stated.
On the performance of Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), he said that few hours after the Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice President and 11 others were involved in a helicopter crash managed by Caverton Helicopter in Kabba, Kogi State, AIB vowed that it would publish the preliminary report in few days and in less than two weeks, AIB came out with the preliminary report on the accident and this singular action received applauds from all stakeholders including Aviation Round Table (ART).
“Gone are the days when we would wait endlessly to know what happened in aircraft accidents and incidents; the bureau is adequately funded to investigate any major incident or accident and it recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sao Tome and Principle. It has also gone beyond the shores of Nigeria to investigate major incidents, which happened in other country.
“AIB has published 10 final reports on serious incidents out of 28 released since the creation of AIB in 2007. This indicates 36 per cent of total reports released by the bureau since it was established in 2006. It has even Issued 39 safety recommendations out of a total of 121 issued by the agency. Again, this represents 32 per cent of total safety recommendations ever released by the agency.
“This administration has also rehabilitated the Emergency Operating Centre and furnished the Resuscitation Centres at Abuja and Lagos Airports, respectively,” the minister added.
IFEOMA OKEKE
