Olubunmi Kuku, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has been commended for the improvement of infrastructure at some of the nation’s and embarking on massive training of the personnel within the short period she was appointed to head the agency.
Under Kuku, the major airports in the country witnessed the renewal and rehabilitation of critical facilities, as FAAN management prepared the international airports for ICAO certification.
While Abuja and Enugu have been certified by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano airports are getting ready for certification, which NCAA approves in accordance with ICAO regulation.
Yakubu Dati, Former Commissioner for Information, Plateau State and erstwhile General Manager, Public Affairs, FAAN, who commended Kuku, pointed out that being the first woman to head the agency, she has shown unusual competence and inimitable efficiency.
“I must say that for the first time we are having a lady as the managing director and chief executive. So within such a short time, in fact just barely 11 months, she has been able to get this in the kitty, the recertification of two airports which was not done for more than four years ago, the putting Nigeria on the global aviation map.
“For instance, FAAN received two awards at the ACI (Airport Council International) conference in South Africa just last quarter of the year. And by that recognition she was also made a board chairman of Africa region of the Airport Council International. So all these are achievements within such a short time for somebody who is coming into a male-dominated industry.
“But her training in finance and also being not a novice in the aviation sector, have assisted so much because she came with a focus, with a direction.
Dati said that Mrs. Kuku’s achievements have confirmed the fact that women can sometimes do it better; so, Nigeria should take the affirmative action more seriously.
The former Commissioner also noted that since the Tinubu administration started, there has been greater development in the aviation industry, recalling the removal of Nigerian from non-compliant countries and the Cape Town Convention Aviation Working Group moving Nigeria’s rating from 49 to 70.05 and later to 75.
Dati also spoke about safety and security in Nigeria’s aviation sector, “The key factors are the issues surrounding safety and security because safety is number one when it comes to running airports. And that is why the umbrella universal regulator of airports, ICAO always emphasizes on the issue of safety. And shortly on assumption of office, within one week in office, the Managing Director, Mrs. Kuku, signed the safety protocol and also has been able to train, from what I heard, about 1400 staff for 2000 man hours in the areas of safety for both staff and stakeholders.
“Now aviation is a highly regulated industry and it operates based on the practicalities of training and when you talk about people, you are talking about an airport where what is key is people, process and procedure.
“You have the people, they need the process, they need the technology and that is where training comes in. So, prioritizing training has been able to make her work easier and in such a short time the early fruits are already dropping for everybody to see and to the celebration and acclaim of everybody.”
Dati reiterated that the citification processes is still on-going on three other international airports in Kano, Port Harcourt, adding that that the FAAN boss is working to provide critical facilities and manpower development in technical areas to meet the regulatory conditions of ICAO.
“She is also looking at the upgrade of the status of the airport to higher category. This requires putting certain infrastructure that is necessary for that categorization and qualification. And so we believe that with what has happened, in just one year being in office, she will put her experience in coordinating and collaborating with different agencies to be able to achieve that. Because it takes teamwork and it takes; somebody who is ready to be able to accommodate different opinions, to be able to run the system as massive as the airport.
“As the Managing Director, she sits over all the 27 federal airports in Nigeria and the funding for all those airports are coming from barely two or three airports. So it requires a lot of multi-tasking to be able to put that together and run such a massive system that is driven by over 10, 000 staff of the authority,” Dati said.
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