NAMA urges strict compliance by stakeholders

Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Ibrahim Abdulsalam, has called on workers in the organisation to adhere strictly to the tenets of the newly introduced Treasury Single Account, tax policy, as well as other policies of the Federal Government as they are all targeted at repositioning the economy towards greatness.

Abdulsalam, who made these remarks at a day workshop attended by top management staff of NAMA at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Training Centre in Lagos, said the Treasury Single Account was a unified government accounting system, which enables consolidation and optimal utilisation of revenue.

He added that in the light of dwindling oil fortunes, there was the need for all stakeholders to support and encourage the reforms of the Federal Government both in their individual and collective capacities to succeed, as these policy initiatives were bound to give the Nigerian economy and by extension, the aviation sector, the needed boost and turnaround in the long run.

The NAMA boss also charged participants to look inwards and device new frontiers where the agency could generate more revenue from non-aeronautical sources, cautioning against waste and frivolous expenses.

“The present economic realities have left us with no other option than to align ourselves with the policy direction of the Federal Government by prioritizing our expenditure and also blocking leakages,” Abdulsalam said.

Meanwhile, ahead of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit coming up in March 2016, NAMA, has joined forces with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other critical stakeholders responsible for managing aviation crisis like the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), NIMASA, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Navy, local divers etc, in a live aeronautic simulation of an air crash into the Atlantic Ocean at Oworonshoki Sand Beach in Lagos.

Tagged “Ja’ Sokun,” the National Aeronautical Search and Rescue Exercise (NASAREX) focused on a disaster that could result from an air crash and create mass casualty incident which requires a coordinated response from all critical stakeholders saddled with the responsibility of managing aviation crisis incidences in Search and Rescue and Epidemic Evacuation Plan (SAREEP).

The mock air crash search and rescue exercise, which was largely, successful enabled stakeholders to assess their level of preparedness in emergency responses.

Speaking at the end of the exercise, the NEMA Director of Search and Rescue, AVM Charles Otegbade congratulated participants on the “combined effort in achieving an impressive outcome,” even as he assured that “all gaps recorded in the simulation exercise would be closed by the relevant stakeholders.”

It will be recalled that a similar Air Crash Simulation exercise was carried out last year on land in Abuja as an annual requirement from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).