Around April 2017, Uchenna Agu, 46, decided to get a drone to capture special moments of his teenage daughter who is into professional athletics. He sent money to his sister living in the United States to help him get a good drone. A week later, the sister informed him that the drone he ordered was on the way to Nigeria via the Post Office and will take maximum two weeks to get to him.
More than one year after, Agu is still shuttling between Nigerian customs and the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to get his drone.
He is not alone in this ordeal as there are hundreds of Nigerians who are facing similar challenges as a result of lack of clarity surrounding policy framework for drones in the country. According to sources who spoke to BusinessDay, over 90 percent of drones flying across Nigeria have no licence to fly.
Interestingly, the first ever drone certificate, an RPAS/Drones Operator Certificate, in Nigeria was issued to Oando Plc in June 2017. Since then there has not been any report of certificates issued to anyone.
A drone, in a technological context, refers to an unmanned aircraft. They are also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or unmanned aircraft systems (UASes). In Nigeria, it is categorised under Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). The Nigerian drone market is estimated at $20 billion in 2018 and could reach $54 billion by 2025 according to Droneii.com.
In many countries around the world, not everyone requires a licence to fly a drone legally. For instance, one does not need a licence when flying a consumer drone for recreational purposes, as long as the weight of the drone is less than 20kg and regulations are followed. Most countries prohibit flying a drone 150 metres of a congested area and 50 metres of a person, vessel, vehicle or structure not under the control of the pilot.
These countries have learnt from experience to separate policies for civilian drones which are smaller from military drones that could carry larger and heavier objects like guns.
Nigeria did not used to have a drone regulation until July 2017 when the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) issued a statement prohibiting the launch of drones in the Nigerian airspace without a permit from NCAA and the office of National Security Adviser (ONSA). The certification guidelines are contained in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs 2015 Part 8.8.1.33) and Implementing Standards (Nig.CARs 2015 Part IS.8.8.1.33).
To qualify for the issuance of certificates, applicants are expected to undergo five phases including pre-application, formal application, document evaluation, demonstration, and inspection and certification phases.
An application for grant of a permit for aerial aviation services (PAAS) must be made in writing to the director general of the NCAA. The application must also be signed by a person duly authorised by the applicant and submitted on or before a date no less than six months before the expected date of use of the PAAS.
Apart from the long time applicants have to wait to get approval – if they ever get it, the NCAA guideline is not clear about where drones imported into the country fall under.
Agu told BusinessDay that his drone was categorised as ‘Prohibited’ by Nigerian Customs officials, hence they seized it and will not return it. He had to insist to see the list only to discover that there was no drone listed on it. When he pointed out the omission, the officials asked him to return the next day. The next day, they informed him the drone package has been delivered to ONSA for processing. Three months later an official at ONSA informed him that the drone has been taken to the “Warehouse” which has a reputation of never releasing anything that goes into it.
The cost of an end-user certificate application is not clear as well; hence it is a ‘black hole’. Sources told BusinessDay that it could go as high as N800,000 depending on how many officials an applicant have to “pass through” to be smell success.
Many Nigerians have resorted to smuggling drones into the country using their hand luggage. Several sources revealed that once they get to the immigration and customs desk they bribe the officials to let them go.
“I have a friend who runs a drone company in Nigeria and does not have a licence from NCAA,” one source told BusinessDay. “Any time he imports his drones, he already has a Custom official whom he pays to ensure his bag is not seized.”
According to the World Bank, drones have the potential to encourage efficiency and cost reduction in areas like land administration, risk assessment, forestry management, urban planning, coastal zone management, infrastructure monitoring, post-disaster damage assessment. Future of uses of drone includes delivery of medical supplies, search and rescue, firefighting, radiological, atmospheric, and environmental sensing, agriculture and internet connectivity in rural areas as well as humanitarian operations.
