The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has disclosed how his quick intervention in putting a halt to the planned merger of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), helped in averting the consequences that would have befallen the aviation industry if the two agencies were merged.
The minister made the disclosure at the Gala Nite to mark the 25th anniversary of NCAA, which held last weekend in Abuja,
NCAA is a regulator, which has oversight functions, while NAMA is a service provider in charge of the management of aerospace, providing communication, navigational and surveillance services to flight operations.
NCAA overseas the activities of other agencies like NAMA, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), as well as the airlines and other aviation service providers in the country.
Keyamo said he utilised the opportunity he had at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting to dispel the decision to merge the two agencies.
"Let me tell you my small story about the NCAA. Unknown to you and maybe known to a few people, the Oronsaye report is a document that contains recommendations for restructuring and rationalising the federal government of Nigeria's agencies, parastatals, and commissions, and the report also recommended the merger of NCAA and NAMA. That was an attempt to kill the NCAA. That report was passed on, I think, from Jonathan's government to Buhari's government and then to the present government. The Oronsaye report was ready since Jonathan's government, if I remember.
"And so throughout the tenure of Buhari's government, we couldn't consider that report. Incidentally, I was the only surviving minister from Buhari's administration to this government. So, I was part of that government. And the report came up a few times in council but we couldn't consider it.
"But guess what? It was one of the first items we considered in this government. So the Oronsaye report came up that day and I was ready with my battle axe. And so the president went on and on, considered every item in the Oronsaye report and asked council to vote," the minister disclosed.
Keyamo explained that for each item they called out they would listen to the ministers that are in charge of the ministry and the planned merger in the ministry and they would come to a decision. The President called for merger of NCAA and NAMA as one body.
"And I raised my hand, I said, sir, I spoke for about five minutes. And because we have a wonderful President who listens to good counsel and good arguments, after I finished speaking, he said, item dropped. NCAA and NAMA would not be merged.
"So sir, (referring to foremost Director General of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren) like a good son, the baton you passed on to your son, I kept the baton alive by making sure that the NCAA did not die. If not by now we would be talking of a merger of NCAA and NAMA. So, today we truly celebrate the heroes and heroines of this very great body that has ensured that our skies remain very safe," he said.
The Managing Director, Flight and Logistics Solutions Limited, Amos Akpan, said if the merger had taken place it would have compromised the function of NCAA as a regulator.
"Viewed from the perspective that NCAA is the sole regulator of all institutions and companies in the Civil Aviation sector, it would expose NCAA to compromise strict adherence to compliance of NAMA functions. It's easier for personnel working in the same organisation to cover up their errors.
"NCAA has the role to inspect, certify, and carry-out oversight checks on aeronautical installations by NAMA. How would NCAA indict itself if those installations are not up to required grades? or if they are not maintained to remain functional? We should work at strengthening NCAA as the apex regulatory organisation in the aviation sector because we need them to keep improving towards achieving their vision statement. This discussion about merging NCAA is a distraction, and if implemented it will whittle down the authorities implementation of its statutory roles in NCAR 2023," he said.
Also reacting to the planned merger that was averted, a former Director of Operations and the Acting Managing Director of NAMA, Matthew Pwajok, said that it would have undermined the work of NCAA and at the same time give rise to conflict of interests.
"Well, it will be quite unfortunate if NCAA and NAMA had to be merged considering that a lot has been achieved by the separation of service provision and regulatory oversight. However, if it becomes absolutely necessary that two organizations are merged, then I would even prefer that NAMA and NCAT are merged rather than NCAA merging with any service provider.
"And I don't really think merging organisations will save cost as being expected by government. The salary difference between NCAA and NAMA would mean the two organizations will adopt the highest salary structure and thereby increasing overheads rather than reducing cost. The expected reduction of directors will not amount to any significant cost reduction compared to salary adjustments that will be adopted after the merger. And if it becomes absolutely necessary that NCAA has to be merged, then I would rather say that NCAA merges with Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB)," Pwajok said.
At the Gala Nite, former Managing Director of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, spoke about the commitment of many that contributed in making NCAA what it is today and who made sacrifices to realise the achievements that the agency has recorded over the years.
Demuren assured the minister that he has a good team at NCAA and then recalled how he worked with others to realise the Category 1 Safety Status from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2010, which enabled US carriers to operate to Nigeria and Nigerian registered carriers to operate to the US.
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He said, "I called some of these people at night when we were doing category one. My wife had to fight me that I could not sleep on the same bed with her, because I was calling young women at night. I got phone calls at night from America because of the time difference. They all responded very well and without them, we could never have attained category one. It is not a Demuren thing, it is a collective responsibility."
Demuren also told the minister that aviation has become an engine of economic growth of every nation and therefore demand serious attention and in Nigeria, the sector has been so developed that you can connect many cities by air.
"Honorable Minister, your business people can leave Lagos, go to Abuja for a meeting with you in your office, at the same time, you move to Port Harcourt the same day, and they will still be back in Lagos the same day. It is only a aviation that can do that for you. And these are the people that make this happen, so, to you all, we pay our homage, you have done well," he said.
Demuren also acknowledged the good work the minister is doing and called his attention to human capacity development, saying, "Aviation is changing, technology is changing every day. What we were doing years ago, what we are doing right now have changed. So, you need continuous training. Human capacity is crucial, without it, you can't do anything. If you continue to train them, Honorable Minister, you will have a safer sky."
