Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuru in this interview with some journalists in Lagos spoke on trending issues affecting the sector including the suspension of AOC of Omni-Blu, the controversial Kaduna Airport upgrade and the recent ICAO audit. SHOLA ADEKOLA, who was there, brings excerpt.
HOW is NCAA preparing for the return of ICAO Safety Audit?
I think there is a bit of misunderstanding on the whole ICAO Audit. Nigeria got 70 pecent for a full audit. What we did was a full audit and the last time we had a full audit was in 2016 and after the audit, they will send you their report after 90 days and then, you have 45 days to do something. Another 45 days, then, another 30 days. Then, a total of 210 days from my calculation before ICAO officially notifies us. During that period, you have an opportunity to rectify some of the issues and close the gaps.
What most states do after the audit is that they call for ICAO Coordination Validation Mission (ICVM). That is like a mini-audit; see all the evidences, all what you have done and to close all the gaps. Therefore, the 75 percent global average that you are seeing is not from the full audit. It is from the ICVM; so, we from the full audit, without even going for the ICVM, we got 70 percent. So, the global average is 75 percent for ICVM; the global average for from sources, which we have is even below 70 percent, which we got 70 per cent and there are other issues.
It is almost impossible to go above 70 percent with ICAO if you have not done your airport certification. We have not done our airport certification in Nigeria for the five international airports due to some challenges and difficulties. There is no need for me to sign airport certification when I know our airports do not meet the requirements. That will be more disastrous for Nigeria and there is what you call the Significant Safety Concern (SSC). ICAO issues that to some states; that means the oversight function of a state is fundamental fraud. We did not get an SSC. There are things that people should know be aware of. Believe me, in the next 12 to 18 months when we finish doing our action plan, hopefully, we would have done certification of our airports and closed some of the gaps.
You will be surprised; our effective implementation scores would go well above the global average for ICVM.
Besides, information we got states that do a full audits and do another full audits, they actually lose points – almost 12 points. Nigeria gained 4 points between the two audits. That means we are doing well; our standards are not falling. A lot of states do audits, the next full audit, they get high marks, the next full audit everything goes down. We have actually improved. I think the system needs to be fair to everybody. We have difficulties, we have challenges, yes, but we are going to work on them. We have a solid ground, we have a solid foundation on which we will be working with the entire industry stakeholders – agencies and private sector. We will work together and under the guidance of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, get to where we are supposed to be, we are on our way there.
Why is recertification of Lagos and Abuja Airport difficult after the initial certification?
You give certification for three years and it elapses. Unfortunately, the airport operator for many reasons have challenges and they could not meet the requirements for certification. It is worrisome, but we are working with them and the point you raised, certification of some airports have been going on for longer than necessary, but NCAA cannot give certification when you don’t meet the requirements.
If somebody is applying for AOC and he doesn’t meet the requirements, what do we do? Because of that certification issue, we lost about 12 points in our audit, but I will rather will miss those 12 points than to do certification that doesn’t meet the requirements. Then, ICAO will come and say ‘this certificate you gave is bogus.’ That does more damage to the credibility of the entire system.
What is the update on Omni-Blu and suspension of AOC process?
It is unfortunate that it is coined that NCAA has suspended the AOC processes of Omni-Blu Aviation. One of the directors of Omni-Blu who is Director General of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Mr Akin Olateru, a very close colleague and a friend of mine is a shareholder in Ombi-Blu and this was something he had before he came to the public service. Just because you came to public service does not mean you should wipe off your previous years.
There was just a question from NCAA that it appears there was a conflict between this application and the Act of NSIB and NCAA. So, they were asked to respond and they responded. He has provided all the documents, he has shown proof he has resigned and he has declared his interest in those organisations. So, he has provided the appropriate documentation to show that there is no conflict of interest.
We cannot wipe out our previous lives just because we got to work for government, but there are conditions. In an industry that you are a CEO or a staff, you cannot have an interest, but there are procedures and he has given proof for those procedures; he has showed us that he actually resigned and that letter is actually confirmed by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). He showed that he has done all the necessary declarations to show that he has resigned.
The only thing is that he has given the necessary documents required, but we have to take it through the normal procedures, legal process so that when documentation is done that he has been cleared, somebody tomorrow will not go and challenge it. It is important to go through the process of clearing him so that the records are put there. Anybody that comes in the future, can look at the file, see that the issue was raised, but the appropriate information had been provided and individual is cleared.
How soon will the process continue?
Hopefully, in this new week. It would have been done, but our legal adviser travelled out with me. So, we will work on it and the process will continue.
How is NCAA addressing the Kaduna airport’s challenges?
There are audits reports on all the airports; I have to check its present situation. Some airports have deficiencies that have not been rectified. We will ensure that they are rectified and they meet the minimum standards before they operate.
The issue of Kaduna Airport, I don’t exactly think it is due to the status of the airport. There were security issues between the airport and town and people were really scared. We are all aware of that. Things have improved now and I am sure the state government too is taking measures to ensure they block all these challenges. I think the challenge there is more of security, but the situation has improved significantly and we will certainly look at the facilities at the airport.
After this audit, in fact, we are going to check all the airports; it’s not only the international airport. All the airports in Nigeria, we are going to audit them and see their situations. Any airport that has a deficiency, it will be grounded to the level of status they are and that is the way they are.
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