AVIATION stakeholders have commended the management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) for sustaining the agency in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic.
Acknowledging the efforts so far made by the NAMA management and how the agency was able to scale through the trying period, President of the Nigeria’s Association of Aeronautical Engineers (NAAE), Ishaya Dung, explained how the Managing Director of NAMA, Captain Fola Akinkuotu has performed very well despite the challenges he inherited which got complicated by the pandemic.
Dung attributed Akinkuotu’s style of administration to the enviable height he has been able to achieve while holding sway in the agency.
Dung cited how prior to the pandemic Akinkuotu successfully blocked many leakages made available through frivolous Duty Tour Allowances (DTAs), improved training both local and foreign, improved monthly allocation to NAMA outstations, improved on equipment performance and achieved a better welfare package through the harmonisation of staff salaries.
The NAAE President explained how far the NAMA boss had gone to facilitate the new staff conditions of service and the NHIS for the workers before the outbreak of the pandemic.
“Even now at the post COVID-19 lockdown era, with the resumption of commercial flights and the significant improvement in revenue generation, Captain Akinkuotu has equally assured that he will fulfill all obligations to staff within the shortest possible time. He has demonstrated this with the payment of productivity allowance.
“From the forgoing the agency can be said to be living up to expectations in terms of airspace management especially with new installations that have improved navigation during low visibility periods and also enhanced communications in the airspace with more redundancies among others,” Dung said.
In the same vein, the former Secretary General of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Comrade Olayinka Abioye, while applauding the achievements of Akinkuotu said that NAMA was buoyantly addressing infrastructural deficits and staff welfare issues to the admiration of stakeholders despite the pandemic.
Abioye nevertheless lamented the devastating effects of the pandemic vis-à-vis the closure of the Nigerian airports and partial closure of the airspace which dealt a big blow on operations and the financial fortunes of NAMA like all other agencies and businesses.
The former labour scribe emphasised how the situation became so bad that the revenue nosedived so much that a once vibrant agency like NAMA became one that now delayed in the payment of salaries and pensions and had to source for funds in order to perform such obligations to its workforce.
He said that aside payments of staff salaries and pensions which NAMA managed to squeeze out monthly, some other aspects of the agency’s critical areas were tactically addressed in order to keep the system running, bearing in mind that throughout the critical period of the pandemic, some sizeable numbers of staff were attending to duties in all NAMA facilities across the country.
Even at that, Abioye recalled that certain benefits had to suffer suspension and there were outright delay and cancellation.
“At that particular period, overseas trainings and other sundry engagements were put on hold; deductions could not be defrayed arising from shortage of funds.
However, thanks to the leadership skills and prudent management of available resources, NAMA seemed to have successfully overcome the earlier difficulties, more so with the gradual flight operations, airlines especially the foreign ones which seems to be the cash cow of the industry.”
Abioye mentioned how Akinkuotu showed profound empathy towards all members of staff and retirees especially given the failure and negligence of past administration saying “his administration has been able to show that leaders must respect the dignity of labour of its employees, as welfare matters enjoyed top priority unlike in the past, training and retraining which are routine ingredients for optimum productivity and professionalism is been given desired attention and push.
“Even though things may seemed slow in coming, definitely, NAMA under Akinkuotu is far better and well positioned to meet the challenges of the 21st century world aviation nay air navigation service provision.”
He called for more efforts to be put in place so that in the next two years, it shall be songs of praise for all employees and management of NAMA.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.
and then