The need to review mode of appointments in Nigeria’s aviation

For sometimes now, key players in the country’s aviation sector had faulted the mode of appointments to key positions across the various aviation agencies over what they termed the negative implications such questionable appointments are bound to create for the sector.

The latest of such calls reared its head again recently during the last appointments made by the minister of state for aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika where nearly all the appointments he made negated merit and fair play in line with the country’s civil service rules of engagement.

Agreed that the minister at a point has the right to choose those he trust can deliver the goods that will help him achieve his goals being the one in charge of the sensitive sector.

One obvious thing is that he can only achieve his desired goal when he follows the due diligence and the principles of merit and fair policy.

Therefore, he should not feel too bad about the criticisms that confronted and still confronting the last appointments as they are only meant to put him on his toes while making new appointments.

Of particular concern to key players in the sector is the appointments he made into some critical departments in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the country’s regulatory authority which is presently sitting on the fence on issues.

Many have queried the rationale behind bringing ‘green horns’ form outside the agency to man crucial departments like the Directorate of Airworthiness and Standards (DAWS) when there are trained and qualified personnel within.

In line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) safety standards, anybody to be appointed as the Director of Airworthiness and Standards is expected to have done Airworthiness, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Courses and that of the ICAO.

The fellow must also be current with the latest issues as it concern airworthiness and standards.

To show the importance of the position to the success of the country’s entire aviation sector, if for any reason ICAO or any international body wants to audit Nigeria’s aviation today, the credentials of DAWS would be looked at.

Corroborating this, the former Director General of the NCAA, Dr Harold Demuren at a function when asked to react to the appointment though was reluctant but said: “The man who is going to issue aircraft airworthiness certificate must know what he is doing. You don’t learn on the job or table .He must be strong, competent and efficient.”

“Has he done Airworthiness Courses, FAA and other courses? Outside Nigeria in ICAO and other international aviation gatherings, he is going to lead groups and this must be done professionally.”

In all honesty, all the fears and questions raised by many in respect to the appointments made in the NCAA became manifested publicly last week at an international forum organized by business jet operators when the new man appointed to head the directorate could not convince the gathering made up of foreign stakeholders on the policies put on ground to monitor business aviation operations in the country.

While no one is doubting the pedigree of the affected officer in view of his background, but one obvious truth is that he is not well on ground on issues surrounding the directorate.

Throughout the session when issues relating to the directorate and NCAA policies were brought up for discussion, the new director was struggling to convince the gathering.

While everyone including foreigners at the venue were not impressed with the unconvincing role of the officer, the presence of another officer who was later found out to have been in acting capacity in the same directorate until the recent appointment shoved her aside was what doused the tension at the gathering.

The question on the lips of many was why appoint an outsider who still need one year or more to learn the rope on policies surrounding airworthiness and critical safety issues when there was on ground a well qualified trained personnel already in acting capacity?

The issue became more embarrassing when one discovers that all these outsiders brought in to boss those who ordinarily qualify for the positions across the agencies come to take glory for what they do not merit when they often rely on the experience of these people whose positions they have come to hijack to do anything.

Following the event that unfolded at the business aviation conference, the time has come for the minister to avoid making appointments that will not only take the sector backward but create a wrong impression of the country’s system. Such appointments will only add to the myriad of problems bedevilling the sector.