NSIB, victim of unpopular policy

NIGERIAN Safety Accident Investigation Bureau (NSIB) had its new office at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport commissioned by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, last week.

The commissioning of the new office came three years after the former multi-billion naira edifice that served as the bureau’s head office was ordered to be demolished by the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika.

Against all protests and reasons, the former minister signed off the demolition of the bureau’s office built with public funds on the premise that it obstructed the expansion of the apron of the new international terminal at the Murtala Muhammed Airport.

Other gigantic buildings that were equally approved for demolition alongside the then Accident Investigation Bureau (AlB), which has now metamorphosed to NSIB, were the Evergreen Apple of Nigeria (EAN), a facility owned by the former Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Olusegun Harold Demuren and the Dominion Hangar owned by Bishop David Oyedepo, founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide.

The owners of the two facilities had used the court to prevent their buildings from being pulled down.

The demolition of the NSIB Lagos head office came as a surprise to key players when the agency was then at the peak of being transformed into a multimodal entity that required it to establish regional offices across the six geographical zones in the country for efficiency and to meet the demands of its new status that empowered it to expand its scope to road transport, railway and maritime.

More painful is that three years after the demolition, the so-called expansion is yet to take place and while the new terminal is already being used, the demolition site has become an abandoned site.

For the three years, the workers at the NSIB Lagos office were subjected to psychological trauma as they had no comfortable place to carry out their duties, as some of them were either forced to work from their homes or hang around the airport to work.

It was therefore a mixed feeling when the NSIB’s rented office was commissioned last week with the present minister describing the demolition of the N5 billion worth former office as unnecessary.

Key players in the sector have described the public funds used by the present management of NSIB to rent the new office, which could have been deployed to other challenging areas, as a waste of public funds.

Sadly, with the huge funds used to build the now-demolished building gone down the drain, there is the need for the present minister and any public office holders to engage in wide consultations before taking similar actions.

To avoid further controversial actions, there is therefore the need by the present minister to prevail on the government to facilitate the inauguration of the board of directors for the different agencies in order to serve as checks and balances on activities that may be taken subsequently that may have financial implications on the sector.

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