Repositioning of aviation will enhance tourism — Runsewe

The Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, has urged the Federal Government to invest more in the security and infrastructure network in the country’s aviation sector in order to attract more tourists into the country.

Runsewe said this while presenting a paper titled, ‘Nigerian Airports: Gateway to Developing and Managing Tourist Destinations in Nigeria,’ delivered at the maiden edition of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) National Aviation Conference (FNAC) in Abuja.

Though he acknowledged that air transportation system in Nigeria had improved over the years, but lamented how the sector had been grappling with myriad of challenges that continue to hinder its efficiency and optimal performance.

While identifying some of the challenges bedeviling the sector to include inadequate funding, decaying facilities, insufficient security network and intermittent air crashes, among others, Runsewe said these challenges had tended to project the air transport system in Nigeria as not too safe and reliable.

The NCAC Director-General particularly cited how the cargo system in the country was vulnerable to several security threats such as the placement of explosive aboard aircraft, illegal shipment of contrabands, smuggling, theft, sabotage and other forms of unwholesome practices.

“Very often we hear reports of domestic animals straying into the terminals of the airports due to lack of solid perimeter fencing or the collapse of the existing ones. All these threats and more greatly militate against the growth of the aviation sector in Nigeria and give the sector a very bad international image,” he said.

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Runsewe, while challenging the government to reposition the aviation sector to further enhance travelers’ comfort, confidence, satisfaction and experience in order to fully and effectively support the growth of the tourism industry, called for the provision of adequate security, stressing that tourists were sensitive to safety and security issues in any destination.

According to him, the perimeter fencing of the airports should be of utmost priority to the government through FAAN to further enhance the airport security’s architecture, just as the airports environment should be well-illuminated to facilitate a 24 hours operation within the environment.

He equally called on the relevant authorities to ensure that terminals in all international airports in Nigeria should have apron spaces wide enough to accommodate wide-body aircraft like Boeing 787, Dreamliner 777, 747, Airbus A380 and others.

The NCAC DG used the opportunity to make a case for good maintenance culture for all the facilities in the sector which he said would go a long way in constantly keeping the equipment in good condition.

“The aviation sector is a very delicate one, requiring maximum care and attention. A minor lapse can be a source of great risk and embarrassment. In the light of this, workers in the sector must be well-grounded about their schedule of duties and exercise utmost care and caution in handling their jobs.

“This requires constant training and retraining of aviation workers like the pilots, cabin crew members, weather forecast engineers, airport and airline staff members, members of all the regulatory agencies and those directly or indirectly connected with the air transportation chain,” he said.