Director General Civil Aviation ( DG-CA), Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu has said that the country would have to contend with a safety audit and security audit six(6) weeks between each other but has said it is closing gaps identified before the first audit which starts this August 30th to September 11.
The industry regulator made this known in a Zoom meeting after covering one of the identified gaps which is signing a search and rescue Memorandum of Understanding with other West African countries which Nigeria commenced with the Republic of Benin yesterday.
According to him, the CAA is working round the clock to close the gaps and ensure the audit goes well, but expressed concern at the the timing of a second security audit which runs six(6) weeks later from November end.
He said, “We are working 24 hours to close the gaps. We have identified some of the airports, some we are working on and hopefully we can get some of them close.
“The safety audit ends in September but ICAO is telling us we have a security audit by the end of November, six weeks in-between, I think that is too much and there is no country that has done that.
“We have written to ICAO to give us more time. Six weeks is not adequate to recover and do another audit. Although quite a few of the challenges overlap between the safety and security audit. So, there is a lot to do, we have to spread it so we can do justice to each and every section of the industry.
On other identified gaps, Captain Nuhu said the CAA is working with ICAO Western and Central African (WACAF) Office and the Banjul Accord Group Safety Oversight Organisation ( BAGASOO) who have made valid input and discovered gaps being addressed.
He said one of the gaps to be covered is signing a Memorandum of Understanding ( MOU) to work together for search and rescue with other West African countries which the CAA has started with Republic of Benin
He said,” So we are working together, we still have a few issues to sort out and one of them is signing agreements with our West African neighbours on search and rescue, like an MOU which today I i just did with Republic of Benin, tomorrow I will do with Togo, we are in discussions with Chad and Cameroon and hopefully within the next 10 days we will sign with Cameroon and Chad. We were talking about signing in Niger but circumstances make that not possible for now.
“Another thing is what the WACAF team identified with legislation we all know there is a new government but we have collected all the agreements and all the amendments and it is in the National Assembly and have gone through first reading, so the process has started, it might not be completed by the time of the audit, but at least ICAO will see that all the amendments have been put
According to him, WACAF- ICAO office and BAGASOO working with countries to scale the hurdles of audits are not new as the bring in experts and experience who assist, such assistance with the NCAA and NSIB in the case of Sierra Leone he said, upgraded that country Audit results from 18% to 73%.
- Â MoU with Benin Republic on Aeronautical S&R
Nuhu had yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its West African counterpart, Benin Republic on Aeronautical Search and Rescue (S&R) in Cotonou, Benin Republic, to further enhance air safety operations
He said: “Nigeria is keen on improving air safety in the West African region. Apart from the region, we also want to ensure that African airspace is safe at all times. We need to consistently improve our relationships on the continent, starting from the region.
“Nigeria also intends to sign the same aeronautical agreement on Search and Rescue with other neighbouring African countries.
In his comment, the Director-General, Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC), Benin Republic Mr. Karl Legba, who also signed the Mou on behalf of his country, lauded the Nigerian Government for always playing leadership role in civil aviation in the region and the continent as a whole.
In attendance were officials of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace, Directors; Capt. Talba Alkali, Director of Safety, Hassan Ejibunu, Director of Air Transport Management, Capt. Ibrahim Dambazzau, Director Operations, Licensing and Training of NCAA, Abubakar Saraku, Director Air Transport Regulations and Mary Tufano, Board Secretary/Legal Adviser also of the agency.
Also in Team Nigeria was Engr Mahmoud Ben Tukur, Representative of Nigeria on the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council and the current 2nd Vice-President of the body.
Director-General of Civil Aviation, South Africa Poppy Khoza led the South African team to the meeting with Nigeria.
