IT would seem the continuous wastage of scarce resources in the aviation industry seems to be policy strong suit of the current minister and by extension the government as NigerianFLIGHTDECK has learnt that despite spending at least ₦5 billion to equip the Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria ( AIB-N) regional office in Lagos, that investment is heading down the drain as there is a plan to completely scrap the Lagos office.
And as if to add salt to injury, staff of the AIB-N in Lagos have been directed to relocate to Abuja on or before Monday February 28, 2022 without accommodation, relocation allowance, no salary for the month of January and any due regard for the cost of the relocation.
From what our reporter can gather, staff without accommodation in Abuja are travelling with personal resources to a place they do not have office accommodation or residential accommodation begging the question: why this rush to relocate?
Already the regional office of the investigative body is being cleared as staff could be seen hauling documents, file cabinets and a host of other things out of offices.
The AIB-N since the advent of the current commissioner has invested massively in the organisational with its Command and Control Centre situated there, offices of investigators, information and technology department, training centre, mini flight safety lab for downloading Flight Data Recorders ( FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorders( CVR).
These facilities were installed less than four years ago by the current management led by the commissioner, Mr. Akin Olateru.
Earlier in the week, NigerianFLIGHTDECK reported that AIB-N was among organisations given a notice to relocate along with other organisation adding to the over ₦20 billion in investments that will be lost in the aviation industry for FAAN to pull down buildings belonging to offices and businesses on the expansion path of the new international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos which may be the reason for this instant notice.
Deputy General Secretary of Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria ( ATSSSAN), Comrade Frances Akinjoye who expressed shock at the decision said the unions were not carried along or they would intervene to give more time for the relocation.
He said,” It is a shock and our members did not inform us, if they did maybe we would have discussed so this doesn’t have to be sudden. It’s sad because the only relocation is the one we heard that the Minister directed in 2020.
The relocation directive on May 4, 2020 by the Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika is still yet die down as many agency staff do not have offices or where they stay.
A majority are yet to get their relocation allowances and even the relocated Nigerian Airspace Management Agency ( NAMA) is renting an accommodation as it has no offices of its own and staff have nowhere to work from while the offices in Lagos are empty.
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