African Aviation Renaissance Group (AARG) has said Nigeria has not recorded any significant safety concern because of the effective administration of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Spokesman of the group, Comrade Akanbi Adimula, said the appointment of Capt. Chris Najomo’s acting capacity has translated into an improvement in the country’s ratings in global aviation.
He said under Najomo, the NCAA had issued Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) to five operators in the last 8 months.
He hailed the cooperation from heads of sister agencies in aviation and the support of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN, which had contributed to the progress in recent times.
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“What cannot be denied is the fact that the federal government has gotten it right in aviation, by appointing a man who is hugely committed to making a difference in the assignment given to him.
“The administrative and technical achievements of Najomo under eight months in acting capacity as the helmsman of the regulatory body for civil aviation in Nigeria, is a pointer to the goodies that lie ahead of the all-important industry in the scheme of things of Nigeria economic development,” he stated.
He highlighted some of the achievements of the Najomo-led CAA to include the inter-directorate deployment to remove bottlenecks in the structure, and subsequent promotion of stagnated staff from GL.14 to GL.15.
He stated that Najomo successfully re-organised and populated newly-created directorates for efficiency while tackling payment of a huge backlog of relocation allowance due to movement of the NCAA headquarters from Lagos to Abuja by the federal government.
He hailed the complete re-evaluation of all holders of Permit for Non-Commercial Flight (PNCF) ordered by the Najomo to ensure such holders are adhering to the terms and conditions of their permits.
“As the gate-keeper of the sector, Service providers who satisfy requirements are certificated appropriately, while those who do not meet requirements are formally excluded from the sector.
“In view of the above, five applicants have obtained Air Operator Certificate (AOC) under the Najomo administration so far,” he said.
He stated that there has been a reduction of the total time for certifications, aircraft registrations and provision of technical services.
“List of certified heliports are now published on the NCAA website and the system has been set up to keep it updated,” he added.