Govt may merge aviation agencies

THERE are indications that the Federal Government may have reached an advanced stage of mergingsome aviation agencies.Likely to come under government's merger plan are the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).Just last week, the chief executives of the various aviation agencies were in Abuja to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the proposal.The Guardian learnt that the Federal Government was considering the wastage from the various boards of directors of aviation agencies and a plan to collapse all the parastatals into one board.It was learnt that a government's consultant came with a proposal that there were too many government agencies, with each of them defending the position whether to merge them or not.The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) are the two agencies that are most likely going to be exempted because of their autonomy and the critical nature of the services they provide in the sector.A source in the aviation industry who spoke on condition of anonymity and who was at the meeting last week, added that what was happening was reminiscent of what happened in the early 1990 when theFederal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)was mergedwith the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), leading to the emergence of the Federal Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA).Speaking to The Guardian on the development, President, Aviation Round Table (ART), Captain Dele Ore, said while it was good to merge some agencies, this would negate safety.He noted that rather than merge, the government should create more agencies.His words: 'What does the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rule say' Are we not going against what the status says' How can you merge a criticalagency likeNAMA' I hope we are still desirous of keeping safety in the aviation industry.'Assistant Secretary General of AirlineOperators of Nigeria (AON), Alhaji Mohammed Tukur,stated that Nigeria should not deviate from Annex 38 of the Chicago Convention,which Nigeria issignatoryto. He warned that the country might be penalised for defaulting.He explained that for any change to be made, the country has to make representation to ICAO and defend its position.'What we have now is a standard system certified by ICAO', he said, adding that anything else would put the country in a big jeopardy.
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