NCAA defends Nigeria’s 71.04% score in ICAO security audit
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has defended the country’s 71.04 per cent score in the recently conducted International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Universal Security Audit Programme-Continuous Monitoring Approach (USAP-CMA) in the country’s aviation industry.
This is as Mr. Chris Amokwu, aviation expert, has challenged the regulatory agency to immediately commence corrective action plans to close the gaps in the report.
A statement by Mr. Michael Achimugu, the Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection Department, said that the doggedness of Mr. Festus Keyamo and Capt. Chris Najomo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development and Acting Director-General Civil Aviation, respectively ensured the country scored as high as 71.04 per cent.
According to him, if not for the duo, Nigeria would have scored about 30 per cent in the just concluded audit.
He stated that the duo was pivoted to the ICAO’s 71.04% rating following their leadership skills and dexterity in mobilising manpower and resources to ensure all open gaps were closed.
He debunked the claim in some quarters that the minister and Najomo were responsible for the poor ratings the country achieved in the audit, stressing that the two came into office barely months ago and went to work immediately to improve on the deteriorating infrastructure and poor remunerations of workers they met on ground.
He said: “Six months ago, we met a dilapidated industry with poor infrastructure. The security and safety issues did not start in the last six months. Had it not been for the tireless efforts of the Honourable Minister and the DGCA, what we met on the ground would not have scored 30 per cent in the audit.
“Going by what was on the ground when Keyamo and Najomo assumed office, the current score is a substantially good showing, a miracle if I must say. The narrative being pushed out is just part of the larger strategy to push out Keyamo and Najomo from office. It is the handwork of paid mercenaries who have just one task.”
He emphasised that ICAO auditors commended the country’s performance during their final briefing at the NCAA.
Achimugu explained that Keyamo spent his first six months unbundling the rot in the system, but regretted that the rot had degenerated.
Amokwu in an interview with our correspondent, said that the NCAA should as a matter of urgency commence the corrective action plans noticed by ICAO during the exercise.
The expert also wondered why the NCAA did not release the outcome of the exercise to the public until it filtered into the media.
He maintained that the NCAA should not wait till ICAO returned to the country before it commences the corrective action plans.
“After you have done your audit and you think you are okay, you can then invite ICAO again, but this time around you pay for it. They will come and look at you to validate all the actions you have said you have done and then your score goes through the roof.
“And I am sure, if the NCAA works collaboratively with the support of the press, the Ministry, the entire industry, I believe our scores will shoot through the air. At least the audit has shown us where we are. If we were deceiving ourselves or we were blinded by it, now it is quite obvious.
“However, I still wonder why the NCAA did not release the result of the audit to the public until it filtered into the media. I think we should be open in all we do.”
