•Festus Keyamo
For the umpteenth time, experts in the Nigerian aviation industry have called on the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, to appoint a Board of Directors for the aviation agencies.
This time around, Dr. Gabriel Olowo, the Chairman, Sabre Technology and President of Sabre Travel Network, in an interview with journalists in Lagos today canvassed the position.
According to him, it was necessary for the minister to appoint a board for the agencies as stipulated in their acts, saying that this would make smooth assessment of each agency seamless by the minister, rather than the adhoc interference, reports Daily Independent.
Olowo regretted that the same was demanded severally in the last regime as headed by Sen. Hadi Sirika, the former Minister of Aviation, but without any positive result, wondering why Keyamo as a lawyer was toeing the same line.
Olowo emphasised that the current regime, barely one year in the office, had taken some giant steps to position the industry in the right perspective, but lamented that no action had been taken along this direction despite the call for it by the experts in the sector.
He added: “The board without emphasis will oversight the agencies and make smooth assessment of each agency seamless by the minister, rather than the adhoc interference as it were.
“One wonders why every subsequent minister finds it difficult to honour this aspect of the law safe for the route of undue interference on matters of the agencies.”
Sirika as a minister in the industry had spent eight years in the saddle without a board in any of the agencies.
Also, Sen. Stella Oduah, a former Minister of Aviation for almost three years, had supervised the agencies without board of directors for that period.
The agencies with board of directors, according to the Acts setting them up are the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).
Others are the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), while Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) does not have a board.
The Act setting up the NCAA stipulated the appointment of professionals as Chairman and members of the board, as well as representatives from three ministries.
