Festus Keyamo Meets ICAO Team, Tours Facilities

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo today met with the visiting team of the International Civil Aviation Organization-ICAO in Abuja.

The ICAO team’s visit is precipitated on the much-awaited audit of the nation’s airports and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority-NCCA for the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP).

The Minister in his welcome address extoled the virtues and recognized the roles of ICAO USOAP in the international aviation industry, saying that Nigeria no doubt recognizes the role of ICAO in constantly addressing and enhancing the global aviation safety through coordinated activities.

Speaking directly to the leader of the ICAO team, Keyamo said, “It is noted that the mission you embarked upon to Nigeria is a very important one aimed at, not only promoting the global civil aviation safety through the monitoring of Contracting States’ safety oversight capabilities, but also improving their systems.

“It therefore gives me great honour that you are visiting Nigeria at this time when the nation just concluded a transition to a new government in the annals of our democracy.”

The Minister opinion that, without iota of doubt, the accomplishment of the audit is a shared national responsibility and as such, has been the focus of the Federal Government.

“Nigeria is fully aware that ensuring safe, secure efficient and environmentally-friendly civil aviation system, with modern and adequate infrastructure require adequately funded autonomous Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and an Independent National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), together with well- established aviation service providers.

“In its bid to ensure continuous compliance with ICAO Standards and to meet the challenges of a rapidly growing air transport sector, Nigerian Government has continued to maintain and to reposition the industry for efficiency and the path of sustainable growth,” he said.

Speaking further, the Minister explained that, whilst Nigeria is not new to audits, no stone was left unturned in the preparation for the audit, to ensure a significant rise in the effective implementation of all the safety functional areas.

“Safety remains Nigeria’s priority, non-negotiable and it supersedes all other considerations for civil aviation”, he affirmed.

Being his first working visit to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja the Honourable Minister was led on a tour of several departments of the NCAA office by the Director General of NCAA, Capt. Musa Shuaibu Nuhu and he was also at the Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu-led Nigerian Meteorological Agency-NiMET where he was a guest presenter on Weather Forcast.