AVIATION IN NIGERIA SINCE INDEPENDENCE: CHEERS OR TEARS?

One hundred years of powered flight was celebrated worldwide some years ago and it is over eighty five since aviation industry made a debut into Nigeria. International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO) celebrated her 60^th Anniversary on 7^th December,2004 with full Nigerian participation at her 35^th General Assembly I Montreal, Canada. Weighed against all these landmarks events, aviation in Nigeria is still in a doldrums. Foreign airlines operating in and out of Nigeria are doing very well while the participation of Nigeria indigenous airlines is negligible due to constraints brought about by bad policies of government.

POLICY

A cumulative impact of policies, bad decisions, the market, competition and financing difficulty are destroying the Nigerian Aviation Industry. The economy has so much to do with its strength but obviously the biggest problem seems to be lack of attention placed on whatever is Nigeria’s interest. This is why the airlines from strong and advanced countries of the world continue to be stronger while those owned by Nigerians are denied the much needed goodwill and very strong political base for survival. In an industry which does not allow for any mistake, lack of adequate regulation will result in an attempt to cut corners with possible catastrophic consequences( 2005-2006) are sad memories of this.

AIRLINES

It is pertinent to note that, most of our airlines are characterized by low capitalization, high indebtedness, low capacity utilization, wet and dry leasing of aircraft, unstable manpower retention-high rate of attrition of technical staff- which are symptoms of an economically deficient airline industry. Unfortunately, the dwindling value of the Naira against other foreign currencies has further worsened the situation for Nigerian airline operarors. It is even more disturbing that aviation industrial, commercial and socio-economic development of the nation has no credit agency exclusively put in place to fund aviation unlike in other sectors of the economy. Furthermore, the interest rates being charged by Banks and Financial Institutions on loans are too high for any airline to borrow and operate profitably. To aggravate the situation, the fortunes of some airlines that have gone under or have been distressed consequently stopping operations are not encouraging enough to attract investment in the industry. Among some of the very sore points in the industry in the past 50 years include but not limited to the following:

NEGATIVE IMPACT

< Failed Airlines

Nigeria( now Air Nigeria)

Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos as a hub for West Africa

<$120million Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria’s airspace project

Port Harcourt International Airport

On the whole, activities in the industry were overshadowed by the liquidation of Nigeria Airways Limited.

THE CHEERS

Nigeria has cause to celebrate some landmark events for which aviation stakeholders have cause to be proud of. These include but not limited to the following:

>Nigeria Meteorological Agency(NIMET) emergence into relevance

>Successful privatization of Skypower Aviation Handling Company(SAHCOL)

>Emergence of new Ground Handling services companies

>Completion of Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria project

>Nigeria’s good performance at the 2006 ICAO’s Audit

>Successful International Workshops hosted by Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and Nigeria Airspace Management Agency

>Public, Private Participation and the Build, Operate and Transfer(BOT) project of the MMA2

>Legislation and Regulations put in place to meet international standards-Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulation and the Civil Aviation Act, 2006

Ø  All female crew by aerocontractor Co. Nig Ltd under the command of Capt. Agbelusi.

Ø  Nigeria’s appointment into management positions at ICAO, AFRAA and AFCAC

Ø  Achievement of the FAA CAT 1 certificate of NCAA

Ø  CBN intervention funds for Airline

Ø  AIB efforts at accident prevention and efforts towards an efficient laboratory.

6.         THE CHALLENGES

This can be summarized thus:

1. Inconsistent Aviation Development Policies to last 20 years or more
2. Inadequate funding of the aviation parastatals by the Federal Government
3. Unreliable Power supply to airports and Air Navigation Services (ANS)
4. Ageing Manpower and shortages unable to cope with 21^st century demands
5. No modern Airport Infrastructure for modern and big aircraft such as A380
6. Lack of Weather Radars to cover Nigerian Airspace
7. Very expensive Aviation Fuel costs
8. Very few flying schools and Aviation Training Organizations (ATOs)
9. Inability of immigration to apply Biometrics Technology fully
10. Dual designations in Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) and multiple entry approval to foreign airlines
11. Uncoordinated development of State Airports without adequate resources to sustain them
12. Low passenger traffic volume on Domestic Operations to sustain the Airlines
13. No dominant flag carrier Airlines to compete with foreign Airlines
14. PPP IN Aviation Sector remain controversial.

AVIO- DIPLOMACY

In 1998, Nigeria offered to train 20 Aviators from other needy African countries annually for a five- year period in various disciplines at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology(NCAT), Zaria for reason of Aviation integration and the expected leadership role of Nigeria.

This programme should be expanded and brought to conclusive implementation. As a result of the disadvantaged positions of domestic carriers, the mega carriers from the European block and liberated American domain have continued to weaken them under their individual State positions through multiple designation and “open skies” bilateral arrangements. The resultant effect is the total collapse of National carriers in the Economic Community of West African State(ECOWAS) as well as massive capital flights to Europe and elsewhere with stunted growth for the private operators who could have provided the representation for these countries. Let it be said, No NATIONAL carrier anywhere in Africa can survive it alone in the face of contending global evolutions in the air transport business.

INTERNATIONAL AVIATION SAFETY ASSESSMENT(IASA) PROGRAMME

Ø  Prior to 1990, the FAA only questioned foreign regulatory oversight when obvious safety issues were prevalent

Ø  Public concerns grew from safety related problems that came to light with the 1990 Avianca  B707 plane crash

Ø  FAA established the International Aviation Safety Assessment(IASA) progam and rapidly determined that numerous authorities did not meet the ICAO STANDARDS

Ø  FAA appealed to ICAO to accept responsibility for determining adequacy of regulatory oversight

Ø  ICAO, US and some other countries now have audit programmes

(i)                 International Aviation Safety Assessment program

Ø  Today, the FAA assesses the operational safety oversight capability authorities for countries with service to the US

Ø  Two ratings are currently employed

-Category 1, complies with ICAO Standards

            -Category 2, does not comply with ICAO Standards

      > Airlines from countries in Category 2 are either restricted from US operations              or cannot expand services into the US (with limited amount of time to correct      deficiencies

      (ii) Achieving FAA Category 1 status-The FAA’s IASA is based on Civil Aviation Authority’s compliance to international(ICAO) standards.

REQUIREMENTS

Government commitment at highest levels to adhere to ICAO International Safety Standards, to hire qualified personnel and to commit resources and training

ICAO EIGHT (8) CRITICAL ELEMENTS

1. Civil Aviation Law
2. Civil Aviation Regulations
3. Inspector Guidance
4. Inspector Qualifications
5. Authority Structure
6. Certification
7. Surveillance
8. Resolution of Safety Issues/Enforcement, all elements must be continually monitored, up-dated and enforced

This exercise would normally take 4-5 years to achieve, but Nigeria achieved it in a record time for which our commendation goes to all concerned, but our big concern is its “Sustainability”.

CONCLUSION

Nigeria could have achieved full potentials in the air transportation sector if there are: Consistent Policies; Long term coordinated Aviation Planning covering 20 years or more; Adequate funding with low interest rate on bank loans and finally, aggressive manpower development after independence was sustained. The government must support and sustain the aviation sector as a catalyst for economic development to catch up with the Asian Tigers who attained independence also 50 years ago.

This is a position paper on Nigeria’s 50^th Independence Celebration prepared and presented on behalf of members of the Aviation Round Table(ART) jointly by Capt Dele Ore(president) and Mr Sam Akerele (secretary-general).