The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, or NCAA, has defended the reason why the International Civil Aviation Organisation, or ICAO, gave the nation’s aviation industry a rating of 71.04 percent, claiming that certain shortcomings were fixed by Mr. Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, and Captain Chris Najomo, Acting Director-General of NCAA.
Remember that Nigeria received a statutory 60-to 90-day lifeline to correct all ICAO-identified deficiencies after failing the audit, scoring below the 75 percent bar. According to Mr. Michael Achimugu, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Nigeria would have received a 30% rating when the results were announced if those flaws had remained.
Achimugu described as playful remarks made by pundits that Keyamo and Najomo were to blame for the low ratings. He claimed that the minister and NCAA DG in office with the intention of addressing the dilapidated infrastructure and inadequate worker compensation. “Six months ago, we met a dilapidated industry with poor infrastructure,” Achimugu stated.
The past six months have not seen the onset of the security and safety problems. What we encountered on the ground would not have received a 30% audit score if not for the Honourable Minister’s and the DGCA’s diligent efforts. Based on the conditions that existed when Keyamo and Najomo took office, the current result is a really impressive achievement—a miracle, if I may say so.
The story being brushed aside is only a small portion of a bigger plan to remove Keyamo and Najomo from government. It is the labour of paid mercenaries with a single goal in mind. The ICAO auditors, in their last briefing at the NCAA, were very complimentary of our work.
They even recounted an instance in which they had protested about infrastructure being missing, just to find, to their delighted surprise, that it had been provided the very following day! They claimed that only Nigeria responds to criticism with such vigour. Who are these puff puff specialists trying to fool the public, if the ICAO experts were happy?
“We have firsthand information that a media team has been hired to maintain chaos until Keyamo is evacuated or relocated, as some individuals wish to reclaim the contracts they were occupied with assigning themselves and their loved ones while vital infrastructure began to deteriorate.
We shall thwart any effort to mislead the people of Nigeria. “Keyamo did not become one of this administration’s main players by doing nothing. During the first half of his tenure, he unbundled the system’s decay. Regretfully, six months is not enough to even begin to scratch the surface of the rot. They are unrelenting in their battle because they are aware of this.
NCAA
“However, this NCAA and the minister will stop at nothing to sanitise aviation. Our labour is visible, and we are working. Remember that Nigeria’s aviation industry failed the required audit for the first time in fifteen years, falling five points short of the 75% requirement.
