The United States Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, has threatened to bar Nigerian airlines from flying to its country due to Security issues.
The organization has given a 65-day ultimatum to Nigerian airlines to address the specified security risks or risk being barred. This development is coming shortly after a team of US FAA officials carried out an audit for the renewal of Nigeria’s category one safety status. The ultimatum was issued on August 24th.
PoliticsNGR learned that the US FAA periodically checks foreign airports with which it has bilateral agreements to ensure they meet set standards. The checks include having effective and efficient aviation regulations, operational state civil aviation systems and safety oversight functions and technical personnel qualification and training. Others include the provision of technical guidance, tools, provision of safety-critical information, licensing, certification, authorization and approval obligations.
However, an industry expert, John Ojutiku, CEO of Centurion Securities and member of the Aviation Industry think-tank, Aviation Round table, ART, had this to say;
“Many stakeholders would probably be asking; what is the necessity for the certification when the industry was already classified category one?
What many do not know, however, is that the classification of Nigeria as Category one, was meant only for the NCAA Regulations and oversight competence, the way university academic programs are rated or accredited by the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC).
Unfortunately, the NCAA is like a university that has been long accredited but has not been able to graduate a student. The NCAA, in spite of its category one status classification in 2010 and even today in 2017 after its reclassification, has not been able to give certification to a single airport among the over 28 federal and state airports in the country.”
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