Let me take us back to history , It has become imperative to review how the industry has fared under the various administrations that have steered the ship of the country within the period. Aviation in Nigeria is older than the nation’s independence having started with the imperial Airways flight in 1935 carrying mails via Cairo, Egypt into Kano, with its development translating into the formation of West African Airways Corporation (WAACO) in 1946 and later establishment of Nigeria Airways in August, 1958.
The development marked the beginning of air transport industry in Nigeria. In 1959, the national carrier had in its fleet inventory one De-Havilland Dove, 3 Douglas DC-3 and 8 De-Havilland DH 114 Heron, totalling 16 aircraft and 1,384 employees.
At independent in 1960, the fleet capacity was reduced from 16 to seven, made up of seven DC-3 upon the withdrawal of the Dove and the Heron aircraft from service. In 1961, two Piper Aztec joined the fleet with a Britannia 102, plying the Lagos-London route.
By 1978, the industry became sophisticated with the introduction of modern aircraft. Nigeria Airways possessed 2 DC-10, 2 B707, 3 Boeing 737, 2 B727, seven F28s and 8 F-27. Before the period, the airline in 1964 had 13 aircraft made up of five F-27, six DC-3 and two Piper Aztec and in 1966, the British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC) introduced the VC10 aircraft on the Lagos-London route.
However, aviation started picking up in the early 1970s through the activities of the then national carrier, Nigeria Airways.
Throughout the period, the aviation sector in the country centred on Nigeria Airways, with the ministry of aviation at the helms of affairs.
This led to the emergence of private airlines, thus ending Nigeria Airways’ monopoly.
With the arrival of many domestic carriers to the local scene, the sector has continued to grow despite many challenges. There is no doubt that since the liquidation of the former national carrier by the Olusegun Obasanjo-led government, the growth of the sector has continued to fluctuate.
According to key players in the sector, Nigeria’s aviation sector in the last one year has recorded its ups and downs while a lot of waters have passed under the bridge which has impacted both positively and negatively on the sector.
For those who believed the sector under Jonathan in the last one year has fared well, among such activities that contributed positively to the growth of the sector include the massive upgrade of infrastructure as witnessed in the remodeling of the airports across the country, an idea which was mooted by the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah.
Airports serve as gateways into any country and travelers desire to feel at home with the facilities therein.
Nigeria now boasts of five remodeled international airports and 13 domestic ones, which have been upgraded in line with international standards after many years of decay.
Currently, the Federal Government is building five new international airports, which, along with the existing ones, would be fitted with modern facilities.
Though the remodeling have attracted criticisms, airport users, passengers and other industry players have attested to the fact that the aviation industry had never received the kind of intervention it has received in the last one year.
The innovations have definitely brought about noticeable growth in passenger and aircraft movements, as well as more investors who are showing increasing interest in partnering with the public and private sectors. Statistics shows that out of over 4.5 million passengers who used through the airports in 2013, 3.6 million were from the five major airports in the country, with aircraft movement for Lagos alone put at 21,955 while Abuja recorded 18,417.
There is no doubt that the government tried in the area of securing property and lives of airport users in view of the rise in the activities of terrorists as witnessed in the acquisition and installation of sophisticated security gadgets that can prevent any evil minded person from launching attack on the airports.
It was the ability of the airport authorities with the cooperation of the security agencies to monitor the security gadgets that prevented what would have become a serious calamity when the effort made by a handicapped to detonate explosives around the Lagos International airport was foiled.
The sector recorded increase in the number of domestic airlines with entrance of Air Peace, Azman Airline and Discovery which has given the travelling public an opportunity to make their choices.
The year also witnessed the situation when a Nigerian, in the person of Dr Bernard Aliu, became the first black man to become the president of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), greatly shoring up the image of the country.
Another major feat recorded in the year was the recent good news that the country successfully retained the Category One safety rating awarded by the United States of America’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The retention of the highest safety rating, according to the acting Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Benedict Adeyileka, served as an anniversary gift for the country.
Adeyileka said the category one safety rating will not only repose more confidence on the sector, but it would bring in several benefits for the aviation sector.
Following the recertification, more Nigerian carriers could now be designated to fly into the United States, thereby increasing the capacity of indigenous carriers on the American/Nigerian routes.
The period also witnessed involvement of some state governments in the building of standard airports as dividends of democracy to their indigenes. Among the states are Jigawa, Bauchi and Kebbi.
Besides the construction of airports, some of the governors also engaged in the training of their citizens in the various fields of aviation professions.
Even the government’s Amnesty Office, under Honourable Kingsley Kuku, single-handedly trained over 100 youths as pilots, engineers and other aviation professions.
No doubt that the year also witnessed the coming of more foreign airlines with additional frequencies granted many by the Federal Government. The too many frequencies doled out to the foreign carriers have been described as one of the bane of the domestic carriers.
Despite these achievements, many still believed that Nigeria is still far from its Eldorado in view of some negative policies of government confronting the sector.
The worst policy taken by the government in the year was its resolve to merge three aviation agencies namely, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the NCAA.
The decision elicited sharp reactions from key players and the workers levy the unions who argued that the decision would only take the sector back to the dark era.
According to experts, attempting to merge the agencies was an unpardonable blunder as it would have meant lumping the industry regulator with the service providers which would have led to chaos.
Top on this list is the multiple entry points the government continued in the last one year to give the mega carriers which many said has led to capital flights and inability of the indigenous airlines to grow.
Another major policy taken by government which has led sour taste in the mouths of key players was the decision to rush to stop the collection of the Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) royalty levies the country used to collect from the extra frequencies the mega carriers operate.
Stakeholders in the sector though agreed that to some extent progress has been made but they concluded that a lot still required to be done.
For Captain Dele Ore, president of Aviation Round Table (ART), the industry has made some progress in the last one year, but such achievements should be consolidated in the area of manpower development, more autonomy for the civil aviation authority and consistent policies that would drive the growth and development of the sector.
Group Captain John Ojikutu (Rtd), a former commandant at the Lagos airport on his own urged government to fix critical safety issues. Ojikutu called for the review of airport security master plan to decide who is in charge of access control.
According to him, until something drastic is done about fixing airport security and perimeter fences the whole idea of improving airport security would end up being a tall dream.
One major failure of government is in its inability to assist the domestic airlines out of their many challenges even when the foreign airlines are smiling to their banks in view of the policies put on ground which are all to their advantage.
Again, despite all criticisms and calls by key players on government to review its agreements with foreign airlines on the ground that such agreements were signed at the expense of Nigeria, government has continued to take the back seat.
The unresolved crises between the FAAN an agent of government and its many concessionaires remains a minus as the lingering problem has been described by many as a negative impact on the image of government.
The failure of government to fulfill its promise to provide a national carrier for the sector is a major setback. Even though some have argued that there was no need floating a new national carrier after the collapse of the former one, but majority have countered the position that Nigeria with the large population of 150 million deserves a national carrier.
It is generally believed that the floating of a national carrier will reduce the exploitation of the traveling public by the foreign carriers while it will make it easier for government to achieve its dream of making the Lagos airport a hub in West Africa.
In the area of airport security, government still needs to do more as key players had raised the alarm over the porousity of many of the airports with many lacking major safety components such as perimeter fences and adequate fire cover.
The undue politicization of the sector by government still leaves much to be desired. For the past six months, the government has been playing politics with the confirmation of a substantive director general for the NCAA, an organ responsible for the auditing and regulation of safety issues relating to flight safety in the country.
The height of the interference is seen in the inability of the chief executives of the various agencies to take decisions on their own in line with international standards which key players want to be nipped in the bud.
Credit : SHOLA ADEKOYA
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