The Nigerian Government has promised to strengthen the civil aviation sector
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made this known during the 41st General Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation ICAO in Montreal Canada.
He congratulated the Member States, International Organisations and all industry stakeholders for the determination, cooperation and coordination under the able leadership of ICAO in handling the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his address at the General Assembly of experts and managers of global Civil Aviation, the Minister said;
“And through our collective efforts, we were able to find new and even better ways and strategies to re-start, improve and facilitate the recovery of International air transportation beyond the next triennium
“Since Nigeria became a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council in 1962, it has continued to make valuable contributions to the ICAO Council’s work, and its activities.”
He noted that Nigeria has been playing a key role in supporting the implementation of ICAO Standards, Policies and Programs internationally, particularly in the African region.
“To this end, Nigeria has ratified all international air law instruments including the Montreal Protocol and amendments to articles 50(a) and 56 of the Chicago Convention, Nigeria is also championing the cause of Aviation safety, security and Facilitation in Africa.”
The Minister further noted that the Nigerian Government in its bid to ensure continuous compliance with ICAO Standards and to meet the challenges of a rapidly growing air transport sector has continued to maintain properly funded agencies in order to enhance aviation safety, and “Ensure effective and efficient provision and management of infrastructure in all aspects of the industry as well as guarantee its sustainable development.
“These include an autonomous Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority for safety and economic oversight of the industry; the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency for air navigation services; the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria for management of all airports; and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency for meteorological services including aeronautical meteorology.
“A bill to establish Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau has been passed by the National Assembly, which will transform the Nigerian Accident Investigation Bureau to a multi-modal Transport safety investigation agency.
“In this regard, Nigeria is looking forward to the support of ICAO under its No Country Left Behind initiative.”
The Minister said Nigeria is fully committed to working with other States and supporting the implementation of the Global Aviation Safety Plan, the Global Air Navigation Plan as well as the Global Aviation Security Plan Overtime.
Sirika, therefore, called for the support of ICAO to continue to encourage regional liberalization efforts, as they could be used as incentives to achieving global multilateral agreement on liberalization of market access.
PIAK
