Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Aviation in conjunction with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) have concluded the seventh edition of the African-Indian Ocean(AFI) meeting in Abuja, with a resolve to strengthen regional cooperation and aviation safety.
The meeting hosted the Directors General of Civil Aviation Authorities, Aviation Safety and Security Representatives, Aviation Experts of African-Indian Oceanside (AFI) Region Member States, and other Representatives and experts from International/ Regional Organisations in the aviation industry.
The Director General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Musa Nuhu who is also the Chairman, Banjul Accord Group Safety Oversight Organisation (BAGASOO) said “as global aviation industry is recovering from the severe effects of COVID-19 crisis, it is inevitable that we reflect on the attendant exposure of the vulnerability of the aviation industry in such crucial moments and the realisation that the future of civil aviation relies intrinsically on regional cooperation and collaboration.”
The Banjul Accord Group Safety Oversight Organisation BAGASOO was established on the 29th of January 2004, seven West African States Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Cape Verde and Sierra Leone, met in Banjul, Gambia to sign the Banjul Accord Group (BAG) Agreement, with the mission to promote highest safety standard within the Banjul Accord member States and to be a word class regional safety oversight organisation.
He said there was immense benefits and opportunities for member countries through technical support to member States to mitigate their “safety oversight deficiencies, national inspectors, capacity building to its current project of regional hermonisation and regulations.”
Speaking on the Green-Sky-Green-Nigeria project, Nuhu said that Climate Change is the most existential crisis of our time and there is the global frenzy to innovate Climate Smart Solutions across Multi-industry stakeholders, and Multi-lateral development institutions adding that the United Nations has created a forced perspective for corporate leaders, heads of regulator’s organisation and leaders of nations across the world.
He emphasized the need for concerted efforts to achieve the Paris Climate agreement and the Glasgow declaration to keep global temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius and global carbon concentrations in the atmosphere at less than 360ppm (parts per million).”
The Executive Director of BAGASOO Capt. Tidiane Bah, said that the Banjul Accord Group Safety Oversight Organisation has been to leverage on its opportunities to consistently work with member States through carefully designed programs targeted to support where establishment of new safety oversight systems are lacking and to also strengthen the existing ones.
“The ultimate objective has been to foster a safe aviation environment characterised by reduced regional accident and incident rates even in the face of a growing traffic.”
The event availed the Directors General of Civil Aviation Authorities the opportunity to brainstorm and chart a course aimed at further developing the appropriate strategies and providing the necessary actions to support the enhancement of the aviation system in Africa.
The meeting also covered several other important meetings including, the Ninth Meeting of the AFI Directors-General of Civil Aviation, the Twenty-Fifth Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Comprehensive Regional Implementation Plan for Aviation Safety in Africa and the Eleventh Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Comprehensive Regional Implementation Plan for Aviation Security and Facilitation in Africa Aviation Symposium.
Highlight of the event include; signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Nigeria and some notable countries.
Hauwa Abu
