The aviation industry is a catalyst
for socio-economic development anywhere! It provides the fastest and safest
means of transportation of persons and cargo within and between countries
thereby promoting commerce and industry, two of the major determinants of the
Gross Domestic Product.
Tourism, which today, constitutes
the economic mainstay of such countries as UAE and Ethiopian, is given impetus
by air transportation. This perhaps, explains the prominence occupied by
Emirates and Ethiopian airlines in the economies of these two countries. And
you are tempted to ask, what can any economy do without aviation?
The administration of President
Muhammed Buhari has shown, by its recent pronouncements and policies on the
aviation industry, that it is ready to exploit the economic potentials of the
industry, to stimulate growth in the country’s economy. In his presentation at
the last interactive forum with aviation stakeholders in Abuja, the Minister of
State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, acknowledged that “aviation is pivotal to
growth of key economic sectors, certainly not limited to travel and tourism,
agricultural production and distribution, rural development, trade and
commerce, manufacturing, oil and other non-oil sectors.”
He added that aviation “is that
critical tool necessary for economic transformation of any nation. Indeed, the
value chain creation by aviation is enormous”. Simply put, the President
Muhammadu Buhari administration is well aware of the economic potentials of the
aviation industry, its present challenges and how to adequately tackle these
challenges, with a mind to making the best of these potentials in the overall
interest of the country.
According to Senator Sirika, “the
present administration is focusing on issues that will rapidly develop the
aviation sector within the shortest possible time”. He highlighted the
challenges of the industry and Government’s response to them. On global and
national security threats from terrorism, he said that Government had begun a
comprehensive security threat and vulnerability assessment, development of a
new security strategy in partnership with international security organization
and procurement of modern, state of the art equipment. These are in addition to
the commencement of an airport certification programme and manpower capacity
development.
Another major policy thrust of this
administration is the concession of the four major international airports in
Lagos, Port – Harcourt, Abuja and Kano, after infrastructure upgrade to address
the recurring challenge of obsolete airport infrastructure and inadequate
capacity. This administration is also poised to establish a national carrier in
order to gain optimal benefits from BASA/MASA and minimise capital flight,
among other things. The absence of a major maintenance repair and overhaul
facility in West and Central Africa which is responsible for high cost of
aircraft maintenance for Nigerian airlines has necessitated the setting up of a
world class MRO facility that will attract clientele from other parts of the
world. The MRO, when established will further be encouraged to start
manufacturing aircraft parts.
The Federal Government will also
facilitate the completion of agro-allied and cargo terminals at designated
airports across the country. This move is expected to enhance the country’s
foreign exchange earnings, apart from discouraging rural-urban migration and
encouraging massive rural development. A major milestone of this administration
in the industry is the establishment of an aviation university that would
“specifically produce the needed workforce for better efficiency” and curb the
absence of high level management staff and research capabilities in the
aviation industry.
This Government also intends to
establish an Aviation Leasing Company, the first of its type in the country, in
order to address the challenges of limited access to capital, high debt
profile, inadequate number of aircraft in the fleet of local airlines and high
cost of leasing. Government also intends to establish an Aviation Development
Bank to enable industry entrepreneurs get long term funding at reasonable
interest rates, among other things. In that presentation, Senator Sirika also
hinted that the Ministry of Transportation was working with the Central Bank of
Nigeria, the Ministry of Budget and National Planning and the Ministry of
Finance to include local airlines in the priority list of foreign exchange
allocation. He also promised that Government would sustain the policy of
granting duty waivers to local airlines for the importation of aircraft and
aircraft spares which he said had “contributed immensely to the survival of
(local) airlines”.
These policies of the present
administration, when fully implemented, have the potential of further unlocking
the economic potentials of the country’s aviation industry, making it more
“profitable, self-sustaining and beneficial to all stakeholders” according to
the Minister.
A sign of what to expect in the
industry in future is indicated in the achievements recorded by this
administration in the last one year. The flagship of Nigerian airports, the
Murtala Muhammed Airport and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja passed
a recent ICAO security audit with 96 per cent, apart from Nigeria passing the
ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit. Within this period, operation in the
control tower at MAKIA, Kano was automated while bomb containment vessels were
provided at the Kano and Port-Harcourt Airports, among other numerous
achievements.
Yakubu Dati is the General Manager,
Public Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)
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