For many years, these agencies have become drain pipes for looting revenues meant to stimulate growth in the sector. While unapproved funds withdrawal by the various ministers of aviation became pervasively normal, staff of the agencies took advantage of the lawless exercises to enrich themselves.
Stella Oduah’s tenure witnessed the most explosive financial recklessness in aviation. She perpetrated financial crimes that have endangered any possible prosperity of aviation industry in Nigeria. Yet, she is still sitting in the senate as part of those making laws for Nigeria.
While the alleged frauds in the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) may appear fresh in our mind, stealing activities of the agency has been an everlasting exercise for years. In some cases, aviation ministers dipped hands into NAMA’s treasury, in connivance with the managing director. The director of finance, who usually sees loopholes to embezzle, is ever excited to support the minister or MD’s request. A corrupt minister is always a precursor to employee’s vested appetite to cheat.
Aviation is not different from the other sectors of our economy, where corruption is always the Modus Operandi. The only slight difference is that airline operators are made to cough out money through arbitrary charges, which are usually paid in cash. In some cases, an aircraft is not permitted to take off unless the bill or Navigational charges are prepaid.
There is nothing more tempting than payment in physical cash. Sometimes, NAMA or FAAN’s receipts for such payment are fake or unrecorded. This mode of payment has, over the years, established corruption in all the agencies, except in the NCAA, where all payments must be made into a bank account. What is not recorded will most likely never be detected. This practice has wetted the appetite of the majority of top level managers in FAAN and NAMA. It’s time to end this protracted, wrong mode of payment.
Despite huge levies and charges imposed on the airlines, and the billions of Naira realised, our national airspace remains absolutely unsafe. Communication, Navigation and Surveillance are poor. Kano Flight Information Region (FIR), despite its huge coverage, has the poorest communication equipment in Africa. Pilots flying within Nigeria, and those overflying our airspace rely on assisted relays to pass information to Kano center. This lingered deficiency has remained unrectified for more than two decades, albeit billions of Naira is voted annually to rectify this safety issue; a national embarrassment.
The question on everyone’s mind is what has happened to the annual budget to solve the radio communication problem in Kano.
Also, the majority of our airports lack serviceable instrument landing system (ILS). Again, the top managers in NAMA cannot, for many years, keep this landing aid serviceable, even at the international airports. Pilots always rely on onboard equipment such as Global Position System (GPS) and Flight Management System (FMS), with raw knowledge of the airports to make safe landing.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, generates over N20 billion annually, yet less than 50% of this revenue is used to support its services, including airport maintenance and development. The quest for a world class airport in Nigeria, has long eluded FAAN’s management. Every manager has been enjoying the illicit bounty, since serially, ministers and the agency’s top echelon feast on all available resources. The rest is stolen within the system.
A search light on FAAN will reveal more can of worms than any of the agencies.
NIMET was one major outlet of Oduah’s embezzlement adventure, but has never been probed. The billions of Naira consumed or stolen over the years cannot measure with the halve-baked, second fiddle weather reports.
I tend to agree with the minister of state aviation, Hadi Sirika, when he stated that the sector has collapsed. With the rampant corruption in the system, nothing works. And the only logical way to address the issue is to, first, weed out the corrupt officials, employ qualified candidates, with stern warning to punish anyone engaged in unlawful act. The system needs urgent sanitisation.
The irresponsible way of looting funds meant for aviation development in Nigeria cannot be allowed to continue. Airlines themselves are feeling the brunt of our economic meltdown; therefore, it’s time for accountability and responsible management of all the agencies’ resources.
The most challenging aspect of reorganising the sector is when to commence restructuring exercise. Let’s start by enforcing the existing laws. Anyone one found wanting in the ongoing investigations must be made to refund the alleged stolen amount; thereafter, he or she must be dismissed. Corruption should not be measured on the value of funds stolen. What is wrong, is wrong.
The industry is capable of sustaining itself, if every penny generated is properly utilised.
The sector has remained rotten because greedy and corrupt supervising ministers like Oduah orchestrated direct looting of funds from the system. This act inflated more staff interest to engage in rampant theft.
No country on earth will allow the continuous mess we witness every day. The devalued Naira will hurt every sector, but aviation will bear more pain.
Starting with NAMA is a worthy cause, but FAAN and NIMET must follow suit.
LEADERSHIP
END
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