At symposium, Olateru harps on safety as backbone of aviation sector

• AIB to train all accident investigation in West Africa

Commissioner, Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Akin Olateru said the agency would not relent in its vigorous pursuit of aviation safety, stressing that it would continue to up the ante of safety in Nigeria and Africa.

Speaking at the regional enlightenment symposium in Enugu, Olateru who was represented by General Manager, Public Affairs of the agency, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi reiterated the importance of safety in the aviation sector.

Describing safety as the backbone of aviation industry, Olateru stated that without it, aviation loses its meaning, stressing that this is why every organ or unit in the industry works tirelessly to ensure the safety of air travelers.

He further stated that until recently, the Nigerian aviation industry had no fatality for about five years.

According to him, “I would like to assure air travelers that the aviation industry is not daunted in its commitment to achieve zero accident in the industry. The AIB, on its part will not relent in its vigorous pursuit of adding values that will up the ante of safety in Nigeria and Africa.”

The agency under Olateru, an aircraft engineer is focused on engendering relationships, which has facilitated excellence and enduring world-class standards in the investigation and prevention of air accidents in Nigeria.

His words, “Collaboration is about creating a working relationship. For anybody to want to collaborate with you, first of all, you need to be in a position to add value. What we have done at AIB, is that we have raised the profile of the Bureau and built that trust within the industry that we are unbiased. That we are professionals, focused and that we are clear on our mandate.”

He disclosed that these working collaborations had prompted some institutions wanting to partner with AIB, adding that France, recently wrote asking for collaboration which culminated in the signing of Memorandum of Understanding  with the European country.

Saudi Arabia equally wrote to the AIB for collaboration but the effort was slowed down by the COVID-19 pandemic which delayed the signing of MoU with the Arabian country.

The Banjul Accord Group Accident Investigation Agency (BAGAIA), a regional body, has also reached out to AIB because of the need to want to use AIB Nigeria to support the entire West Africa. This is ongoing.

The AIB chief seized the opportunity to highlight the agency’s world class Flight Safety Laboratory in Abuja, promising that before the end of this year, there would be Atraining for all accident investigators in the region to showcase the facility.

“We also recently signed an MoU with the Nigerian Air Force on collaboration on mutual benefits. This collaboration will save the Air Force some money in terms of fund it allocates to downloading its Flight Data Recorders, commonly known as Black boxes abroad following an air crash. For AIB, the collaboration will benefit us in terms of accessing remote crash sites faster and easily since the Air Force has helicopters that can transport our investigators.”

“We are currently seeking collaboration with security and emergency agencies across the country in terms of security of evidences at crash sites”.

“We have a strong collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps and we have trained their personnel and security personnel from the Nigerian Police Force, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps on air disaster management. This is aimed at ensuring that evidences at crash sites are not tampered with”.

“Tertiary institutions in Nigeria are not left out in our collaborative efforts as AIB has MoUs with the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), and University of Lagos (UNILAG) on the use of its material science laboratory”.

As part of its cooperation agreement with UNILAG, the Bureau’s investigators were recently trained on the use of drones as part of accident investigation technique at the UNILAG Consult Building.

AIB success story has really impressed not only agencies in the country but other nations. For example, South Africa asked their consultant to come and examine how the agency has been able to professionally handle its activities in order to see what they can replicate into their own operations.

The current  administration of the Bureau has also engaged in international collaborations and cooperation agreements with several countries and institutions such as Republic of Benin, US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Singapore Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB), Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de l’aviation civile (BEA- France) and UK AAIB.

Wole Shadare