Plaudits for Acting DG NCAA, Najomo for aviation sector reform

Plaudits have come the way of the Acting Director-General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for reforms he has brought to the agency.

The commendation is coming from the spokesman for African Aviation Renaissance Group (AARG), Comrade Akanbi Adimula, adding that the NCAA has once again reinforced the time-tested solution to the challenge of leadership and position mismatch in our national life.

Adimula stated that in early 2024 when the Minister of Aviation effected changes in the leadership of all agencies under his ministry, the most applauded of the appointments were those of the female managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria FAAN and the appointment of Capt. Chris Najomo, who was then a serving Director in the aviation regulator NCAA.

Plaudits he said were effusive in their commendation of Mr. Festus Keyamo for rising above the usual political sentiments and exigencies, to appoint an industry professional who was not a stranger to the regulatory/administrative dynamics of Nigerian Civil Aviation.

He said about eight months down the line, Najomo’s appointment though in an acting capacity has turned out to be the much-needed elixir and healing balm that the NCAA and Nigerian civil aviation have been waiting for after the not-too-impressive industrial showing of the last administration.

He particularly pointed to how Najomo has been able to transform the workplace climate at the regulatory authority through enhanced collaboration amongst the management team, as well as between the workers’ body and top management.

Giving credit to what he has done since his appointment, Adimula noted that at NCAA, administration flows seamlessly; with reduced stress, improved employee retention and greater commitment of the staff to their regulatory oversight responsibilities.

He said the NCAA boss has taken workers’ welfare to a new height, particularly with the payment of backlog of Housing (Rent) arrears to all Staff that had accumulated from 2019. Vigorously tackled staff stagnation issues:

It would be recalled that the Minister accepted the recommendation of the Ag. DGCA approved an inter-directorate deployment to open up bottlenecks in the structure, and subsequent promotion of stagnated staff from GL.14 to GL.15.

The affected staff have stagnated in the same career position for between 5 and 10 years without promotion.

Aside from that, Najomo is said to have successfully reorganised and populated newly-created directorates for efficiency tackling payment of a huge backlog of relocation allowance due to staff consequent upon the movement of the NCAA headquarters from Lagos to Abuja by the Federal government.

Najomo’s open-door policy and regular engagement (both formally and informally) with the NCAA unions to ensure peace and stability in the workforce is unprecedented leading to industrial harmony at the agency.

. The Ag. DGCA recently signed a performance bond with each director at the end of a retreat, thus, setting the stage for the achievement of the DGCA’s performance target for the year 2024, which also is in line with the Hon. Minister’s 5-point agenda.

On institutionalisation of the meritorious service recognition for deserving staff, Najomo has scored highly. This commenced with three staff recognized in the Port Harcourt Regional Office in February 2024. This innovation has led to improved dedication and greater productivity of the staff.

The aviation industry is losing technical personnel which has negatively affected human capacity development.

Consequently, Najomo concentrated on Technical Innovation For the Industry, otherwise known as (CAMP) which is ICAO assisted programme that has taken off

Adimula said, “The CAA is collaborating with industry stakeholders, having forwarded the draft SSP plan to them for stakeholder input before final sign-off by Capt. Najomo As a result of the above, key safety performance targets are expected to be set by the regulator and an Acceptable Level of Safety Performance (ALoSP) will be defined for Nigeria”.

He further stated that for the first time, the NCAA helmsman created a Project Monitoring and Contract Evaluation Unit (PMCEU) to ensure probity and transparency in the execution of NCAA’s projects.

A committee, he reiterated has since been inaugurated by the Ag. DGCA to draft the authority’s first quality assurance document including setting up of the Flight Incidents Data Centre in collaboration with APS.

This initiative aims to tackle the dearth of credible data for decision-making and proper planning that has plagued the civil aviation industry for years.

The Data Centre has been slated for formal commissioning by the Minister of Aviation. On the issue of high air fares charged by foreign airlines, NCAA engaged with foreign airlines in February 2024, Ag. DGCA inaugurated a committee comprising officials from the NCAA, FCCPC and NANTA in March 2024.

These engagements and other actions by the Federal Government resulted in foreign airlines unblocking their lower inventory fares and making cheaper fares available for Nigerians.

“Najomo worked assiduously with his principal; the Minister’s buoyed by the commitment of Mr President to secure the commencement of Air Peace the Lagos-London operations, Nigerians have since been enjoying this service and underground work continues to secure the airlines’ entry into other routes in the UK and the USA.”

“A complete re-evaluation of all holders of Permit for Non-Commercial Flight (PNCF) ordered by the Najomo is currently ongoing to ensure such holders are adhering to the terms and conditions of their permits.  This has been aggressively supported by the Barrister Keyamo to ensure fair practice and accountability among operators. Creation of a dedicated unit for the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) to drive the growth of the Drone/Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPAS) industry in Nigeria”.

He disclosed that  Najomo has enjoyed unparalleled support from the Minister of Aviation, as well as the cooperation of the various heads of sister aviation agencies, what cannot be denied is the fact that the Federal government has gotten it right in aviation, by appointing a man who is hugely committed to making a difference in the assignment given to him.

“The administrative and technical achievements of Najomo under 8 months in acting capacity as the helmsman of the regulatory body for civil aviation in Nigeria, is a pointer to the goodies that lie ahead of the all-important industry in the scheme of things of Nigeria’s economic development”, Adimula added.

Wole Shadare