Sirika vows to quit if Abuja airport deadline fails

**Lagos, Abuja to get ICAO certification
  
       
Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika said he was ready to resign if the Abuja airport runway is not fixed within the six weeks slated for completion of work on the facility that defied new maintenance procedure, necessitating the shutdown of the facility.
This came as the Minister disclosed that the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos is in line for certification May this year while that of Abuja is expected to be the next in line for certification December 2017.
Sirika made the disclosure when the Minister and Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed met with the apex aviation think-tank, Aviation Round Table (ART), comprising highly respected aviation veterans, said work on the Abuja airport was going smoothly, stressing that he staked his reputation and everything he has to ensure that the facility is ready by April 19, 2017. Both agreed that the project would be delivered next month.
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L-R: Captain Dele Ore, President Emeritus, Aviation Round-table; Elder Gbenga Olowo, President,Aviation Round Table; Senator Hadi Sirika, Hon. Minister of State for Aviation;Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Hon. Minister of Information & Culture; Mr Akin Olateru, Commissioner/CEO, Accident Investigation Bureau and Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd), Secretary General, Aviation Round Table at an interractive session between ART members and the Ministers on Monday.

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Hon. Minister of State for Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika and Hon. Minister of Information & Culture,Alhaji Lai Mohammed at the Aviation Round Table on Monday.

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L-R: President Aviation Round-table; Elder Gbenga Olowo, Hon. Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika and Hon. Minister of  Information & Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed at the Aviation Round Table on Monday.

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He explained that the decision to close the runway for repair was a painful one, stressing that safety was what the President looked at to agree that the runway be closed for total repairs.
His words, “I will resign if the deadline for completion of that runway is not finished in six weeks. I put all my integrity and commitment to get that runway ready in six weeks. I told people that this may rank as another eight wonder of the world.”
“Already, they have done three weeks of work on the runway and work has reached about 50 per cent of work. I told anybody that if we must close the runway, it has to be for six weeks. We cut down the time from 13 weeks to six weeks. People are working night and day to complete this job.”
Sirika explained that to make the job faster, the Federal Government chartered two cargo airplanes that gulped N150 million to transport equipment that would make the job faster.
The Minister denied report in the media (Not in New Telegraph) that government had extended the completion of the job by another four weeks, describing it as false.
“That we allow the runway to deteriorate so badly showed irresponsibility on the part of people whom he said should have taken action to remedy the situation.
“How can we allow the Abuja airport to deteriorate so badly? That is highly irresponsible of us. I knew that one day that runway would be closed. The entire architecture of the runway was almost gone. Mr. President was particularly worried about the situation and it was very easy to allow for the shutdown of the facility.”
Speaking on airport certification, Sirika said efforts are being made to ensure that the aerodromes meet standards of certification.
None of Nigerian airports are yet to be certified.  This was due to poor facilities at virtually all the country’s aerodromes.
 
The rot in the nation’s aviation sector may have found deep expression in the assessed parlous infrastructural facilities bedeviling the gateways over the years, with little succour from the highly advertised multi billion naira  remodeling scheme.
 
As part of requirements for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) certification, an airport must have operational and perimeter fencing, certified aviation security personnel, state-of-the-art navigational equipment, while the personnel must be regularly trained and retrained.
 
Other conditions include standard runway and runway strength known as the Pavement Classification Number (PCN), which enable airports and airlines to know if a given aircraft may put undue stress on a runway, non-interference from government; adequate fire tenders; standard instrument landing systems; fuelling; baggage handling, apron and quick response to distress, among others.
 
As at today, most of the airports, including the four international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, have not been able to meet the conditions.
Wole Shadare