Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said that when it comes to aviation matters, everyone, including puff-puff sellers at the airport, has a say.
Keyamo disclosed this when he appeared on Channels
Television’s Politics Today to speak on Nigerian Civil Aviation Authorities’
action over the health status of Dana Airline on Thursday.
Recall that the NCAA suspended the Air Operator Certificate
of Dana Airlines with immediate effect amidst safety concerns.
The airline suspension came less than 48 hours after an aircraft (MD82 with registration marks 5SN-BKI) with 83 passengers and crew members on board belonging to Dana Air experienced a runway incursion on Tuesday upon landing at the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos from Abuja.
However, speaking on the criticisms that followed the
suspension, Keyamo said he never wrote to the airline but instructed the NCAA
to do so.
He added that if the aircraft in the country’s aviation
sector are not properly checked, then there will be what he described as
“flying coffins” in the air.
He said, “The last thing I want to do is deceive Nigerians
about the state of health of commercial aircraft.
“There was an audit two years ago that confirmed the
unhealthy status of Dana aircraft, and then at some points, something happened,
and I said, go back and review it and see how thorough was that before I
allowed them to fly again.
“The problem with this sector is that we have people who
claim to be experts everywhere. Everybody is an aviation expert. People who
have sold puff puff at the airport will tell you that they have been at the
airport for a long time, so they are aviation experts.
“And I have challenged them over and over again since I came
to office to come on TV if they have ideas and better ways to run the aviation
sector and debate with me because what we have done since we came was to set
clear priority areas for ourselves,.”
Meanwhile, this is not the first time the minister has
challenged some experts to a public debate on aviation matters.
On March 14, Keyamo visited France, where he toured the
factory of the foremost aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, in Toulouse.
A video of Keyamo touring the factory had trended with some
stakeholders saying Keyamo had turned himself to Airbus sales agent.
But Keyamo fired back in a statement saying the Federal
Government would go all out to facilitate seamless aircraft leasing for local
operators.
He also bemoaned the criticism of the ‘experts’ whom he
stated have not contributed anything to industry development.
Fielding questions on how he intends to curb the
irregularities in the sector, Keyamo said there was deep complicity within the
system and that the cleansing process will start and continue until they are
resolved.
“The cleansing process is within the system because you see
regulators at times buying big houses and driving big cars. Regulators who are
supposed to be public servants.
“They endanger the lives of Nigerians by cutting corners.
Certain people, among them, falsify reports, checks, and training, among
others.
“The commentaries by so-called aviation experts since
yesterday is a system of corruption that we are fighting and we are going to
bring it down within the sector. This sector is one of the most corrupt that I
have seen because people bypass regulations,” he maintained.
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