On ICAO’s damning report on Nigerian airspace security

These are certainly not the best of times for Nigeria’s aviation sector and the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development and its agencies.

A couple of weeks ago, I did a piece on the untoward happenings in the ministry under the watch of Minister Festus Keyamo (SAN) which was on the back of an editorial by the Guardian newspapers detailing his penchant for meddlesomeness in the operations of the agencies under the ministry. These interferences go against the extant laws of the National Assembly and regulatory procedures of international civil aviation practices.

A week after that the sunnonline.com did a fact check on some of the claims of Minister Keyamo on the activities of the ministry under him in the past year. It turned out that most of the claims were misleading and, in some cases, untrue.

Now the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the apex international regulator of global civil aviation operations, has released what amounts to a damning result of its security audit on the Nigerian airspace which further casts a dark shadow on the operations of the sector.

As a frequent local and international flyer, I find this latest development alarming enough to call on the authorities to do something before our airspace operations revert to the days when air travels were unsafe and when Nigeria was on the verge of being boycotted by international and local air operators on account of safety and security issues.

From an all-time high score of 96.03% when the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) conducted the Universal Security Audit Programme-Continuous Monitoring Approach (USAP-CMA) in June 2015 to 71.04% in the recently concluded audit in March 2024. This precipitous 25% drop in the ratings is bound to raise serious concerns among stakeholders in the aviation sector with severe consequences for this critical sector of the nation’s economy.

Embattled Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo under whose watch this has occurred and who has been facing questions regarding his interference in regulatory matters along with the acting DG NCAA have kept sealed lips on this unsavoury development several weeks after ICAO released the results of the audit to NCAA. The latest report from ICAO could not have come at an inopportune time for the minister as President Tinubu has asked ministers to present their scorecard for the past year since their appointments for assessment possibly with a view of either retaining, shuffling or dropping them as their cases may be.

The latest report by ICAO is bound to add to the catalogue of issues bordering on meddlesomeness and interference by the minister on the extant laws of the agencies under the ministry among others, which has cumulatively hampered their operations as required by the laws establishing them.

A fact check carried out by the online platform of the Sun Newspapers debunked most of the claims made by the minister in his submissions to the presidential assessment team on his five-point agenda as minister.

In the report titled Tinubu @ 1: Fact check: Misleading claims found in Keyamo’s list of ‘achievements’, the online platform serially listed Keyamo’s claims with the facts following its investigations.

On the minister’s claim that he successfully resolved the land dispute with the Jiwa community which stalled the commencement of construction of the second runway of the Abuja airport, sunnewsonline.com found out that the matter was challenged successfully by the Federal Capital Territory Authority, (FCTA) which comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Faced with that procedural reality, Festus Keyamo yielded ground to the FCT ministry which took over and resolved the case. Yet the minister included it as one of his “achievements”.

Another “achievement” by the minister was the payment of a backlog of funds owed to foreign airlines trapped in Nigeria. This was found to be misleading as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was the main focal point of the activity. According to the report, “The CBN governor spearheaded the resolution of the issue of trapped funds belonging to foreign airlines as it was solely under the jurisdiction of the regulatory body”.

Yet another claim of “achievement” by the minister was his purported facilitation of the granting of Air Peace the reciprocal operating rights under Nigeria Bilateral Air Services Agreement with the United Kingdom for Nigeria-UK flights.

This was debunked by the finding that the approval for Air Peace to commence flights to London was secured under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. Also according to the online platform, “On the day of the airline’s inaugural flight to London, the aviation minister was on board but….despite undertaking the trip with the Air Peace team, Keyamo had no meeting with his counterpart in the UK as the foreign ministry was not informed about the trip and appointment was not scheduled”. But according to experts in the aviation sector all these misleading claims by Keyamo pale when ranged against the result of the ICAO USAP-CMA Audit.

The consequences of this rating by the ICAO will deter the much-needed investments, both domestic and foreign, to revamp and renew the outdated and dilapidated aviation infrastructure. Nigeria stands the risk of losing the prestigious US FAA International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Category One Rating, which allows direct non-stop flights to the USA. This will put Nigerian operators planning to operate on the Nigeria-USA routes at a great disadvantage when the Nigeria-USA Open Skies Agreement has just come into effect. International agencies such as the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) are likely to put Nigeria on their watchlist and monitor developments for possible actions.

Insurance premiums are likely to skyrocket thus raising the cost of business for domestic and foreign operators which will ultimately be passed to the traveling public in the form of higher airfares. In addition, Nigerian airlines will have no choice but to lease aircraft at a premium rate to make up for the capacity shortage, an additional cost of doing business that will ultimately be passed to the travelling public.

Although the minister is aware of the ICAO findings, he has refused to make it public possibly for fear of exposing these failings, especially at this time when ministers are under scrutiny for their performance after one year in office by the presidency. The management of NCAA under Ag. DG Captain Najomo is complicit in this cover-up and playing the ostrich, pretending all is well and good. In a recent Facebook posting, the NCAA praised its Director of Aviation Security (DAVSEC), Omo Bernard Onwe Chinedu for his help in achieving a good showing for the ICAO Security Audit.

Viewing these untoward developments in the Aviation Ministry under Festus Keyamo, stakeholders have cause to be worried about the potential loss in revenue and investment likely to be incurred by Nigeria should the noticeable downward trend in the fortunes of the aviation sector continue. Without exception, the stakeholders put it down to Keyamo’s frequent interference with the laws and regulations governing the operations of the agencies under the ministry. Under the rules of engagement, the ministry’s role is clearly defined as that of formulation of policies and strategies for the operation of the agencies under it.

The guidelines of global aviation bodies and laws of the National Assembly set up and define the NCAA as the apex regulator of the sector without interference from the ministry. It is therefore necessary for the government of President Tinubu to take urgent action and call the minister to order before he does further damage to this critical sector of the national economy.

Gadu can be reached via [email protected] or 08035355706 (texts only).