Serial gaffes causing turbulence in the aviation sector

Any frequent air flyer would readily agree that one of the most unpleasant experiences of air travel is the occurrence of air turbulence which can be attributed to many factors. Principally Air turbulence occurs when air masses of different speed and density cross each other in the atmosphere which leads to an airplane travelling through such air masses experiencing severe bumps thereby causing great unpleasantness to passengers.

It is agreed by experts on this phenomena that air turbulence is a natural climatic and weather occurrence which cannot be entirely avoided. Pilots are thus trained extensively to cope with it in the best ways possible in order to minimize its severity and impact on air traveling passengers.
But what if what amounts to turbulence is man-made caused through deliberate acts of dysfunctional pronouncements and actions especially and ironically by the person or persons tasked with ensuring that such metaphorical turbulence does not occur in the industry that manages air travel in a country?

In its editorial of Tuesday May 28, 2024 titled ‘’Keyamo should meddling in air transport operations, regulations’’ the Guardian stated pointedly that ‘’The recurring meddlesomeness of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, in the operational and regulatory issues in the Air transport sector, could easily pass as a dutiful interest in the sector. But that is tantamount to a breach of the extant provisions that damage the sector and Keyamo should know better. Though the minister may mean well for this critical industry, he must stick to the remit of a policy driver and do less of the job regulators-for which he has zero competencies.’’

The Guardian editorial went on ‘’For starters, the aviation industry is vastly regulated globally. Especially for commercial scheduled operations, given the enormity of investment and risks involved, all aspect of the operations are governed by strict rules and safety standard operating procedures. It is a precision-based industry that hates compromises, violations and, and breaches of laid-down guidelines-irrespective of who the minister is.’’

When Keyamo was appointed as Minister of this very key ministry opinions were divided. There were those who feared that he will bring his well-known history of impulsive brashness to a ministry and industry that operates on the basis of compliance with the extant laws and regulations of the sector. It is common knowledge that the aviation sector in any country operates on the inviolability of the rules and guidelines set by standards and recommended practices and relevant documents of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

But there were also those who hoped that as a top lawyer who had risen to the enviable rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and well known human rights crusader Keyamo would follow the tenets of his professional calling and not interfere in the running of the agencies under his ministry as laid down by law.

But so far this has proven to be a forlorn hope.

In the course of the past one year since he has been in office as minister, Keyamo had made pronouncements and embarked on actions that had brought embarrassment on the ministry and country as well as run contrary to Civil Aviation Act 2022 and Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NIG.Cars)
First of all while he was still fresh in the office he had accused directors of the agencies under his ministry as being corrupt and compromising in their duties and responsibilities without a scintilla of evidence to back up his claims. As a lawyer he should know that making such unsubstantiated claims was actionable and capable of casting the ministry which he superintends in bad light.

Secondly Keyamo was captured in a video during a working visit to the plant of a major aircraft manufacturing company in France running commentary on one of its model. It did not appear to Minister Keyamo that doing so was unethical in his capacity as minister and supervisor of the aviation sector. Giving prominence to one out of the several aircraft manufacturers that Nigerian airlines patronise for their planes clearly suggests a conflict of interest which as a lawyer and as the minister of aviation he should studiously avoid for both legal and proprietary reasons. What if the other aircraft manufacturers who have their own model of planes in the inventory of Nigerian airlines demand such publicity stunts too will the minister refuse them? Will it not turn out to be an embarrassment to Nigeria if such companies either singularly or collectively sue the Nigerian government for this impulsive and unethical action on the part of the minister?

But while the above constitute serious infractions of the expected ethical conduct on the part of the minister, the more damaging of his acts in contravention of the guidelines of his duties is his repeated interference with especially the functions of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

The NCAA being the apex regulatory agency of the aviation has its duties and functions covered by both the act of the National Assembly and the global civil aviation authorities. It is in recognition of the sensitive nature of the regulatory duties of the NCAA that its rules of engagement are made almost hide bound in other to prevent interference by a supervising minister. Its Director-General for instance can only be appointed by the President after clearance by the National Assembly.

Again in contradiction of the Minister’s blanket and unsubstantiated condemnation of the Directors in the agencies under his ministry for compromise in their duties, he has gone ahead to retain some of the directors included without explanation. Indeed the person he appointed as acting DG of the NCAA was among such. This clearly is a case of approbating and reprobating which a senior lawyer of his status should not be found doing.

The most talked about issue of interference by the minister has to do with his recent inappropriate suspension of the operations of Dana airlines whose aircraft experienced a runway excursion upon landing at the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Ikeja. The procedure under such situations is to allow for proper investigations by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau. Runway excursion can be attributed to many factors which can only be determined after proper investigation by the appropriate aviation agency in this case the NSIB. But before this could be done, the Minister through the Permanent Secretary of the ministry ordered the acting DG NCAA to suspend the operations of Dana airline.

Again this is clearly a violation of the extant laws of the NCAA. The suspension was also not done with the benefit of precedence when one of the aircrafts of Dana airlines was involved in a fatal accident some years back. The NSIB as required under the law was allowed to thoroughly investigate the incident and submit its report containing safety recommendations to NCAA for implementation. Appropriate lessons were thus learnt in order to prevent or minimize future occurrence for the ultimate benefit of the aviation sector in Nigeria and beyond.

Minister Keyamo’s undue and inappropriate interference with operations of the aviation agencies under his ministry has expectedly got stakeholders worried. The stringent laws and regulations governing the operations of these agencies is intended to bring the aviation sector in Nigeria up to speed with the Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) of ICAO.

About two decades ago Nigerian airspace was reckoned with as dangerous and mainly as a result of a culture of non-compliance with extant safety regulations and standards. As a result of painstaking efforts by NCAA and its sister agencies Nigeria was recertified back to a positive rating. It is satisfying to note that over the past decades Nigeria air space has recorded zero accidents in scheduled commercial airline passenger operations.

This is what Minister Keyamo is putting into jeopardy by his meddlesomeness laced with unsubstantiated spurious comments.The aviation sector in Nigeria involving its stakeholders and entire value chain are concerned that if Minister Keyamo is not called to order, we may end up the way of Pakistani aviation sector in which the minister of aviation made negative comments that eventually led to sanctions against Pakistan including suspension of Pakistani Airline operations by European Union Aviation Safety Agency, US and Canadian governments.

For Nigeria, having come through all the challenges we have faced to position the aviation sector on the appropriate path to successful operations into the future, we cannot afford to allow the minister to continue to interfere with the laws that have brought to this positive development. The turbulence being experienced in the sector now is all down to the minister’s meddling with the laws guiding the operations of the sector. If we allow such to continue to happen unchecked, we might as well fasten our seat belts for significant turbulence ahead and eventual crash of the nation’s aviation industry.