NCAA will not adopt Gestapo approach– Akinkuotu

Just before he was relieved of his appointment on Tuesday, the then Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, granted an interview in which he spoke on many issues, including the proposed coming of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to re-assess Nigeria’s Category 1 status, quantum of NCAA inspectors and capacity building, domestic airlines and one aircraft carrier, fencing of airports, among others. IME AKPAN was there for Blueprint
The regulator vis-à-vis the regulated
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is the only aviation industry regulator in this country. In our attainment of Category 1Certification, the former president, Musa Yar’Adua had to write on behalf of the country to the United States government stating quite clearly that the NCAA is the only regulator.

This was necessary because there was a bit of ambiguity as to the act that created the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). And this institution was created at a time we did not have the requirement from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The NCAA has an arm, the directorate of airports and aerodrome standards and this directorate has people who monitor communication and facilities provided by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

We, the regulator, have a directorate that does the monitoring and we generate reports. Recently, a state, I believe Jigawa, is in the process of building their own airport. To build an airport, you apply to the government through the ministry (of aviation). The ministry informs us, the regulator to go there and ensure that the standard for operating an airport and what you should have there are met. When we are satisfied, we allow them to continue.

The same thing goes for all the other agencies. Of course, the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) being an institution is covered as an approved training organisation. We will continue to monitor and audit all the agencies including NCAT from time to time. We evaluate the information that the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) puts out from time to time.

In the case of the celebrated case of the Benin young man that got on board an air plane, we sent our team there to take a holistic view of the security arrangement at the airport. And there is an improvement of security arrangement at the airport subsequent to our auditing of the facility. So I can assure that we are doing what we need to do in ensuring that despite that we don’t advertise, there is a clear line between the regulator and the service providers. Any of the aviation agencies will confirm that NCAA does audit them and ensures that they are doing the right things

Committee on visit of FAA team, sustenance of CAT 1
NCAA is composed of a lot of experienced people. When you have a process either operating standards or operating procedures, you are required to apply those procedures as they have been laid down. By setting up a committee to look at certain things before the arrival of the FAA team, it is not that we are trying to fix anything.

The process of auditing is akin to saying ‘show me.’ What we are trying to do is not a fire brigade approach. It is the standard process of making sure that when anybody is coming to audit all the books are in place. This is essentially what the committee is doing. The processes as were given at that time and as updated will be maintained by NCAA. We will ensure that all our processes are up to date and will be done and I am sure our processes are solid enough.

Capacity building and quantum of NCAA inspectors
The NCAA has hired a number of young people that we have sent to Zaria. Last year, I started the process of interviewing and hiring new people to join the workforce with the intention of creating a career for them so that we would have the senior people and a bunch of younger people. The older ones are to mentor the younger ones so that they (younger ones) may have the requisite experience. I do believe that just like any other nation in the world is grappling with the issue of capacity building, the matter came up at the last ICAO meeting and I was a member of the sub-committee. The issue of increased capacity came up. And today, if you train people which you spend a lot of money to do, they are free to move to where they like.
Quantum and resignation of NCAA inspectors

I don’t think we should look at the quantum; I think we should look at quality. Quantum is good; you have to have the right quantity of people but we will continue to have people that are very qualified, that will be able to conduct the business of inspecting and over-sighting

I interact with inspectors from time to time. It is not true that our inspectors have resigned or that we are short of inspectors. This can be verified at the human resources department. No inspector resigned; yet we will continue to improve the lot of our inspectors, we will continue to discuss with them how to enhance their job performance. People talk about remuneration, but money is not the only tool. There are some other tools that we will continue to provide.

Domestic carriers and the issue of one aircraft airline
The domestic carriers are essential part in the aviation industry. In a little time I have been the director general I know that as human beings it is convenient for us to cry wolf or shout foul when a situation or a law that you don’t like is applied. The law about single aircraft operation has always been there. But each time we try to enforce something, somebody says we are selective. No, we are not. You always tilt information in a way and manner that will make you look good. I do hope that the domestic operators are people who have their integrity intact.

Security fencing of airports
There are some principal airports; they will not go to look at Akure Airport which gets only one flight per day, courtesy of Overland Airways and they don’t even go there on Saturdays. And the airline does not operate from there to the United States. The focus would be on the principal airports and every effort is being made to address the issue of security at the airports involved.
I don’t want us to look at all the airfields. Yes, it is good to have all the airfields secured and we will. We have been discussing this issue with FAAN. All of us seem to look at the airport as if it consists of the terminal buildings and runways.

The Lagos Airport, for instance, is not less than 25 kilometres and to have that fenced costs a lot. Each time we acquire an airport, we usually think about the future. So, the fencing of these airports is quite prohibitive. Every airport managed by FAAN will address security issues and I’m sure that whatever is required to ensure not just CAT 1. CAT 1 is like running a race and being number one in the race. It is not so difficult to be number one; to maintain that number one position is the issue.

What we do and what we’ll do is to continue to continue to ensure that we keep abreast of whatever is required to maintain CAT 1 by doing the right things and ensuring that our processes are right.