By Ime Akpan
As the federal government gives import waiver on aircraft spares, the chairman and managing director of Med-View Airline, AlhajiMuneer Bankole has said that Nigeria has both human and material resources to assemble aircraft spare parts, if not whole aircraft, locally.
Speaking in an interview in Lagos, Bankole said the feat was achievable and it would only require the government to partner with aircraft manufacturers in Europe and America and bring them to the country.
“There are some major aircraft manufacturers, Boeing, Air Bus, and Bombardier. So, the Nigerian government needs to wake up to help the industry.
“The federal government has a duty to partner with any country that manufactures aircraft. It is a win-win situation; like Boeing, they are based in Seattle, Washington. American government has a stake in the industry; here you can talk to them. Air Bus is in Touluse, France, you have good relationship with the government. We have Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) in Canada, there is nothing stopping us to talk to them and see what we can put together.
“Most aircraft parts you see are from different places and they pick them up from somewhere and couple them together. They bring the parts as completely knocked downs and assemble them the same way some motor companies do in Nigeria. So, we can do the same thing here if the environment is provided. We have come close to it,” said Bankole.
He said the airlines had gone through a lot by way of paying numerous charges to keep the industry afloat and that they deserve the best in terms of policies that would bring down costs.
“We have paid so much for fuel and…it is an impediment to our operations because it is high. It takes 40 per cent of the operational cost. We have been paying money to agencies of the federal government; you pay for the sky in your own country. While in Abuja, you pay money for over flyer, we pay to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and five per cent to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). We pay and pay and pay,” he said.
He added: “They have to create the enabling environment, reduce the taxes paid to agencies of government. Government needs to fund these agencies; service providers or government regulatory bodies are being funded by governments all over the world.”
